Soweto uprising June 16, 1976, remembering the past

Forty years have passed since June 16, 1976, turned into a bloody day for young students of Soweto. It all began during 1975 when the Regional Director of Bantu Education called for the practice of Afrikaans language in schools for certain subjects, including mathematics. A call for natural indigenous languages to be used for music, social lessons and religion that was unacceptable the students believed.

It was a time when there was the worldwide growth of resentment toward the South African apartheid system, the increase of 'black power' in the USA, and the impact of colonialism in Africa caused the system to show visible signs of weakening in the early 1970's. The black students, in particular, associated Afrikaans with Apartheid, and as English was a prominent language worldwide, they preferred English with a native African language as the official languages. This compelling instruction remained widely criticized, and teachers at that time raised concerns and said Afrikaans would discourage critical thinking.

 

It was during April 1976 that the students of Orland West Junior School went on strike and refused to go to school over the resentment of the Afrikaans language. Soon the rebellious students action began to impact on other schools who started to join the protest. The students demanded to be taught in English and said that they deserved to be taught equally to white children. Secret meetings and plans to have their voice be heard by the oppressive apartheid government took place during the following months. June 16, was the date set for a peaceful march to demonstrate the unity and power for change.

On June 16, 1976, an estimated 20 000 black students took to the streets and marched toward Orlando Stadium to protest against the use of the Afrikaans language in local schools.  The police had barricaded the roads, and the students advanced along another route. Several teachers marching alongside the children told them not to annoy the cops, and the students continued to wave placards as they walked to their destination. Waving banners with slogans such as "down with Afrikaans", and Vivi Azania", and the classic one, "if we must do Afrikaans, Voster must do Zulu".

It was supposed to be a peaceful protest, but the agitation of the students became evident when they began to throw stones at the police officers. A warning shot was fired by the police and that caused the students to panic. Screaming children started to run, and more stones were thrown in the direction of the police. Police dogs were let loose in an attempt to control the rioting, but the students stoned the dogs to death. The police fired more shots as the situation worsened and lives were placed in danger. Yes, the police fired shots at the children and the first child to die in the uprising was 13-year-old Hector Pieterson. It is his death that became the symbol of the Soweto uprising where 176 students lost their lives.

It was a day that turned into a war zone, between angered students and the police. A day when hospitals could not cope with the wounded and bloodied people. A day when the apartheid government set up emergency clinics to assist with the devastation of an unfortunate event. Nobody remembers the selfless acts of kindness.

The chilling events of June 16, 1975, heightened the separation between the internal and external conflicts of South Africa. A turning point for the South African Government to transform the apartheid system and yield to international pressure.

What is forgotten is how many white South Africans condemned the action and staged marches through the City of Johannesburg protesting the killing of the children. The country was fuming, and riots broke out in townships causing an escalation of the conflict. 

International condemnation of these acts caused the country to be viewed negatively around the world. The internal chaos triggered the currency devaluation and plunged the government into a crisis.  Drastic measures to remedy this misery and economic instability became a curse for the state. The black resistance grew, and the government could not restore peace and social stability of the early 1970's.

The ANC continued their fight for freedom printed and distributed leaflets with the slogan "Free Mandela, Hang Voster". The ANC established a leading role in the struggle for democracy. The ANC requested the world to take action and impose sanctions against the apartheid regime.

The radical rise of political instability to the apartheid system and the strengthening international boycott since the uprising in Soweto became a reality for the government when their attempts to rectify the injustices failed.  The 1970’s and 1980’s claimed the lives of innocent people around the country. The ANC terrorist group and the Apartheid government used horrifying methods in the fight for freedom.

We tend to forget the innocent people who died and the severely wounded ones, from the actions of both regimes fighting for control. The ANC took responsibility for several bomb blasts around the country during this time where both white and black people lost their lives. We remember the students but are inclined to forget the others who died just as violently as they did.

After his release from prison in 1990, Nelson Mandela said he acknowledged the debt owed by all black South Africans to students who lost their lives on June 16, 1976. No reference was uttered of the white, colored or Indian people who died during this dramatic turning point for freedom of South Africa.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu referred to Afrikaans as the language of the oppressor. Forty years have passed, and Afrikaans is still in use, and the born-free students continue to protest by burning down schools, universities and destroying property. What has changed since the Soweto uprising, especially for students? Education is no better now, and protests are the norm. South Africa, the apartheid system was wrong, as so is being ruled by a government that keeps people oppressed.

Laura Oneale  - published on South Africa Today – South Africa News

Shocking hate crimes - farm murders - in South Africa

And the world looks away.  You can shout from the mountains and hilltops calling for the media to help, but there is none. March 2009, the story of a gruesome killing, a deliberate hate crime can be described as pure terrorism and genocide on innocent humans.  The story contains graphic details of one of the most horrifying hate crimes in South Africa. 

One of the most shocking recent examples of two anti-white racist hate-crimes were the 6 March 2009 torture murders of Mrs. Alice Lotter, 76, and her unmarried daughter Helen, 57,
which caused a wave of abhorrence amongst the entire white community because of its incredible cruelty. 

The women, both frail, were tortured to death at their farm in Allenridge near Welkom in the Free State. Their home was located several hundred meters from the Allenridge police station.
According to forensic evidence, the Lotter mother and daughter had died excruciatingly painful deaths: first tortured reportedly for hours, by being stabbed with broken glass bottles into their vaginas. One of the women also had her breasts cut off while she was still alive – and then both women’s blood, police forensic experts found, had been used to paint the ANC’s anti-Afrikaner hate slogan ‘Kill the Boer Kill the Farmer’ on the walls of their homestead. They were then allegedly killed by strangulation: i.e. they were hanged after their excruciating torture.

Reportedly, their sexual body parts were partially harvested and allegedly sold to a witch doctor to manufacture 'traditional African medicine' with the human tissue.

However this specific detail -- although reported by the police -- was not mentioned during the trials in the Odendaalsrust magistrate's court, and in the Welkom High Court -- and there was no report that the witchdoctor had ever been arrested for purchasing the harvested tissue.

Medical examiners testified that the victims wombs were so shredded that they were completely missing as were parts of their breasts. They tortured the women with broken beer bottles, stabbed into their anuses and vaginas - and their wombs.

Testimony by Police officer who found the mother, description of injuries:
Pieces of fat the size of a man’s hand were sliced off the body of tortured farm woman Helen Lotter, and she was stabbed in her vagina and anus with a broken beer bottle.
WELKOM. “Miss Helen Lotter was so severely injured (during an attack on her Annandale, Free State farm) that I found two large pieces of her body-fat the size of my hand lying next to her on the kitchen floor where she was found covered in blood. ‘ This was the testimony by SAPS warrant-officer Frederik Meintjies, a photographer for the SAPS criminal-records center. He photographed the crime scene shortly after the cruel mutilation-murders of Boer women Mrs. Alice Lotter, 78, and her daughter Ms. Helen Lotter, 57 on March 6, 2009, at their Allenridge, Free State homestead. The cruelly-mutilated mother and daughter were still alive and in excruciating pain when the police team arrived. They died later in hospital.

Earlier statements from experienced, tough police officers and paramedics also noted that the murders of the Lotter women were the ‘most brutal crime scene they had ever witnessed.”
The accused denied all charges. 

NOW the public has assistance when it comes to reporting hate crimes, thanks to the Hate Crimes Working Group (HCWG) The HCWG is a multi-sectoral network of civil society organizations set up to spearhead advocacy and reform initiatives about hate crimes in South Africa. HCWG have given the following recommendations.

We need to educate people on the following:

South Africa has a place you can report hate crimes.

1) Look up the criteria what hate crimes are.

2) Then educate yourselves.

3) So that you can report hate crimes at this South African site.

Here is a link to the website:Hate Crimes Working Group

Published today on South Africa Today – South Africa News

Too dangerous to raise children in South Africa

President Jacob Zuma once said, “Education enables people to move forward.” Zuma said that countries that did not focus on education were left behind. “Nations investing in education will always succeed and find a prosperous future,” he said.

Why would a president make such a bold statement and not focus on the real crisis? The crisis that South Africa is the worst country and the most dangerous place for children to live, under the current conditions. It has been 22 years of “democracy” and for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to release a damning report communicates the present day danger. A danger most people are aware of and one the government chooses to ignore. The government is not building the country; it is slowly tearing it down.

The UNICEF report recently revealed that South Africa is now rated as the worst country in the world to raise your children in. In yet another shocking example of how much South Africa has fallen under Jacob Zuma, it was revealed that 77 of every 100 000 children die at school in South Africa. The highest in the world. That’s higher than China, Russia, Ukraine, DRC, Somalia or Brazil.

The report listed that violence impacted on education. Fear and threats were a contribution for a large number of failures and children not seeking to continue receiving an education. Intimidation is a factor and bullies are the hoodlums that abuse the school system.

Another problem listed in the report was the dangerous routes children had to take to get to school. Often the children were forcefully distracted and recruited into criminal activities. Drugs is a major problem that the government chooses to ignore. Poor infrastructure, not enough schools, no text books, no education!

In the scathing report, Jacob Zuma was to blame for turning South Africa into one of the world’s worse countries. Education and health issues are not addressed by the government, yet the corruption that is openly managed is the indication of a failing system.

The report touched on the racism, intimidation and culture of violence against minorities in South Africa. A belief that these practices are nurtured by the ANC to keep voters distracted from the real situation.

The death toll for South African children was listed as the worst in the world with approximately 76 deaths per 100 000. While deaths of children in the United States was placed at 12 childern per 100000 die and this includes infanticide. It is shocking, and the government ignores the situation.

Zuma said, “nations that invest in education will succeed.” The question is why Zuma and his cabinet do not practice what they preach?

Laura Oneale  - published today on  - South Africa Today – South Africa News

SABC websites were hacked today with a huge DDOS attack

All SABC websites were hacked today with a huge DDOS attack.
Hacktivist group – Anonymous have claimed responsibility.

 

Anonymous Africa says that the online attack is a retaliation for the national broadcaster’s decision to censor news coverage.

A statement from Anonymous said: “We will stop the attacks at SABC (for now) at 4pm. We are not done yet‚ lots of action coming. Things are going to get wild.”


Meanwhile‚ SABC spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago was quoted on Sunday afternoon as saying that the broadcaster was still looking into the alleged cyber attack.
“I need to check with the head of IT‚” Kganyago said to Fin24 when he was contacted for comment on Sunday afternoon.

Anonymous Africa is also alleged to have hacked and taken down the website of the Economic Freedom Fighters in the early hours of Sunday‚ but this could not immediately be confirmed.
South Africa Today – South Africa News

What a difference 22 two years have made – part 2 - VIDEO

The old South African army was a force to be reckoned with,  diligent, hardworking soldiers, who did their duty and protected the country. The young lads who lost their lives protecting the borders during the guerilla warfare will not be forgotten. 

The army had to confront external threats and internal unrest that escalated to an armed confrontation between the state and liberation forces. An army that we will remember with pride. What is a real pity is that the old South African army which received high accolades in WW2 has been reduced to a new corrupt force of villains?

Watch the video of the old South African army.

Back to the future. Jacob Zuma once said South Africa has built a new army out of the ashes of the old apartheid forces. A force that terrorized black people.  Whatever did Zuma mean by the “Ashes,” probably that the army was too forceful and had to be killed? Now it is Zuma’s army.

Watch the “Hell March” video of the new SANDF.   It is a joke, they are so out of shape, it's scandalous.

Not to forget the fraud, corruption, and abuse in the new army.  There is the story published last year about the SA Army's Infantry School in Oudtshoorn. Army instructors were physically jumping on the backs and chests of not only male but female recruits. Many were refused medical attention, and the racist verbal abuse was shocking.

Bantu Holomisa Chairperson of the SANDF Service Commission said in a statement during March 2014 that the army is in a state of decline.  The situation is so bad that the army would not even be able to contain an internal revolt within its borders. After this report was issued, the SANDF refused to comment on claims made by defense experts or the media.  

Would Holomisa make up a story about the new defense force, I do not believe that he would. There is far too many imperfections in the army today; basic training is outrageous, labor problems and a lack of intelligence capability to name but a few. The ANC have done a marvelous job with the army. There is a vast difference between the old South African army and the new, in only 22 years, what is going to happen in the next decade. 

Laura Oneale - published on South Africa Today – South Africa News

Read the first article as well.  "What a difference 20 years have made"