We recently spent some time in Johannesburg seeing the sights and soaking up more South African history and culture. It was difficult to learn the stories of police brutality and the use of violent force at places like the Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum. Hector Pieterson was a 13-year old boy who was the first child to die as a result of the Soweto uprising in 1976. The museum is named after Hector Pieterson, but his identity became somewhat of an icon and symbol for mourning the loss of all the adult and child lives that were lost that day, as was his funeral.
On June 16th of 1976, students had organized a peaceful protest of the forced implementation of Afrikaans and English as languages of instruction in high schools. The conflict turned violent and children were shot, killed, and injured, and most of their injuries were in their backs because they were running away. It is predicted that more than 5000 people died in the uprising.
Hector Pieterson was picked up by an 18-year-old male student named Mbuyisa Makhubo, who, with Hector's 17-year-old sister Antoinette, brought him to a car that brought him to a clinic, which is where he was pronounced dead.
To this day, high schools' language of instruction in South Africa is commonly either English or Afrikaans. The all-important, future-dicating matric exam is only offered in English and Afrikaans, which is a huge obstacle that still exists today for learners whose native tongues are other languages like Xhosa or Zulu. The sources of the inequalities that exist in South Africa today are not all exclusively from the past.
