The Typewriter

Education in Apartheid South Africa:

The Soweto Uprising and Beverly Naidoo's

"The Typewriter"

Violence escalates, police patrol Soweto throughout

the night. 23 people were killed on the first day, including

12 year old Hector Pieterson. A photograph published in the newspaper becomes a symbol of the uprising.

The Typewriter is set approximately one week

after the June 16 uprising.

1974. Afrikaans medium decree

1953. Bantu education act

Images of the Soweto uprising

June 13, 1976. Student Action Committee

1963. Coloured Person's Education Act

Video credit: Jasam92

The act created separate educational systems for black children as opposed to other races (white, Indian, and Coloured). Black children were denied an education that would encourage them to hold positions of authority or power. Instead, they were given a curriculum that prepared them to serve their own people in the homelands or to work as labourers as whites. The government also stops funding black schools, and many mission schools close as a result.

This act created the Department of Coloured Affairs

to oversee the education of coloured children. These children

were banned from white schools.

This decree forced all black schools to

teach a 50-50 mix of English and Afrikaans. It was extremely unpopular, as

Arikaans was viewed among black South Africans to be the "language of the oppressor."

Student Teboho "Tsietsi" MacDonald Mashinin

calls for a meeting to discuss course of action. Students organize a mass rally for June 16 to protest

the use of Afrikaans in black schools.

June 17, 1976. Violence Continues

June 16, 1976. Soweto Uprising

1965. indian education act

April 30, 1976. Students strike

1,500 heavily armed police patrol Soweto.

Tensions run high and the violence continues.

Approximately 600 people were killed, and a

thousand wounded over the next few weeks.

Students at Orlando West Junior High

go on strike and refuse to go to school.

Thousands of black students march to Orlando stadium

for a rally. The protest was intended to be peaceful.

police had barricaded the route, so the march shifted directions. Some students threw stones, causing the police to fire into the crowd. Panic ensued.

The education of Indian children becomes

the responsibility of the Department of Indian

Affairs. There are now four separate, and unequal

education systems.

Students protest the Bantu Education Act, 1955. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Hector Pieterson is carried by his friend

during the Soweto uprising. Photo credit: http://laurenbeukes.book.co.za/blog/2009/07/08/cover-story/

Antionette Sithole, Hector Pieterson's sister, talks about her experience during the uprising.

Video credit: WSSUrampages