/ 16 June 2005

Youth Day celebrated around the country

The Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum in Soweto is busier than it has ever been, with people turning out to celebrate Youth Day, its chief curator said on Thursday.

The museum preserves the memories of events surrounding a fateful march from the Morris Isaacson school in Orlando on June 16 1976 by school pupils against the apartheid government for imposing Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.

During the uprising police opened fire on pupils and Hector Peterson was one of the first children to be killed. The event marked a turning point in anti-government protests.

Ali Hlongwane said that due to next year’s 30th year anniversary of the youth uprising, visitors to the site are increasing and more events are taking place.

”The real rush will start at 10am, when the mayor and the families of the victims [of the Soweto riots] arrive,” he said. ”We are expecting about 300 to 500 people.”

The museum and memorial site in Johannesburg has been open for three years and is located in Orlando West, Soweto.

In other parts of the country, Youth Day, now a public holiday, was being celebrated with many rallies focusing on poor employment levels among youngsters.

President Thabo Mbeki is set to address a national rally in Kimberley, in the Northern Cape.

The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) rally will be held in Nelspruit in Mpumalanga and addressed by ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma and ANCYL president Fikile Mbalula.

Leaders of the Freedom Front Plus Youth will mark the day by walking from Pretoria to the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg where they will hand over a memorandum asking for the fair treatment of all young people.

The Azanian Peoples Organisation (Azapo) in Gauteng will hold a service dedicated to the memory of its late organiser and leader, Tsietsi Mashinini, who participated in the June 16 protest.

The Inkatha Freedom Front Youth Brigade will also celebrate the day at a rally in Soweto.

The National Youth Commission (NYC) called for accelerated youth employment, saying in a statement: ”Although freedom has brought many opportunities for the youth, they still face many challenges. Youth constitutes the majority of the unemployed in South Africa.” – Sapa