50 years after Soweto uprising, young South Africans are frustrated with progress | DW News

[00:00:00]50 years ago, the students of Soto marched into history. On June 16th, 1976, they protested an education system under apathide in South Africa designed to limit their future. Many paid with their lives as police opened fire. But while that generation fought for the right to learn, the current generation is struggling to find work and earn a living. With youth unemployment among the highest in the world, this year's Suetto commemoration highlighted the challenges facing young people. Here's more from DW's Diane Hawa Kalubi.

[00:00:40]>> 50 years ago, Sutoto students met here to demand change. Decades later, hundreds returned with a similar demand.

[00:00:50]On June 16, 1976, this street corner was the site of immense pain. This is where aparate police shot students who were asking for fair education.

[00:01:03]Seth Maziboko was there on the day at just 16. He was one of the protest leaders and saw his friends gunned down >> and then the next thing they started shooting.

[00:01:18]How are you?

[00:01:27]>> The aparted government tried to force black students to learn in Africans, the language of the ruling oppressive regime. But this face off was never just about language. It was about a system that limited their future, keeping black people's education deliberately second rate.

[00:01:49]176 people were killed that day. The protest spread across South Africa, leaving over 500 people dead. That moment became a symbol that still runs deep for young South Africans today.

[00:02:04]Hundreds gathered this week to commemorate those who fought. The plan to finish the walk started in 1976.

[00:02:14]Today, young South Africans face a different fight. Education is now available, but jobs are not.

[00:02:21]>> We are pushing for young people to go to school. They must be educated. But at what reason? Because after being educated, you are unemployed.

[00:02:30]>> More than 30% of working age South Africans don't have a job. And for people aged 25 to 34, it climbs to around 40%. People are still treated differently on the job market. If you don't know someone white as a black person, you won't get that job. They want us to have qualifications. You go to university, but when you get to the job market, they tell you that you don't have the necessary skills. What kind of skills do you expect young people to have when they just left school? for you.

[00:03:00]>> Opangua was also a key figure in 1976 and says he's worried young people are just as frustrated today as they were back then.

[00:03:11]>> The signs are there that people are have had enough and uh I think our government is misreading the situation. They are spinning themselves into innocence and I think people have reached a point it's a matter OF TIME.

[00:03:34]HALF A CENTURY ON, the walk in Soetto was finally completed. Unlike back then, young people here hope that things can change and that once again, South Africa's future rests in their hands.

[00:03:51]All right, for more on this, let's bring in Zlea Patel, a South African anti-racism and social justice activist and bestselling author. Hello, Tlea.

[00:04:00]Great to have you here. Now, it's very impressive. You were just 13 years old when you stood up to your school over the right to wear your hair naturally.

[00:04:10]When you look back now, what made a teenager decide that silence wasn't an option?

[00:04:16]>> Thank you so much for having me. Looking back 10 years later, at the time I was 13, turning 14, one of the biggest things that motivated my activism is that it's more than just hair. It was never just about hair. Hair is one symptom of a deeper injustice. And that injustice being institutionalized racism. And being a young person born and raised in the democratic dispensation of South Africa, it is incredibly important that young people continue the fight against racism in our country because it's still attached to the fabric of South African society.

[00:04:54]Just because racism is no longer a part of our legislation, that doesn't mean systems have changed and people have changed. And now my generation carries that mission in order to ensure that systems change as well as people change.

[00:05:11]>> Right? Just like the generation 50 years ago. What does June 16 actually mean to you and your generation?

[00:05:21]>> June 16 for my generation is more than just remembrance and it's more than just commemoration. It calls for conviction.

[00:05:29]And it calls for action and it calls for us taking a step into ensuring that we continue the fight against firstly um racism as young people, secondly fighting for a better education system just like the class of 1976 and fighting against unemployment which is one of the biggest injustices currently plaguing South Africa. We've got the highest unemployment rate in the entire world. And we have so many young people that are incredibly talented that are qualified with um post post um post-metric qualifications. And what we need to see is young people young people being included in the economy.

[00:06:20]>> Right. Right. Now, now that's the thing.

[00:06:23]Naturally, young people are trying to make their voices heard, but many of them are complaining that when they speak up, they are simply not heard by governments, leaders, and you know, the people in power. Has that been your experience? What do you make of that?

[00:06:38]That has been my experience throughout the 10 years of my activism, experiencing agism within multilateral spaces, within spaces that are spaces of government where one is engaging with stakeholders or politicians. That has been the case that people think that a young person's place is at a grassroots level or in the streets leading a protest or a march and that a young person's place is not at a decision-making table. And for me, I believe that young people's activism is not meant to just remain on the streets at a peaceful march or protest or on a grassroots level. Young people have to be included at decision-m tables. We need to see young people's participation in the government, young people's economic participation as well.

[00:07:28]>> Right. Well said there. Now look, in the report we played earlier, one of the 1976 protesters told us there are signs that people have had enough and that the government may be underestimating the level of public frustration, adding that it's a matter of time. What do you think could happen if young people feel they are constantly not heard?

[00:07:51]Well, it's only a matter of time till we see a uprising from young people within South Africa because young people are incredibly frustrated with the current unemployment crisis. Poverty is plaguing many um homes within our country and is affecting particularly young people, child- headed homes and it's only a matter of time until we see an uprising from young people within this country just like the one we saw a couple of years back about 11 11 to 12 years back with fees must fall because firstly not seeing enough action from the government in terms of ensuring that uh we decrease the unemployment um rates in our country, the youth unemployment rate.

[00:08:38]We're not seeing uh enough participation as well as commitment from the government and we're also not seeing enough from the government side to ensure that we see young people's economic participation. Every year we experience a new financial year and the injustice just grows and plagues more young people's lives.

[00:09:05]>> Right. Final words from you before you go. I'm just wondering if there's a flip side to all of this despite the challenges we've talked about. Is there anything that gives you hope about South Africa's future and the role young people can play in shaping it?

[00:09:21]I am hopeful because hope is the only thing that we can hold on to especially in times of crisis. And I'm hopeful because South Africa is filled with incredible young people, incredibly talented young people, incredible young people who are intellectuals and young people that are not willing to turn a blind eye towards injustice. South Africa has that caliber of young people.

[00:09:47]>> Right. and you are the leader of that gang. I'd say that's just from my take.

[00:09:53]Thank you very much, Zelica Patel, South African anti-racism and social justice activist and not forgetting best-selling author. Thank you.