Youth activism has always been a force to reckon with in South Africa, driving significant social and political change to dismantle the oppressive laws of Apartheid, and things were no different over the weekend as a group of learners from Leondale High School re-visited this significant moment in history during a blow-by-blow tour of historic sites in Soweto.
The tour was significant to the learners, and equally so to the chairperson of the World Changers Candidate (WCC), Lucas Mahlakgane, who initiated the exercise with one thing in mind; to inspire the youngsters to take into their in their own hands the fight against drugs, a new form of struggle that while he acknowledges has remained the legacy of Apartheid, says it’s keeping multitudes of young people as slaves.
“Look at this, this is powerful,” Mahlakgane says as he points to a framed wall picture showing the peacefully protesting students holding a placard with the words ‘today is the burial of boere taal’, decrying the forced use of Afrikaans as the language of instruction for all black learners in schools at the time. “For you guys ‘today is not the end of boere taal, it’s the end of drugs use in schools,” he adds.
The visit – to key sites linked to the Soweto Uprising of June 1976 – was led by the Soweto-born struggle activist Mosala Mosegomi, author of ‘Soweto Explodes: The Beginning of The End of Apartheid‘, who experienced the harsh realities of life under Apartheid South Africa, then a student teenage activist.
Morris Issacson High School in Central Western Jabavu was the first stop, followed byTsietsi Mashinini Museum. Next was the Hector Pieterson Memorial Centre in Orlando West, before culminating at the June 16 Museum in Jabavu.
The tour forms part of the WCC Elders-Youth Development Program, aimed at providing young people with a sense of purpose while addressing important issues affecting their wellbeing, top among them being substance abuse.
The school involved, Leondale High, has faced challenges with drug use in the past. In 2022, the school drew attention when a video of students smoking marijuana on the premises went viral.
Months later, the South African anti-drug NPO (WCC) was brought in to work with the school and introduce an outreach program as part of the organisation’s broader effort to combat substance use and addiction in schools and communities across the country.
Empowering learners – and young women – as change agents
The highly-educational tour serves as an example of how communities can come together to learn from the past, build a better future, and address pressing issues that affect young people today.
The learners participating had, a month earlier, led the launch of a Change.org petition by the organisation (WCC) advocating for drug law reform.
The petition was officially launched on June 26 (2024), which coincided with the World Drug Day to highlight the ongoing drug challenges in South Africa, in particular the lenient drug trafficking sentences.
In recent weeks, the country has experienced a number of major drug trafficking busts, including a R2 billion meth lab found on Saturday, July 19 in Limpopo. A total arrest of nine drug mules were recorded by the South African authorities in the past two months with more than R13m worth of drugs confiscated, including a month later the arrest of a Nigerian man attempting to smuggle cocaine through OR Tambo Airport – from Brazil.
Precursor to WCC’s 2025 international leadership program
Thanks to the World Changers Candidate’s ongoing youth ambassador program aimed at developing a cadre of young adults across the Gauteng province, the tour also showcased the leadership of three learners; Refiloe Pete, Kwanda Dhlamini and notably Omogolo Phirisi, a 17-year-old fellow learner from Leondale High who has been chosen to participate in the UN Best Diplomats Conference in New York in March 2025.
This conference is a simulation of the United Nations that allows young people from around the world to learn about international relations, diplomacy and the principles of the UN.
Omogolo’s participation demonstrates the program’s commitment to empowering young women to be leaders and change-makers in their communities and beyond.
