When the Soweto uprisings of June 1976 took place, Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu, the author of The Soweto Uprisings: Counter Memories of June 1976, was a 14-year-old pupil at Phefeni Junior Secondary School.

With his classmates, he was among the active participants in the protest action against the use of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction.

Contrary to the generally accepted views, both that the uprisings were ‘spontaneous’ and that there were bigger political players and student organisations behind the uprisings, Ndlovu’s book shows that this was not the case. Using newspaper articles, interviews with former fellow pupils and through his own personal account, Ndlovu provides us with a ‘counter-memory’ of the momentous events of that time.

This is an updated version of the book first published by Ravan Press in 1998. New material has been added, including an introduction to the new edition, as well as two new chapters analysing the historiography of the uprisings as well as reflecting on memory and commemoration as social, cultural and historical projects.

Click on the link above for more about the book.

Watch Ndlovu chatting about the book and its place in history:

Categories Non-fiction South Africa

Tags Pan Macmillan SA Ravan Press Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu The Soweto Uprisings Video