June 16 Youth Day

The 16th of June, is Youth Day, a public holiday in South Africa, observed to commemorate the 1976 Soweto uprisings.

“I was in Johannesburg that day, in Noordgesig. As the children were marching, we were there helping wash the teargas out of their eyes. You couldn’t trust anyone in those days. On June 16 there’s always a function for the youth and we cook for them. Sometimes we get a film on June 16 and it brings back memories. I think it’s very good for the children to see what happened on that very special day.” – "Aunt Koekie" Jeremiah.

As we celebrate this day let’s not forget our heroes, the likes  of Hector Peterson Tsietsi Mashinini,let us not abuse the freedom they have fought for, some with their dear lives.

As u walk on that road wearing your school uniform please remember the cause do not drink in your school uniform, Hector fought for better lives for all not a drunk nation.

The uprisings marked a key moment in South Africa’s struggle for liberation during apartheid: they were a spontaneous, sustained challenge to the racist government from an unlikely source, the country’s youth.

On 16 June, 1976, a large band of schoolchildren gathered in Orlando, Soweto (and other areas), to march against the government’s imposition of Afrikaans as the universal medium of learning. The police arrived to break the protest up, and, during the confrontation, began to fire with live ammunition on the students. Many were killed – including Hector Pietersen, subject of an iconic photograph that is featured at the Soweto memorial where he fell.

Hier Kom die Bokkes!

The Springboks are the current Rugby World Champions. They will be one of the top three teams (according to the IRB rankings) present at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Similar to 1995, in 2007 South Africa were not the favorites. They did not do really well at the Tri nations that year and besides for Bryan Habana, there were not really anything exciting about them. Pierre Spies, a player that possessed a lot of flare back then was even injured early on in the tournament. These statements might make one think that South Africa stands a good change to go far, if not all the way, at this years RWC.

There are a few differences though in the two events mentioned compared to this year. In 1995 and 2007, the South African coaching staff had it a bit more together. I could not recall the coach and his management being an issue in those cases. On the contrary, the coach was not really in the spotlight and it actually felt like the team did very well as a result of a healthy relationship with thier coach. This year, something that has started in 2010 is hindering the Springboks. That is the fact the Peter de Villiers are not considering his team in his behavior. Since its only the Super 15 at the moment, he does not have a major affect on the boks, but as the Tri nations and World Cup are getting closer his impact, hopefully polished and improved will be felt again.

Stay tuned for some more Springbok analyzing in regards to the next rugby world cup in following posts.