16 June 2026: Discussion/Lecture : The Day Apartheid Died

On June 16, 1976, a photograph by Sam Nzima went around the world. It shows 12-year-old Hector Pieterson, who had been shot by apartheid police, being carried away by an older classmate, Mbuyisa Makhubo.

That morning, protests had escalated against the introduction of Afrikaans - a language primarily used by white oppressors - as the language of instruction in township schools, to the detriment of indigenous languages. Thousands of young people had set out on a protest march. When they encountered a massive police presence, brutal scenes ensued; eventually, officers fired indiscriminately into the crowd, killing 176 people and wounding hundreds, some seriously. This marked the beginning of weeks of unrest and strikes that spread throughout South Africa. When the death toll was tallied at the end of 1976, the number of people killed was estimated at over 700.

In retrospect, these events are seen as marking the beginning of the decline of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Internationally, this development led to the UN condemning the regime, to a boycott of South African goods, and to a strengthening of global solidarity with the anti-apartheid struggle, particularly that of the ANC. After the end of the apartheid regime and the election of Nelson Mandela in April 1994, June 16 was declared a national holiday, Youth Day.

At this event, we want to discuss the events of 1976 and their impact with our guests. How do these events in South African history continue to resonate in today’s South African society? What influence did the Soweto Uprising have on the subsequent years of the liberation struggle? What is the significance of looking back today? South Africa continues to face major problems. Despite the formation of a coalition government, very high unemployment—especially among young people—the energy crisis, the water crisis, the challenges of climate change, and the land issue still demand solutions. Growing xenophobia is also a challenge for society. What future do younger people see in the present?

Featuring a video installation by …thabo thindi

Guests:

• Gugulethu Duma (aka Dumama) is a musician / composer / sonic poet / creative producer from the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Her practice plays with the deconstruction and critique of archaic modes of representation in Southern African/African sonic and performance culture. Her work has been presented at cultural institutions and festivals such as SAVVY Contemporary, Gropius Bau, Zeits Mocaa and many other curated events around South Africa, Senegal, Berlin and USA. As a curator and cultural organizer, Gugulethu intentionally works to bring artists together in workshops and performances centered around Embodied Social Justice, while unfolding and activating the voice(s) through unique narrative making processes.
• Anja Schade conducts research and teaches as a research associate at the University of Hildesheim. Her work focuses on the GDR’s relations with Southern Africa and the South African exile community in the GDR. As part of a project by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, she contributed in 2018–19 to the permanent exhibition at the Liliesleaf Museum in Johannesburg on the GDR’s solidarity with the South African liberation struggle. This project also resulted in the German-language publication “Apartheid No” and a web documentary of the same name.
• …thabo thindi is a South African filmmaker, actor, and performance artist, as well as the producer of the interview video series “Exile Faces,” which has been shown at venues including the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, the Werkstatt der Kulturen, and the South African Embassy. “Exile Faces” documents the life stories of South Africans who went into exile in Germany during the apartheid regime and continue to live here. …thabo thindi lives in Berlin.
• The event will be moderated by Gerd-Rüdiger Stephan, head of the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation’s international office in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Light refreshments will be served afterward.

Free admission. Doors open: 5:00 p.m.

The event is organized in collaboration with the Mayibuye Collective.