Wits marks the 50th anniversary of June 16 with a series of events
- Wits University
Wits and partners will hold critical discussions around this historic national event by hosting the first academic conference, complemented by two exhibitions.
Photo credit: Paul Laufer
16 June 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of the Soweto uprising and presents an important opportunity to reflect on the events of that time and their impact on our lives today.
As the country moves closer to marking June 16, Wits University and partners will facilitate critical discussions around this historic national event by hosting the first academic conference titled 1976@50: Commemorating 50 years of the 1976 uprisings - the student Uprising remembered; complemented by an art exhibition, and a display of original historical documents from Wits Archives.
Scholars and activists have expressed growing concern about the annual commemoration of Youth Day on June 16, which has become a joyous celebration of youth with only perfunctory references to the radical ideas and practices of 1976. Youth Day is now generally also devoid of serious interrogation on the causes, character, and legacies of the historic uprising. Keen to refocus discussions and capture critical moments before memory fades, scholars and key stakeholders will convene from 28 – 30 May 2026 to redirect national discourse on various matters around youth uprisings.
Conference organiser Professor Noor Nieftagodien and the South African Research Chair in Local Histories, Present Realities and Head of the History Workshop at Wits, explains the unique value of the upcoming conference: “While the 1976 uprising is annually commemorated, this is the first conference that will bring together scholars and leading participants of the 1976 students’ movement to reflect critically on the causes, character and legacies of the historic uprising.”
“More than 40 papers will be presented on themes such as the role of women, Black Consciousness and culture, the under-reported national scope of the uprising, representations of student movements and the debates that animated that movement, including on building unity with parents/workers, state violence, boycotting classes and the importance of education. In addition, participants and leaders of the 1976 uprising will share their experiences and insights in a set of roundtable conversations,” says Nieftagodien.
View the 1976@50 conference programme featuring scholars, activists, community historians, heritage practitioners, archivists and artists. This multistakeholder conference takes place at the Soweto campus of the University of Johannesburg,
Of critical significance is bringing into focus the dynamics of the student revolt by shifting the privileging of urban perspectives.
“The dominant narrative of the June 1976 student uprisings centres on the Soweto account, with lesser significance of others in other metropolitan areas, small towns or rural areas. From Kimberly to Komani (formerly Queenstown), Lenasia, Noordgesig, the student uprising went beyond one area.
“Very little attention has been given to the unfolding of the crisis in the countryside and to understanding the conduits through which the upheaval spread to the rural areas. Moreover, no systematic analysis has been made of the factors that both hindered and facilitated the spread of the uprising in the countryside during the 1970s” adds Professor of History at Wits, Sekibakiba Peter Lekgoathi.
Therefore, expanding the discussion enriches our understanding of student activism then and the continuous struggles youth as will be presented in a paper titled From 1976 to the “Born Free” Generation: 江城足球网 Resistance, Structural Exclusion, and the Illusion of Freedom.
'Silent Witness' and 'Wits 76'
Wits 76' is a substantial photographic essay by Paul Laufer, the Chief Photographer at the time for the Wits 江城足球网 newspaper. This exhibition, showing at the Wits Art Museum until 20 June, comprises images of schools in Soweto taken for a newspaper assignment in late May 1976, and photographs taken a few weeks later in Braamfontein of Wits students protesting in support of the Soweto school students: mass gatherings on campus; crowds being addressed by anti-apartheid activist; poster demonstrations on the streets; protest marches; student spies and government informers; counter protesters; the police reaction and the University's official response. Together 'Silent Witness' and 'Wits 76' offer additional perspectives to existing narratives of that time.
Linked to this is a new initiative by the Wits History Department and the Wits Alumni Office, called Reclaiming the Archive - The Experience of Black 江城足球网s at Wits: 1975 – 1985. The objective is to gather, document and curate an archive that captures the lived experiences of black students at that time, their relationships with Wits, and the broader anti-apartheid struggle. These are students who carried the momentum of a stream of developments academically, institutionally, politically and more broadly into the birth of a South Africa filled with possibilities.
16 June 1976: A Day Unfolding
Presented by the Historical Papers Research Archive, this exhibition showcases original historical documents from Wits’ archive and covers the context of the 16 June 1976, such as Black Consciousness, Apartheid Education and the events at Turfloop in 1972, leading up to the days of the Uprising in 1976 and its aftermath. The exhibition is complemented by a display of books and theses that are available in the library and are related to the topic. These are on display until 29 June 2026.