Cape students demonstrate in solidarity with Soweto

Thousands of school students marched against compulsory Afrikaans instruction and Bantu Education. Police opened fire, killing Hector Pieterson, Hastings Ndlovu and others, and the revolt spread...

The uprising continued as young people and residents confronted police and symbols of apartheid authority. News of the killings drove solidarity protests elsewhere.

Students met to support the Soweto uprising and decided to boycott classes, helping carry youth resistance into the Western Cape.

About 20,000 residents marched along the Soweto Highway while students called on workers to stay away. The action connected student revolt with working-class power.

Protests and clashes reached Langa, Nyanga and Guguletu as young people in the Western Cape joined the national revolt against Bantu Education and apartheid rule.

An estimated 200,000 Coloured workers stayed away on 15 and 16 September, linking worker action to the expanding youth revolt.

Renewed confrontation showed that the June uprising had developed into a sustained challenge involving schools, workers and township communities.

Nine Black Consciousness activists were convicted after a lengthy political trial; six received six-year terms and three received five-year terms on Robben Island.

Security police re-arrested Biko under apartheid security laws as the state intensified repression of Black Consciousness after the 1976 uprising.

Biko was detained at a roadblock while travelling despite his banning order. He was taken into security police custody and interrogated.