Reflections on Youth Day 2025: The Power of History, Identity, and the Unfinished Revolution

A police officer watching learners protesting in 1976

By Tswelopele Makoe

This year marks 49 years since the Soweto Uprisings of June 16, 1976, a pivotal moment in South Africa’s liberation struggle. On that day, the courage of thousands of schoolchildren sparked a national rebellion that would forever change the course of the country.

Their resistance against the imposition of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction became a flashpoint in the broader fight against apartheid. Hundreds were killed, leaving behind a legacy of bravery and sacrifice that still resonates deeply with the South African conscience.

As we remember those young lives lost, we are reminded not only of the brutality they faced but of their enduring impact on South Africa’s democratic journey. Youth, as Nelson Mandela once said, is a time of revolt. That revolt, in 1976, helped shape the inclusive Constitution we have today. But nearly five decades later, the echoes of that uprising are still heard in classrooms, in protests, and in the lives of a new generation still confronting the injustices they inherited.

Language as Liberation and a Lingering Barrier

The recent passing of African literary icon Professor Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has brought renewed attention to the role of language in education and identity. His life’s work challenged the idea that African knowledge and history should be transmitted through colonial tongues. His argument was simple but powerful: Language is not neutral. It carries memory, culture, and identity. To deny people the right to learn and express themselves in their mother tongue is to rob them of dignity.

In South Africa, despite having 11 official languages, English and Afrikaans still dominate education, law, business, and media. Indigenous languages remain marginalised, deepening the racial, class, and educational divides. The youth of today are still grappling with the same questions of identity, access, and justice that haunted the 1976 generation.

This linguistic inequality is one of the many quiet violences that continue to plague our society. It’s not just about what language is spoken, it’s about whose stories are told, whose knowledge is validated, and whose lives are valued.

Dialogue Without Action Is Deflection

President Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced a forthcoming National Dialogue, a platform meant to engage South Africans on everything from state dysfunction and gender-based violence to unemployment and land reform. While the idea is noble, many young people are sceptical. South Africans have sat through too many elite conferences that yielded few real changes. Dialogue, without action, has become a stalling tactic.

For years now, university students and young activists have called for a decolonised education, an effort to make our institutions more inclusive and representative.

This is not just about syllabus changes. It’s about reforming the structures that continue to exclude the majority. At the heart of this struggle is language, again, standing as both a bridge and a barrier.

It is telling and tragic that the issues which ignited the 1976 protests are still relevant today. From #FeesMustFall to the battles over curriculum reform, young people continue to fight for an education system that truly reflects African realities and empowers African futures.

A Nation That Fails Its Youth

South Africa’s youth face a barrage of challenges. Unemployment, exclusion from decision-making spaces, inadequate access to healthcare and education, and a rising cost of living all contribute to a sense of hopelessness. But nothing underscores our national failure more than the prevalence of violence, especially against women and girls.

Each day, 115 women are raped. Each day, three are murdered by their intimate partners. Gun violence, abuse, and gender-based femicide have reached harrowing levels. The names—Olorato Mongale, Karabo Mokoena, Jayden-Lee Meek, Likhona Fose, and Davin Africa are only a few among countless others whose lives were violently cut short.

The government may have created frameworks to address gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), but implementation remains slow and ineffective. Until we treat the safety and well-being of youth especially young women as a national emergency, we are not honouring the legacy of June 16.

The Power and Promise of Today’s Youth

Yet, amid these challenges, South Africa’s youth continue to lead. They are not waiting to inherit the future they are shaping it now. From digital innovators and entrepreneurs to climate activists and community organisers, young people are breathing new life into every corner of society.

They are reimagining education, creating platforms for African voices, and building inclusive economies. They are driving change in the arts, film, music, and tech. They are blending tradition and modernity to forge a new identity, onethat honours the past but is not limited by it.

The rise in youth activism from LGBTQI+ rights to environmental justice, from faith-based social movements to grassroots health campaigns is a testament to a generation that is engaged, awake, and powerful.

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men,” said abolitionist Frederick Douglass. That wisdom still rings true.

To honour the spirit of June 16 is not just to remember those who died, it is to carry forward their mission. It means investing in our youth, listening to their voices, and enabling their leadership. It means dismantling the systems that exclude them and building a society worthy of their talents and dreams.

A Living Legacy

The fire that burned in the hearts of the 1976 youth still burns today. Back then, the youth were seen as rebels. Today, they are change-makers, disruptors, and visionaries. They are challenging every structure that tells them they don’t belong. They are refusing to inherit silence.

As Steve Biko warned, “The most potent weapon in the hands of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” But today’s youth are fighting to free their minds and, in doing so, free their country.

To truly honour Youth Day is to go beyond ceremonial speeches. It is to fuel the revolution that began in Soweto. The youth of 1976 lit the spark. The youth of today are keeping it alive.

As Winnie Madikizela-Mandela so powerfully said: “The power of the people is greater than the people in power.”

Tswelopele Makoe is a Gender & Social Justice Activist and Editor at Global South Media Network. She is a weekly columnist for the Sunday Independent and IOL, a researcher, and an Andrew W. Mellon Scholar at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice at UWC. Views expressed are her own.