Fifty years after Soweto: Echoes of resistance and hope

Fifty years ago, Michael le Cordeur was in matric and reflects on that day, 16 June 1976, and how it irreversibly changed the landscape of South African history.

Professor Michael le Cordeur is Emeritus Professor of Education at Stellenbosch University and chair of the Foundation for Empowerment through Afrikaans.

I remember it as if it were yesterday: that grey winter’s day, 16 June 1976, when all hell broke loose in Soweto. I was only 16 years old and in matric (I started school at age five). Most of our school at the time consisted of temporary wooden structures, which we nicknamed “dovecotes.” We hated them. In summer, Wellington became “Hell-ington.” In winter, those classrooms felt like freezers.

We were in the middle of the June matric examinations. At night, it was eerily quiet. Not a single learner was in sight. They were either engaged in secret meetings, studying in hiding, or evading the police who patrolled the streets at night. Woe betide you if you were out after dark – you would most probably spend a night in a cell without your parents knowing.

It was a struggle to get through the nights. Some worried about the exams; others wondered when the police would knock on the door. I tried to study, but your mind was elsewhere. As if he had a premonition, the principal decided that we should write the exams immediately. When the first bomb exploded in Soweto (literally), we were already at home.

Eventually, the unrest reached us at Bergrivier High School during the September exams. That day, we were scheduled to write biology. A few classmates were missing. We looked around nervously. They never arrived. We began writing. You could cut the tension with a knife.

Suddenly, the ominous silence was shattered by a deafening explosion. Screams followed. The chaos afterward is somewhat blurred. Children and teachers rushed out of classrooms. Outside, we were shocked to a standstill by a sea of flames. Somewhere a siren wailed. Police vehicles and armed officers were already on the scene. I instinctively searched for my younger brother and sister. When we got home, our parents were already there. The news had spread quickly.

The next day presented a heartbreaking sight. Most of the school lay in ruins. According to documents in the possession of this author, 12 learners aged between 18 and 19 and three youths were charged with public violence on 9 September 1976. Another nine learners and eight youths were charged on 10 September. The judge in the Cape Town high court ruled there was no conclusive evidence, as the learners contradicted each other