Trade unions labour resistance

What was the immediate trigger for the 16 June 1976 march?

The Afrikaans medium policy, requiring Afrikaans instruction for half the subjects taught at Black high schools.

Who formed the Action Committee that planned the march, and when?

SASM, at a meeting on 13 June 1976; it was later renamed the Soweto Students' Representative Council.

What happened during the 16 June march itself?

Roughly 20000 students marched through Soweto, the government banned outdoor public meetings, and 13 year old Hector Pieterson became the first schoolchild killed.

What was the government's short term policy response in July 1976?

It backed down on the Afrikaans policy, though school disruption continued into the following year.

What was the overall human cost of the uprising?

Over a thousand people killed, mainly by police action, and many thousands wounded, with many student leaders detained.

What happened to SASM leaders during the uprising in terms of ANC contact?

They made contact with ANC leaders recently released from Robben Island.

How did the exiled ANC respond to the uprising while it was banned?

It kept contact with students and issued pamphlets during the uprising, even though BC ideas had inspired the protests.

What happened to students who left South Africa after the uprising?

Over 12000 students left to join the ANC in exile and receive military training, increasing sabotage activity inside South Africa.

What did Khotso Seatlholo of the SSRC argue in his 29 October 1976 statement, Source G?

That the current generation of students would take up the liberation struggle themselves.

How is the Soweto uprising characterised in terms of its significance to the National Party?

As the biggest and most sustained challenge the National Party had faced since coming to power in 1948.

What happened at Biko's funeral in September 1977, and why does it matter for understanding the uprising's aftermath?

Thousands of mourners raised clenched fists and chanted Power, around ten thousand heard speakers warn his death would push black South Africans toward violence, diplomats from thirteen Western nations attended, and police stopped mourners travelling from other cities from reaching the funeral.

Why did Bantu Education funding rise sharply between 1976 and 1978, and what does this suggest about the government's response?

From R78 million for 1976 to 1977 to R117 million for 1977 to 1978, suggesting a reactive attempt to address underlying grievances about school conditions after the uprising exposed them.