Ryan Batty
The Steward
January 28, 2015
SOWETO 1976 !
BIKO’S UPRISING?
“You are either alive and proud or you are dead, and if you are dead you don’t care anymore”. These are the words of Steve Biko. A black activist, Biko is a symbol of the oppression of Apartheid. In 1976, a year before he was brutally murdered by the South African police. Biko, though only 30, was already one of the most influential leaders of the black South Africans. In this same year the Soweto Uprising occurred, causing inter national outrage and a serious challenge to Picture Left: Steve Biko Picture Right: Hector Pieterson public order. Many believe that this uprising was spontaneous. However, behind the scenes, Biko’s words and high school. Here they were met by armed encouragement to his fellow black citizens police forces. What happened next is can be detected.
disputable. But what is certain is that The Soweto Uprising and its Aftermath On 16th of June 1976 in Soweto, South Africa, a group of students led a protest against a recent decree mandating Afrikaans as a medium across South African schools. Most black students resented the language Afrikaans. This was because Afrikaans was the language of the oppressor. Tsietsi Mashinini was the leader of the group. He received help from the Black Consciousness Movement (formed by Steve Biko) and other organisations such as South African Student Organisation (SASO). He formed the group known as Soweto Student Representative Council (SSRC) and planned the mass rally. They marched until they arrived at Orlando
176-700 black students were killed. The most notable amongst them, was young Hector Pieterson, who was only 12.
International outcry followed swiftly. But the tone varied from country to country. In the US, opinion was divided. Some, fearing unrest at home, supported the forces of law and order. Others seeing the senseless killing and feeling guilty about their own past, supported the anti-Apartheid groups. The US media, typified by the newspaper Newsday, were conservative in estimating the death toll. They put the figure at around 435 . In the UK, however, the uprising was viewed more seriously. The Times estimated the total deaths at over 700. Yet even there, the media was reluctant to discuss the background to
Ryan Batty
The Steward
the uprising. In neither the US nor the UK was Steve Biko’s name part of the discussion. In Japan it was even worse. Neither the Uprising and its death toll nor Biko made the news much at all.
A Soweto Story? Across the world the media ignored both the local roots of the problem and the leader who had inspired a generations. But both need to be reconsidered. The role of the Soweto Township is often overlooked. But we need to ask; why Soweto?
Soweto was in poverty like the other townships across South Africa. The supply of water was limited and unclean. Most houses would get only a small amount for everyday
View over houses in the Soweto Township tasks, such as drinking and cleaning. Considering Soweto’s population of 1 million it was even more scarce. Electricity was not present in most households, and those that did have it, received it illegally. Sanitation was extremely bad. With frequent sewage blockages most township were extremely health hazardous. Education was supplied, but most students dropped out from 9th grade. All these problems were typical of
January 28, 2015
the other townships. But unlike other townships, Soweto lacked a political infrastructure. Dependant on Johannesburg, not part of a tribal homeland, and home to many of the poorest and dispossessed, Soweto was a potential inferno. It just needed a spark.
Steve Biko Conditions in Soweto itself, however awful, may not have been enough to start a protest. Movements need leadership to grow. In 1976 such a man had already emerged; Steve Biko. Biko is overlooked by most, but his role in the fight against Apartheid was one of the most important. He spearheaded the antiApartheid group Black Consciousness Movement. But unlike other anti-apartheid groups, Biko’s group had a different view on stopping Apartheid. They believed that they should not only fight for political change, but to fight against their own selfdoubts. As Biko said, “The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed”. Because he gave them hope about themselves, most of the black population saw Biko as a symbol of their rights. This was a major factor that led to the Soweto Uprising.
Biko and the Black Consciousness Movement heavily supported the uprising and aided the students. But after the uprising, the South African Government saw him as a menace to their brutal way of life and economy, and set out to eliminate him. They arrested him on August 18th and took him to Port Elizabeth where they brutally
“Being black is not a matter of pigmentation, being black is a reflection of mental attitude”-Steve Biko
Ryan Batty
The Steward
January 28, 2015
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tortured and interrogated him. The horrific beating led to him having a coma and he was shipped of to a medical facility on September 11th. He shortly died after landing at the Pretoria prison. His death caused international outrage.
Soweto or Biko? Both the poverty of Soweto and leadership of Steve Biko helped to create the turning point we know as the Soweto Uprising. But which was more important? Many argue that poverty created the great leaders that fought for their rights; but does not hope make people want to fight? On the other hand, no one needs a leader when there is nothing to fight for. Understanding this, we can see that this uprising needed both a reason and leader. Without the poverty of the townships like Soweto and the symbol of Biko, South Africa today would not be the same. After the Soweto Uprising and Biko’s murder many foreign businesses, being horrified, began to withdraw. Soon after, many nations made sanctions against South Africa. Nelson Mandela described him as “a product of his time, a proud representative of the reawakening of his people”. From the Soweto Uprising onwards, Apartheid began to collapse. That would have pleased Biko. As he said; “It is better to die for an idea that will live, than to live for an idea that will die”.
Biko’s final resting place in the Ginsberg township.
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“In time, we shall be in a position to bestow on South Africa the greatest possible gift- a more human face”-Steve Biko The Steward
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