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Unabashedly sassy: Nkoli is a vogue-opera that blends opera singing with a live orchestra, rapping, lip-syncing and voguing. Photo: Supplied
SOUTH AFRICAN THEATRE

‘You strike a queer, you strike a rock’: How ‘Nkoli’ revives the legacy of Simon Nkoli

A vibrant vogue-opera celebrates anti-apartheid and LGBTQ+ activist Simon Nkoli, blending history, spectacle and political resistance with dazzling theatrical flair. The…

  • Aarti Bhana
6 min read
EDUCATION

Education for liberation, dignity and empowerment: A call to action

This article reflects on three significant anniversaries: 70 years since the women's march against pass laws, 50 years since the 1976 Soweto uprising, and 30 years of South…

  • Ohara Ngoma-Diseko
11 min read
Non-racial: Market Theatre co-founders Mannie Manim and Barney Simon in 1976. Photo: Gisèle Wulfsohn
SOUTH AFRICAN THEATRE

Nearly 50 years on, the Market Theatre is still holding up a mirror to South Africa

Three days after the historic Soweto Uprising in 1976, the Market Theatre opened its doors in Johannesburg, becoming a vital space for artistic expression and resistance against…

  • Lesego Chepape
13 min read
The book foregrounds “the experiences, the ideas and the reflections of people who were actual participants in 1976, both leading figures but also young people who, on the morning of June 16th, did not see themselves as political activists,” says the author. Photo: Historical Papers Research Archive, University of the Witwatersrand South Africa.
SOUTH AFRICA

The uprising they turned into a party: What Youth Day keeps getting wrong

Every June 16th, South Africa celebrates Youth Day with music and speeches, often reposting the iconic image of Hector Pieterson. But historian Noor Nieftagodien argues these…

  • Kibo Ngowi
8 min read
A new struggle: The 1976 pupils wanted to dismantle Bantu education. The 2016 #FeesMustFall students, wanting a seat at Wits and UCT, were fighting for access to a system 1976 rejected. File Photo
SOWETO UPRISING

The Arc betrayed

The 1976 generation fought against Bantu Education for liberation, but their grandchildren, born after 1994, navigate a different landscape. This article explores whether the…

  • Sandile Memela
11 min read