Drunken parties by adults wearing school uniforms and attending drunken parties to mark Youth Day this week have come in for harsh criticism.
Seth Mazibuko, one of the leaders of the June 16, 1976 Soweto uprisings, is one of the voices speaking out against what has become a Soweto tradition.
Over the years it has become fashionable on Youth Day for adults to organise parties or get-togethers where they all wear school uniforms and booze all day long.
“It just does not make sense to wear school uniform on the day to go and drink, and later want to cry foul when you see schoolchildren in their uniform doing the same,” cautioned Mazibuko.
“We need to respect the school uniform. All those who are planning on wearing a school uniform on the day just to go and drink need to ask themselves what kind of example they are setting for our young ones. It is like saying it is cool to imbibe when you are wearing school uniform.”
Mazibuko added: “People were killed on the day. It can never be right to commemorate the day by getting sloshed. We need to show some respect.”
Black Consciousness adherent Mbulelelo Keke is equally appalled. He said that after 1994, the ANC started having gigs at every June 16 commemoration, inviting kwaito groups and entertainers as a way of depoliticising the youth.