50th anniversary of the Soweto Uprising
The Soweto Uprising took place on 16th June 1976 when school students protested against the imposition of the Afrikaans language in schools. Afrikaans was the language of the Boers and was seen as the language of the oppressor.
Some of the peacefully demonstrating school students were shot and killed by the apartheid police including Hector Pieterson.
The photograph above, taken by Sam Nzima, of 12 year-old Hector being carried by Mbuyiso Makubo with Hector’s sister, Antoinette, running alongside, stunned the world yet again at the brutality of the apartheid regime.
The Soweto Uprising spread to other parts of the country involving thousands of young people and became a nationwide rebellion against apartheid.
A new generation of young South Africans had joined the movement against apartheid. Many left the country to join the armed wing of the African National Congress.
It was a turning point in the struggle.
Following the end of apartheid in 1994, 16 June was designated South African Youth Day and it is now a public holiday in South Africa.
50th anniversary of the Scottish Committee Anti-Apartheid Movement
The formal establishment of the Scottish Committee of the Anti-Apartheid Movement took place in Dundee on 19 June 1976. There had been AAM local groups in existence in Scotland since the 1960s.
Abdul Minty, Honorary Secretary of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement, was the main speaker at the event to establish the Scottish Committee. A constitution was adopted and Brian Filling was elected Chair and John Nelson Secretary. They remained in those positions until the AAM was dissolved in 1994 with the ending of apartheid.
The AAM Scottish Committee coordinated the activity of the local AAM groups in Scotland. Trade unions affiliated to the committee and it developed close links with the churches, local authorities and the National Union of Students.
The AAM Scottish Committee organised many demonstrations, pickets, torchlight processions, conferences, films, concerts and the boycott of apartheid South Africa over its years of existence.
On its dissolution with the ending of apartheid, Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA) was established.