The police killing of protesters in Soweto on June 16 and 17 1976 had an impact much greater than the sprawling township that has always housed the majority of people who call Johannesburg, the city of gold, their home.
In the Hanover Park township on the other end of the country, where I was in high school, we decided to protest in support of the Soweto students, and against the police and the apartheid state. It was my introduction to the struggle against apartheid, which consumed the rest of my life as I morphed into adulthood.
Sadly, 50 years later, the struggle is continuing, albeit in slightly different forms to those we fought for and against. In many ways, despite the dangers of death and/or detention, it was easier to fight against apartheid. We knew the enemy, and we knew what we wanted to replace it with.
