Soweto is setting the stage to remember the youth of 1976

It’s been 50 years since the Soweto youth uprising in 1976, and this month Jozi My Jozi is inviting people to spend 76 hours in Soweto for a deep dive into a range of community events including markets and exhibitions, a film festival and tours.

“The concept behind the duration is deeply symbolic,” says Mbali Zulu, who works with Jozi My Jozi’s chapter in Soweto.

“Seventy-six hours represents the year 1976, specifically chosen to commemorate the courage of the youth who took to the streets to fight against apartheid’s oppressive language restrictions in education.

Four days filled with events

The commemoration kicks off on Saturday, 13 June, with the Biyo Film Fest.

It will offer screenings of a series of films in different venues, including the fabulous Native Rebels restaurant, the Soweto Gallery and the Eyethu Heritage Hall, an iconic “bioscope” in the 1970s and 1980s that was owned by the late business tycoon Ephraim Tshabalala.

The screenings focus on independent local and international historical documentaries, arthouse features and material from apartheid-era archives – and there’ll be Q&A sessions with directors, scriptwriters and key cultural figures.

Soweto’s famous Vilakazi Street will be turned into a vibrant open-air gallery called The ART-Rising ’76 Street Art Gallery in which 16 visual artists will create original murals on walls along the street.

On Sunday, 14 June, it’s time for homegrown fashion, art, music, design and entrepreneurship.

The LoCrate Market (LoCrate stands for local creatives) at Lebo’s Backpackers in Orlando West will showcase a living archive of young Soweto talent in a celebration of 50 years of youth culture called Generation Now.

Monday is a day of umrabulo – an isiXhosa term traditionally meaning consciousness-raising or political discussion. It takes its name from the custom of ukurhabula, where people share a drink from the same calabash. The word was used extensively by political prisoners on Robben Island to inspire underground political debate.

The Sober Discussions on Monday, 15 June, will bring together intergenerational thought leaders, activists and community members for dynamic dialogue and storytelling, remembering untold heroes, forgotten stories and lost memories.

The discussions are held annually and are organised by the WeUprising Youth Movement. The primary aim of the event is to move away from the modern party culture often associated with public holidays, instead offering a constructive space to address social issues affecting South African youth.

Celebrating Youth Day

Youth Day is on Tuesday, 16 June – and it will start with a profoundly poignant walk. “We will be tracing the footsteps of the 1976 generation,” says Zulu, “but this time we are finishing what they started.”

The 1976 march was supposed to end up at Orlando Stadium, he explains, but the students never got there. It was on the corner of Moema and Vilakazi streets – known as Confrontation Corner – where the police first opened fire, killing at least 176 people. As the protests spread across South Africa, the death toll became closer to 700.

Fifty years later, this symbolic walk will end up at Orlando Stadium – and will include the Flame Torch Handover Ceremony where the 1976 generation will hand over the baton to the youth of today. DM

Bridget Hilton-Barber is a freelance writer who writes for Jozi My Jozi.

For more information visit www.jozimyjozi.com

This story first appeared in our weekly DM168 newspaper, available countrywide for R35.