YOUTH DAY 2016

15 June 2016 : Tomorrow is Youth Day in South Africa which is commemorated with a public holiday (see some history at the bottom of my post).

Business Banking put out a challenge to the other divisions to dress in school uniform.  Unfortunately in Retail Banking we were not allowed to take part in this due to us being a client facing unit (although I am sure out clients would have enjoyed seeing our staff in school uniform!).

AML encouraged their staff to come to work in school uniform so Connor and his friends Dylan and Hendrik went all out ... Hendrik lent Connor a pair of shorts (although the last time Connor wore shorts to school was in primary school) and he wore his Matric jacket ~ They both shaved off their beards and looked like school boys as a result.  Hendrik is, in his own words, a strong Afrikaans boy who went to Florida Hoerskool and was used to wearing a 'short pant' to school.  Thankfully inside the office it was warm.

Dylan unfortunately didn't have a plain white shirt and if he had gone to school dressed with this shirt would have been in all sorts of trouble as Parktown Boys is known for their smart uniform code (my hunny went to Parktown Boys and can attest to that).

SOME HISTORY ON JUNE 16th : The June 16 1976 Uprising that began in Soweto and spread countrywide profoundly changed the socio-political landscape in South Africa. Events that triggered the uprising can be traced back to policies of the Apartheid government that resulted in the introduction of the Bantu Education Act in 1953. The rise of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) and the formation of South African Students Organisation (SASO) raised the political consciousness of many students while others joined the wave of anti-Apartheid sentiment within the student community. When the language of Afrikaans alongside English was made compulsory as a medium of instruction in schools in 1974, black students began mobilizing themselves. On 16 June 1976 between 3000 and 10 000 students mobilized by the South African Students Movement's Action Committee supported by the BCM marched peacefully to demonstrate and protest against the government’s directive. The march was meant to culminate at a rally in Orlando Stadium.
On their pathway they were met by heavily armed police who fired teargas and later live ammunition on demonstrating students. This resulted in a widespread revolt that turned into an uprising against the government. While the uprising began in Soweto, it spread across the country and carried on until the following year.
The aftermath of the events of June 16 1976 had dire consequences for the Apartheid government. Images of the police firing on peacefully demonstrating students led an international revulsion against South Africa as its brutality was exposed. Meanwhile, the weakened and exiled liberation movements received new recruits fleeing political persecution at home giving impetus to the struggle against Apartheid.