The iconic movie Sarafina trends as South Africa celebrates Youth Day.
It is June 16, and everyone in Mzansi knows what that means. It is Youth Day; the day honors the youth who were ambushed by the apartheid regime police in Soweto on June 16, 1976. Over 500 young people, including school students, were killed that day. That was 46 years ago, but it remains fresh in the heart of every South African.
According to history, that morning, thousands of black students from Soweto in the then Transvaal (now called Gauteng) went on a protest rally from their schools to Orlando Stadium.
An article on Youth Day by EWN.co.za reads, “they mobilised for a protest against an official order that made Afrikaans – along side English only – as the medium of instruction compulsory in black township schools throughout the country.” The constitution supported Afrikaans and English being the official language of South Africa.
Sadly, the peaceful protest was dislodged by armed police with dogs, teargas, and bullets. Hundreds of students were killed on that day. In 1992, the film “Sarafina” was made to recreate the events of that day. It starred Whoopi Goldberg, Miriam Makeba, John Kani, Leleti Khumalo, and more. Today, South Africans watch it every youth day.
