Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- Timeline
- Map Of South Africa
- Glossary
- Abbreviations
- Introduction: narratives of the student struggle
- Chapter 1 A brief history of the African Students’ Association
- Chapter 2 Youth and student culture: Riding resistance and imagining the future
- Chapter 3 The role of religion and theology in the organisation of student activists
- Chapter 4 Student organisation in Lehurutshe and the impact of Onkgopotse Abram Tiro
- Chapter 5 The University of the North: A regional and national centre of activism
- Chapter 6 Action and fire in Soweto, June 1976
- Chapter 7 What they shot in Alex
- Chapter 8 SASO and Black Consciousness, and the shift to congress politics
- Chapter 9 Youth politics and rural rebellion in Zebediela and other parts of the “homeland” of Lebowa, 1976–1977
- Chapter 10 My Journey, our journey: Activism at Ongoye University
- Chapter 11 ‘Let's begin to participate fully now in politics’: Student politics, Mhluzi township, 1970s
- Chapter 12 ‘They would remind you of 1960’: The emergence of radical student politics in the Vaal Triangle, 1972–1985
- Chapter 13 The ends of boycott
- Chapter 14 Fighting for ‘our little freedoms’: The evolution of student and youth politics in Phomolong township, Free State
- Chapter 15 ‘Every generation has its struggle’: A brief history of Equal Education, 2008–15
- Chapter 16 Contemporary student politics in South Africa: The rise of the black-led student movements of #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall in 2015
- Selected Bibliography
Chapter 11 - ‘Let's begin to participate fully now in politics’: Student politics, Mhluzi township, 1970s
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 April 2018
- Frontmatter
- Acknowledgements
- Contents
- Timeline
- Map Of South Africa
- Glossary
- Abbreviations
- Introduction: narratives of the student struggle
- Chapter 1 A brief history of the African Students’ Association
- Chapter 2 Youth and student culture: Riding resistance and imagining the future
- Chapter 3 The role of religion and theology in the organisation of student activists
- Chapter 4 Student organisation in Lehurutshe and the impact of Onkgopotse Abram Tiro
- Chapter 5 The University of the North: A regional and national centre of activism
- Chapter 6 Action and fire in Soweto, June 1976
- Chapter 7 What they shot in Alex
- Chapter 8 SASO and Black Consciousness, and the shift to congress politics
- Chapter 9 Youth politics and rural rebellion in Zebediela and other parts of the “homeland” of Lebowa, 1976–1977
- Chapter 10 My Journey, our journey: Activism at Ongoye University
- Chapter 11 ‘Let's begin to participate fully now in politics’: Student politics, Mhluzi township, 1970s
- Chapter 12 ‘They would remind you of 1960’: The emergence of radical student politics in the Vaal Triangle, 1972–1985
- Chapter 13 The ends of boycott
- Chapter 14 Fighting for ‘our little freedoms’: The evolution of student and youth politics in Phomolong township, Free State
- Chapter 15 ‘Every generation has its struggle’: A brief history of Equal Education, 2008–15
- Chapter 16 Contemporary student politics in South Africa: The rise of the black-led student movements of #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall in 2015
- Selected Bibliography
Summary
Five weeks after students in Soweto took to the streets in 1976 demonstrating against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction in African schools, Mhluzi township in Middelburg (Mpumalanga) erupted. The demonstration was spearheaded mainly by students from Sozama Secondary School and inaugurated a period of intense protest against schools and government institutions that continued episodically from July 1976 to May 1978. Various scholars, political commentators and activists have, over the years, extensively researched South African student politics, but the struggles in Mhluzi township have been largely ignored.
The Cillie Commission of Enquiry, headed by the then Supreme Court Judge President, Judge Piet Cillie, noted that ‘in comparison with other regions, the Eastern Transvaal saw very little rioting. Moreover, the riots were not of a very high intensity’. Similarly, Holden and Mathabatha argued that ‘the protests of 16 June 1976 had little impact in the region’. This was true for many areas in the region. Although some of the students in some areas in the Eastern Transvaal attempted to rise and demonstrate, this was largely sporadic and was quickly quelled by the police.
In this chapter I will argue that the reason for the intense demonstrations in Mhluzi was largely because some of the students, particularly the leaders, had been introduced to politics prior to the uprising. This enabled them to organise and sustain the demonstrations in the township. Furthermore, I will show that the role played by teachers adhering to the Black Consciousness (BC) philosophy, and students who studied outside South Africa, was crucial in conscientising some of the young people in Mhluzi.
Mhluzi township
Mhluzi is an African township in Middelburg, Mpumalanga province (formerly Eastern Transvaal). Middelburg, formerly called Nazareth, was proclaimed a new district in 1872. Coalfields were the main employment centres. Over the years it grew steadily. By the 1930s the African township, Mhluzi (meaning gravy in IsiZulu), had already been established. Unlike its neighbouring township Kwaguqa, in Witbank, Mhluzi seemed to have been a relatively quiet township politically. This changed, however, in the early 1970s. During this period, many young people in various townships across the country were being introduced to the teachings of BC.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Students Must RiseYouth struggle in South Africa before and beyond Soweto ’76, pp. 128 - 137Publisher: Wits University PressPrint publication year: 2016