Youth Day

Thirty years ago, on June 16, 1976, black students marched in Soweto township outside Johannesburg to protest a policy forcing them to learn and study in the Afrikaans language of South Africa’s white rulers. A confrontation with police broke out and two children were shot. The incident kicked off the Soweto Uprising, which in turn led to rioting across the country and the loss of an estimated 700 lives. In 1995, one year after he was elected the country’s first black president, Nelson Mandela designated June 16 as Youth Day, a public holiday honouring the young heroes at the forefront of the liberation struggle.