AFRIKAANS AND 1976 SOWETO UPRISING 25 octobre 2011

The origins of Afrikaans date back to the 17th century when the Dutch arrived in South Africa. As a matter of fact, English, Malay, German, Portuguese, French and a few African languages influenced this language. Die Genootskap van Regte Afrikaners (GRA) or Society of Real Afrikaners was an organization formed in 1875, which promoted the Afrikaans language. Thanks to this organization therefore, many people of different races and ethnic groups throughout Southern Africa adopted the language. Besides, Afrikaans played a significant role in the White laws of apartheid and was one of the main reasons of the 1976 Soweto uprising. This topic deals with the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in Soweto Black schools in the 1970s. In that spirit, we are entitled to ask: what are the political issues of Afrikaans during the 1976 Soweto riots? The first part of this essay shall deal with the implementation of Afrikaans in Black schools as the main source of the 1976 student strike. In the second part, the different factors that transformed the 1976 demonstration into riots shall be analyzed. Firstly, the most important catalysis of the 1976 Soweto uprising was the implementation of Afrikaans alongside English as a medium of instruction. While the Afrikaans trigger was pulled in 1973, both teachers and learners battled with the language. In fact, Afrikaans was frustrating according to a great number of students testimonies. Indeed, some declared: We remember with Lanbou i.e. Agriculture in Afrikaans, we used to give right answers but not understanding. There were very few Afrikaans teachers and those who gave us Landbou in Afrikaans couldnt teach but were just reading. (Brink et al., 2001: 14) In fact, putting Afrikaans into practice was to disadvantage and annihilate black students. Then, the Minister of Bantu Education and Development, MC Botha issued the Afrikaans Medium Decree, in October 19741. For a better understanding, we need explain that the Bantu Education Act (1953) was designed to reduce the level of education attainable by black people. Hence, the
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Down with Afrikaans http://sahistory.org.za

AFRIKAANS AND 1976 SOWETO UPRISING 25 octobre 2011 1974 Afrikaans Medium Decree required a 50-50 English/Afrikaans policy in Black schools from Standard five onwards (i.e. from the last year of primary school to the last year of high school).2 More precisely, mathematics (Wiskunde), Arithmetic (Rekenkundige) and social sciences (sosiale wetenskappe) had to be taught in Afrikaans from secondary schools, according to the Afrikaans Medium Decree; English was the medium of instruction for general science and practical subjects (home craft, needlework, woodwork, metalwork, art, etc.). Vernacular was only used for religion instruction, music, and physical culture3. Obviously, black students report books demonstrated that the best marks appeared firstly in their dialect and in English subjects. Only then came all the subjects in Afrikaans, which resulted in a real disaster4. In 1975, the policy had been reviewed and brought back aggressively. In fact,
during a reorganisation of the Bantu Education Department of the government, the South African apartheid system decided to start enforcing a long-forgotten law requiring that secondary education be conducted only in Afrikaans, rather than in English or any of the native African languages. (http://libcom.org: 2006)

As a consequence, teachers and students decided to rise up against Afrikaans not only because of its complexity but also because it was considered as the language of the oppressor.5 Primarily Afrikaans was spoken by the Boers (the descendants of the first Dutch settlers in South Africa). In addition, it was the language of the labour bureaus, the police, and the prison, which explains black Africans antipathy. (ibid.) The implementation of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in Black schools provoked a real chaos on 16 June 1976. Nonetheless, there were many other external elements culminating in such violence and killing.

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http://www.sahistory.org.za The Soweto Uprising The Road to Democracy in south Africa http://www.sadet.co.za Brink et al., Recollected 25 Years Later: Soweto, 16 June 1976 2010 http://www.sahistory.org.za

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AFRIKAANS AND 1976 SOWETO UPRISING 25 octobre 2011 Black Consciousness was the primary influence that caused the youth of Soweto to rise up against oppression. According to its founder Steve Biko, Black Consciousness Movement was built on two ideals:
1. 2. Being black is not a matter of pigmentation being black is a reflection of a mental attitude. Black people real Black people are those who can manage to hold their heads high in defiance rather than willingly surrender their souls to the white men. (http://www.azapo.org.za)

Thus, there were many groups within the Black Consciousness Movement ssch as the South African Students Association (SASA) or even the South African Students Movement (SASM). Between 300 and 400 students from around 55 schools decided to stage a mass demonstration on 16 June. In fact, an action committee, later known as the Soweto Students Representative Council (SSRC), was elected to lead the campaign. More precisely, it consisted of two delegates from each school calling together secretly by using pseudonyms. The protest against the implementation of Afrikaans at school was intended to be peaceful for over 10,000 Black students, who walked from their schools to Orlando Stadium for a rally. However, tensions grew. Actually, during the protest march, there were two distinctive groups of young people: the students and the gangs. In truth, during the early 1970s, no more than a third of the young population of Soweto went to school. Consequently, gangs attracted a great number of unemployed and nonschoolgoing young male adolescents. This is one of the reasons why conflict mounted between high schools and gangs in the lead-up to the 1976 uprising6. According to Elsab Brink et al., the Soweto uprising started after a police dogs death. Indeed, while students refused to stop striking, some police dogs were released and teargas was fired. As a counter-attack or to fight back, some young people killed a dog; the police opened fire on disarmed children. Thus, police action resulted in 451 deaths. However, opinions diverge about the demonstration reports. In fact, Thompson declares that there were 575 deaths according to the commission of inquiry. (Thompson, 2000: 213). In any case, the first victim of the riots was a thirteen-year-old boy, Hector Pieterson.

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AFRIKAANS AND 1976 SOWETO UPRISING 25 octobre 2011 Some organizations such as ANC (African National Congress) were also at the height of the riots. In actual fact, such organizations had an influence on Soweto youth protesters; the ANC encouraged resistance by distributing pamphlets that brought the black people together. Fed up with the oppressive and humiliating laws of the Apartheid, the Soweto uprising allowed the black community of South Africa to rebel against the apartheid regime. For instance, the Group Areas Act (1950) forced physical separation between races. Actually, Black people were forced to live in township built for them. Therefore, they had to cover long distances to go to work in White towns. The 1976 Soweto uprising was an opportunity for black people to rise up against the apartheid system of South Africa. The Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) was an ideology to bring out pride and confidence in the black population. To conclude, riots in Soweto were to be expected when the new education system in January 1975 was enforced. At the start of 1976, Afrikaans was introduced as a medium of instruction for several subjects such as Geography (Aardrykskunde) or Mathematics (Wiskunde). In truth, not only Afrikaans was considered the language of the oppressors but also it was a language spoken by a tiny portion of the population. The 1976 Soweto uprising allowed black students to show their courage and resoluteness. Thus, walk to freedom helped them to fight for their rights such as freedom of speech.

Bibliography

BOOKS: Brink Elsab et al., Soweto: 16 June 1976, Kwela books: 2001 Thompson, Leonard A History of South Africa. The United States of America: Yale University Press publications, 2000 Ndlovu, Sifiso Mxolisi, The Soweto Uprisings: Counter-Memories of June 1976. Randburg, South Africa: Ravan Press, 1998 4

AFRIKAANS AND 1976 SOWETO UPRISING 25 octobre 2011

ONLINE ARTICLE: Jstor: Journal of Southern African Studies, Volume 24, Number 2, June 1998. We Must Infiltrate the Tsotsis: School Politics and Youth Gangs in Soweto, 19681976 <http://www.jstor.org/pss/2637529?searchUrl=%2Faction%2FdoBasicSearch %3FQuery%3Dyouth%2Band%2Bgangs%2BSoweto%2Buprising%2B%26ac c%3Doff%26wc%3Don&Search=yes>

WEBSITES: Hamilton Weizmann South Africa: The Soweto uprising 1976. Committee for a Workers' International 9/10/2011 5:13 p.m. <http: //www.socialistworld.net/doc/2342> Ndlovu, Sifiso Mxolisi The Soweto Uprising, The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Volume 2 9/10/2011 3:57pm <http://www.sadet.co.za/docs/RTD/vol2/Volume%202%20%20chapter%207.pdf> SAHO South African History Online Afrikaans 21/10/2011 3:44 p.m. <http://www.sahistory.org.za/people-south-africa/afrikaans> 16 June 1976: This is our day SouthAfrica.info, 08/10/2011 10:34 a.m. <http: //www.southafrica.info/about/history/soweto150606.htm>