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For Bokang Galogakoe, a candidate legal practitioner at the Centre for Environmental Rights (CER), Youth Day is a reflection on progress and a reminder of unfinished work.

From liberation to climate justice: Young lawyers reflect on Youth Day

Fifty years after schoolchildren took to the streets of Soweto in 1976 demanding dignity, equality and a voice in their future, young environmental lawyers say the promises of…

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.

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…

Honour: The children and young people of 1976 saw through the ruse too and drew a line in the sand. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy

It is our turn to courageously repay the debt we owe to June 16 champions

Professor Thuli Madonsela reflects on the profound debt owed to the children and young people who confronted the apartheid state on June 16, 1976. She explores whether their…

Responsibility: Seth Mazibuko and the author. He fought an unjust system and committed to erect a just one. Photo: Jacques Naude/ANA

June 16: A book versus a bullet

Seth Mazibuko, the youngest member of the students' committee that led the peaceful protest in Soweto, shares his poignant memories of the June 16 Uprising, reflecting on its…

New generation: The Fees Must Fall movement elevated demands for accessible, free higher education to the centre of national discourse.

Frantz Fanon: Every generation must discover its mission or betray it

From the political stagnation of 1944 to the economic exclusion of today, every generation of young South Africans has faced unique challenges. This article explores their…

Dying to learn: Several student leaders, such as Mthuli ka Shezi in 1972, were murdered under suspicious circumstances. The bizarre possibility of being killed because you wanted to go to school and be educated was palpable in those years. Photos: Azapo

A generation pushed against the wall

The 1976 Soweto Uprising, sparked by protests against Afrikaans as a medium of instruction, was a pivotal moment rooted in a long history of resistance. This article explores the…

Emotional texture: Zilungile Mbombo, Mfuneli Ntumbuka and Alex
Sono. The script is sharp, witty and moving. Photos: Fiona MacPherson

‘Rise ’76’ confronts a generation haunted by how little it has done with its inherited freedom

A powerful and emotionally layered theatrical work revisits the 1976 Soweto Uprising through testimony, memory, contradiction and unresolved generational grief

ROOM WITH A VIEW: Ndiviwe Mphothulo at home in Glenvista, not far from where he grew up in Jabavu in Soweto. (Sean Christie)

At 16, he mediated a highjacking. Now he’s negotiating for the survival of HIV programmes

Ndiviwe Mphothulo, a medical doctor and president of the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society, is trying to make sure the Trump administration’s funding cuts don’t collapse…

The #FeesMustFall protests in 2015 defining moments of recent youth activism in South Africa.

Selective activism: A problem for South Africa’s youth

To make their voices heard, young people must be more selective in the issues they support and need to put in the hard work

Eskom is inadvertently helping drive the global sustainable energy movement by rapidly pricing South Africans out of the grid energy market.  Photo: Waldo Swiegers/Getty Images

SA’s landmark youth-led climate case challenges new coal power plans

Applicants in the Cancel Coal case say the state’s plan threatens several constitutional rights, including the health and well-being of present and future generations

The municipality is the coalface of service delivery — this is where citizens experience value for their votes, taxes and rates. It is one of the single most important spheres of governance, which cannot afford such vulnerability. (Darren Stewart/Gallo Images)

Local government reform: strengthening democracy in a coalition era

With the advent of coalition politics at local and national level, policies are needed that help to maintain stability