South African pupils reflect on Freedom Day, fighting racism

South African pupils reflect on Youth, Freedom and Racism Day as a prelude to Tuesday’s International Day of the African Child. It is a day set aside to honour those who participated in the Soweto Uprising on 16 June 1976.

“It’s youth day, it is the day Hector Pieterson and other learners from school didn’t want to do Afrikaans as their first language so they protested about it.”, Itumeleng Ponti, a 7th Grade pupil said.

For Mandisa Sibanda, “There are so many things in life that I want to do and now I’m able to do them because if the youth back then didn’t fight for what we have now, everything would still be the same.”

As current events unfold, the notion of freedom and racism has become obvious.

“In some places like America, I know there was no apartheid, but they’re still being racist towards other black people, like we saw with George Floyd”, added.

The International Day of the African Child is a timely occasion for world organizations to address challenges affecting children in Africa, a continent where nearly half the population are under 18 years of age.

AFP