Yesterday, South Africa commemorated the event which saw the beginning-of-the-end of Apartheid. On that fateful day, the school students of the class of 1976 stood up against the apartheid regime to protest against the Bantu education laws which were imposed on them, especially the law being enforced that Afrikaans should be the medium of instruction.

The role the youth had played that day, with some devastating consequences, accelerated the fall Apartheid’s oppressive regime. This day, still holds a lot of meaning and hope for South Africa’s new generation. At the Johannesburg Stadium yesterday, many youths gathered in droves to commemorate the fallen heroes of 1976.

President Mbeki, speaking at the University of the Western Cape, had said “Whereas the youth of 1976 went into exile to train as soldiers of liberation, the youth of today should go to school and college or university to acquire the skills they would use for their advancement and the development of our country and continent.” Even former President Nelson Mandela had a message for the youth, he said that the youth should use the freedom and democracy they have and “not lose sight of our dream,” he also said that all South Africans, including the youth should “continue to promote the principle of relentless freedom and democracy.”

Youth Day was celebrated under the shadow of the recent xenophobic attacks on foreigners. Mbazima Shilowa, the Gauteng Premier, said at the Johannesburg stadium “Today’s youth must look towards the youth of 1976 to find solutions to the challenges they are facing.” Hector Pietersen, immortalized in the famous photograph of him being carried by a fellow student during the Soweto Uprising, stuck in the minds of all South Africans today as they remembered the past and searched for solutions to achieve a brighter, less violent, future for the country.

Of the many people which remembered that day, there were a few who have really thought about the role of South Africans in the light of their vibrant past. The Front Line points out that the South African point of view needs to encompass all aspects of oppression. He says that South Africans have a responsibility, because of their overcoming of the oppressive regime of Apartheid, to fight against oppression not only in their own country but in other places world-wide. The Front Line specifically points to examples like Mohammed al Dura who was shot down by Israeli fire in Palestine and Victor Hugo Daza who was killed in protests against Bechtel in Cochabamba, Bolivia.

On a lighter note, Hayibo.com exposes the complacency of today’s youth who are only concerned with materialism and instant gratification. He questioned the role they played in yesterday’s remembrance of 1976 by satirically stating that the 10 seconds silence they probably held in commemoration was “to help us remember that not everybody always had an iPod.”

Whichever way they swayed, the youth have a tough time ahead of them in South Africa, the responsibility will sooner or later fall on their shoulders and the future of the country will rest with them. My take on this is that the youth need to wake up, get educated and get active like only the power of youth can do. The real change lies with them and the question of which direction that change will go lies squarely with them as well.

Youth day provides us with a glimpse of how great the human spirit can be at eradicating evil; let’s hope we can achieve this greatness again.

“Today we are enjoying the fruits of democracy of because of their bravery.” - Owen Sithuka, 14, from Orlando in Soweto