Police increase their presence in Soweto

Following the 16 June 1976 Soweto protest and the killing and injuring of student protesters by the indiscriminate use of firearms by the police, the government was faced with a looming crisis. The government response was to rushed in a large force of policemen into Soweto. About 1 500 police officers, carrying a variety of automatic rifles, stun guns and carbines, patrolled the vast township. The South African Defence Force army was also on standby in case the student and community reaction became too great for the police to handle. However, the police presence and there use of live ammunition against young protesting students, heighten the all ready volatile situation in and around Soweto. The events in Soweto was televised on the new launched television channel and around the world. South Africa and the world were outraged. On the 17 th 300 White students from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) staged an illegal marched through Johannesburg's city centre in solidarity with the Soweto students.