June 16, 1976. Young people changed the direction of a country.
The students who marched in Soweto were protesting a directive that would have forced Black students to be taught in Afrikaans — a language most of them did not speak. They were demanding the right to learn in a language they could understand. Many of them were teenagers. The response from the apartheid government was live ammunition.
What happened that day became a turning point. The Soweto Uprising drew international attention to the brutality of apartheid in a way that had not been seen before. The students who marched paid an enormous price. Their courage became part of the foundation on which post-apartheid South Africa was eventually built.
South Africa marks Youth Day today in memory of those students and in recognition of what the next generation inherits and builds. At Curacel, operating across Africa and building infrastructure that financial services will run on for decades, we think about the next generation often. The systems being built now are the ones they will use, improve, and eventually replace.
To our team members, partners, and communities in South Africa: we stand with the youth of this continent.
Happy Youth Day from the Curacel family.
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