Nyanga school Principal’s office burnt

Updated: 23 Jun 2020

On 24 June 1976 the Principal's office in Hlengisi Primary, Nyanga, outside Cape Town is burnt down. The broader context of this is that on 16 June 1976 school children in Soweto, near Johannesburg, rose in protest against the oppressive new Bantu Education policy of Afrikaans as a teaching medium in their schools. Riots raged in the township for 3 days and quickly spread throughout the country. In Natal the University of Zululand's library and administration buildings were destroyed, while 33 people died in protests in Port Elizabeth. Cape Town also saw its share of violence, and by the end of September 92 people had died.

How we know this

01Image Source: Â© Photograph by Alf Kumalo
02National Youth Uprising., 'Youth and the National Liberation Struggle', from South African History Online, June 16, [online], Available at www.sahistory.org.za [Accessed: 13 June 2014]

Last updated · 23 Jun 2020

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). Nyanga school Principal’s office burnt. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012272

South African History Online (2011) 'Nyanga school Principal’s office burnt', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012272 (Accessed: 27 October 2026).

South African History Online, Nyanga school Principal’s office burnt [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012272, (accessed 27 October 2026).

"Nyanga school Principal’s office burnt." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012272. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "Nyanga school Principal’s office burnt." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0012272.