JUNE 16 brings mixed emotions for former student activists who led the youth in 1976.
Tshifhiwa Maumela (61), a former student activist and High Court judge, saidhe wouldn’t be a man of the law if it wasn’t for the pain he suffered when he was being tortured during his arrest.
When he was arrested in 1977, Maumela was handcuffed and had his hair pulled off by security police.
He told Daily Sun: “I felt a deep pain and told myself I’d never cut my hair because of the pain I suffered.
“I didn’t want to be a man of the law before my arrest.
“I studied law to speak against ill-treatment of apartheid.
“In Limpopo the protest didn’t really start in 1976. In 1977, a mass gathering was dispersed by police, leaving students very furious.
“We retaliated by stoning police vans and proceeded to government offices in Makwarela and burnt them down, but there were no fatalities.”
Maumela said even though June 16 wasn’t recognised before 1994, they had a way of celebrating the fallen heroes of 1976.
“We met in the evenings, but there were some who were forced to spy on us and sell us out to the police.
“What’s sad today is that all that the black child fought for is benefitting the minority.”
