Cry of the African Child

On the morning of June 16, 1976 about 20, 000 school children from Soweto marched against a racist administration that was systemically stripping them of their right to education.

Between 176 and 700 of them lost their lives on that day and in the subsequent two-weeks it took for the apartheid government to forcefully snuffle out the protests.

Blood had been spilt, young, innocent lives had been extinguished in an instant and the world was horrified. As the image of a dying Hector Pieterson became seared in the global conscience, a spirit even greater than the tragedy began to take root.

Editor's Comment
Human rights are sacred

It highlights the need to protect rights such as access to clean water, education, healthcare and freedom of expression.President Duma Boko, rightly honours past interventions from securing a dignified burial for Gaoberekwe Pitseng in the CKGR to promoting linguistic inclusion. Yet, they also expose a critical truth, that a nation cannot sustainably protect its people through ad hoc acts of compassion alone.It is time for both government and the...

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