On the 15th June 1976, Soweto was engulfed in riots between police and civilians. These riots were as a result of protests that some subjects at school were to be taught in Afrikaans. Disorder spread throughout South Africa. Despite the overwhelming black majority in South Africa, the governing white body imposed legislature that demoralized the indigenous population.

Hector Peterson was the first person to be killed in the riots. He was 16 years of age. A memorial has been erected in the heart of Soweto as a reminder of the loss of lives throughout this period of history.

With Nelson Mandela's release from prison in 1990 and his subsequent inauguration as the first democratically elected State President of South Africa in 1994, apartheid has been dismantled. All the same, there is still strong racial tension in this country. It will be some time still before the new South Africa becomes racially tolerant.


In October 1997, I travelled through parts of South Africa with my father. We had a wonderful opportunity to tour Soweto and meet some of the colourful personalities that make this township such a beautiful place.

"I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die."

Nelson Mendela, 1962 just prior to imprisonment.

Nelson Mandela accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993