The Hewat Teacher Training College in Athlone is set alight in solidarity with the UWC students on a boycott

Date: 6 Aug 1976
Updated: 30 Sep 2019

The Hewat Teacher Training College in Athlone is set alight in solidarity with the UWC students on a boycott

The Hewat Teacher Training College in Athlone was set alight in solidarity with the University of the Western Cape (UWC) students who convened a meeting on 2 August to express solidarity with the students of Soweto and decided to embark on a boycott of classes. Two days later, a fire destroyed classrooms and the principal's office at Struts Bay, Cape Town. The boycott raged on, and on 10 August a prefabricated building that was part of the Peninsula College for Advanced Technical Education was gutted, and there were three explosions at Die Goeiehoop (Goodhope) Primary School in Cape Town. Administrative buildings, beer halls, bottle stores or shops that had not yet been gutted were destroyed. The damage was estimated at R2 million in just 36 hours of fighting. Students in Cape Town also marched on 12 August. The University of Cape Town (UCT) provided one group that marched towards the centre of town, giving the Black Power salute to passing Blacks until stopped by the police. Seventy-three students were arrested.

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How we know this

01South African History Online, ‘UWC students convene a meeting to express solidarity with the students of Soweto and decide to embark on a boycott of classes’, [online], available at www.sahistory.org.za (Accessed: 19 July 2013)
02South African History Online, ‘Western Cape Youth Uprising timeline 1976’, [online] available at www.sahistory.org.za (Accessed: 22 July 2013)
03Thomas, C. ‘Mayibuye History and Literature Series no 75’, Mayibuye Books Bellville, in the JStore Journal, (1997) p 151.

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2013, July 26). The Hewat Teacher Training College in Athlone is set alight in solidarity with the UWC students on a boycott. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0096233

South African History Online (2013) 'The Hewat Teacher Training College in Athlone is set alight in solidarity with the UWC students on a boycott', South African History Online, 26 July. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0096233 (Accessed: 28 July 2026).

South African History Online, The Hewat Teacher Training College in Athlone is set alight in solidarity with the UWC students on a boycott [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0096233, (accessed 28 July 2026).

"The Hewat Teacher Training College in Athlone is set alight in solidarity with the UWC students on a boycott." South African History Online, 26 July 2013, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0096233. Accessed 28 July 2026.

South African History Online. "The Hewat Teacher Training College in Athlone is set alight in solidarity with the UWC students on a boycott." South African History Online. July 26, 2013. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0096233.