Pupils reminded of sacrifice of 1976 Langa youth

LANGA’s pioneering youth are being remembered as being catalysts for change, almost 40 years after frustrations over conditions in the township caused them to march on the local police station.

The focal point of that protest on August 11, 1976, was Langa High School. Yesterday pupils there were reminded of the sacrifice of those, now probably their grandparents, at the school who organised themselves in a political vacuum, demanding their rights – armed with only their voices.

Chisa Katangana, 60, yesterday gave a short motivational address to the Langa High pupils. Afterwards he said the protest, two months after those in Soweto over the unilateral use of Afrikaans as a language of instruction, had started in Langa High over school fees.

“We were expelled for our parents’ failure to pay the fees, which at the time were R120 per quarter.”

What infuriated the youngsters was the embarrassment of having the names of those who had not paid their school fees being read out in class.

While they were not organised politically, the youngsters in the township came to the realisation that their situation had everything to do with South Africa’s politics at the time.

“Although we knew the ANC and the PAC were banned… there were no political organisations to which we belonged. We were just discussing our future and that of our country… those were things that motivated us.”

Deputy Human Settlements Minister Zou Kota-Fredericks said marking the start of Youth Month in Langa was important because Langa High was critical in the fight against apartheid and the school lost one of its pupil on August 11, 1976, when Xolile Musi was shot down by police as pupils marched on the police station.

“Young people are the future and they need to understand exactly where they come from so that they can be good leaders of tomorrow. The youth of tomorrow should continue to build on the legacy of June 16,” said Kota-Fredericks.

Meanwhile, Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille, speaking at the #YouthStartCT awards ceremony, said her administration had implemented “transversal youth development interventions”.

The City had budgeted R25 million this year for 107 initiatives and programmes, she said.