Post-apartheid South Africa: 50 years after Soweto riots, what has changed? 

It is 50 years since the Soweto rebellion in South Africa, when Black students rose up in their numbers to protest the oppressive policies of the apartheid government.

Clad in nothing but their uniforms, the students braved bullets, police dogs and detention. What began as student strikes in one school soon spread through the city of Johannesburg and evolved into mass riots that turned violent. Several lives were lost, but the protests were largely a success as the policies they campaigned against were ultimately rolled back.

Although the 1976 Soweto uprising occurred 18 years before the fall of apartheid, this is widely seen as a pivotal moment in South African history, one of several that put intense pressure on the white minority government and paved the way for the country’s rebirth in 1994.

However, despite the celebratory mood in the country, the anniversary is overshadowed by multiple crises.

Africa’s biggest and most advanced economy is in the grips of high levels of poverty, unemployment and crime, with the Black majority community suffering the worst of the consequences.

In recent weeks, some South Africans have turned on African migrants, protesting their stay and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of migrants by other African nations.

“Exactly 50 years later, as young South Africans, you face a different challenge: finding your place in an economy that has for too long kept its doors closed,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a Monday statement to young people.

Here’s what happened in the Soweto uprising that the nation is commemorating today:

What happened in 1976?

No image captured the Soweto riots that began on June 16 and lasted till June 18 like the portrait of a man carrying a dying schoolboy who’d been shot as his distressed older sister, also in school uniform, runs, crying beside them.

That boy, 12-year-old Zolile Hector Pieterson, was one of thousands of students who had gathered in Soweto to protest new policies that forced Black students to learn in English and Afrikaans, the language of the Afrikaner-dominated government. Up until then, students were taught in English and local languages such as Xhosa and Zulu.

In apartheid South Africa, which existed from 1948 to 1994, the government rigidly separated racial groups in schools, with Blacks barred from going to white-only areas or entering white-only schools.

The quality of education set for Black children at the time was subpar, calculated to underskill them: they were only trained for manual labour and menial jobs. So when the government introduced the language policy, which made Afrikaans the compulsory medium of instruction in Black schools in early 1975, it was the final straw.

“I knew something was going to happen,” said Thami Ntenteni, who was a teacher at one of the schools involved in the protest, recollecting the tensions at the time. A member of the liberation African National Congress’s military wing, he was forced into exile in the Soviet Union some months before the march. The language policy “was very sensitive among students but also teachers”, he said.

On June 16, thousands of school students began a peaceful march in Soweto. Apartheid police officers, however, set dogs on the students and then fired live shots, killing many. Riots erupted in the days after. At least 176 people were killed, including Pieterson, who was pronounced dead on arrival at a nearby clinic. Thousands were injured, and many others arrested.

The image of a dying Pieterson spread across the world, igniting outrage. The then-Organization of African Unity strongly condemned the apartheid government and continued to spearhead efforts to liberate the country.

It was not the first time Blacks had protested in the face of bullets. In 1960, during the Sharpeville protests in the then-Transvaal Province, Blacks demonstrating against laws requiring them to carry passbooks were also killed.

June 16 is now a holiday in South Africa called “The Day of the African Child” in honour of Hector Pieterson and other slain children.

How is life in South Africa, half a century later?

Many South Africans say they are still not seeing the dividends of democracy despite their sacrifices to achieve it in 1994.

Government inefficiency, corruption and the depletion of mining reserves have resulted in the decline of an economy that was once a gold and platinum powerhouse.

Infrastructure, such as electricity supply, is crumbling. Youth unemployment among 15-24-year-olds is at 60 percent. Poverty and crime levels are on the rise.

Blacks, who make up 80 percent of the population, are disproportionately affected by poverty. Research shows Black households, on average, earn about 10,554 South African rand ($652) per month, compared to 117,249 rand ($7,427) for white households.

The World Bank named South Africa the most unequal country in the world in 2022, due to factors such as disparate levels of land ownership between racial groups and the failure of a significant middle class to emerge.

Why are migrants leaving the country?

Recent attacks on African migrants, particularly those from Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria and Ghana, have revealed the depth of dissatisfaction among many South Africans who believe immigration is making their lives even harder.

South Africa, as one of Africa’s most prosperous nations, has long attracted workers from across the continent. While some have migrated there legally, others are undocumented.

Demonstrations and riots against irregular migrants have occurred in the past, with South Africans accusing foreigners of taking opportunities meant for them. In recent years, the rise of citizen vigilante movements that arrest perceived migrants, as well as the framing of migrants as a burden by some right-wing politicians, has intensified the issue.

In April, thousands of South Africans again began protesting against the presence of foreign irregular migrants, calling on the government to deport them and enforce strict border policies.

Mobs attacked foreigners’ homes and businesses in several cities, prompting the governments of Ghana and Nigeria to evacuate hundreds of their citizens from South Africa. Many from Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Malawi have fled for home.

At least two Nigerians have died, while Mozambique said at least seven of its citizens had been killed. The countries have called the attacks “xenophobic”, a term South Africa’s government rejects.

Irfaan Mangera, a democracy youth activist, told Al Jazeera that the anger felt by young South Africans is justified.

“People have been frustrated for too long, and they are at a stage where they have lost faith in the institutions,” he said, adding that anti-migrant movements are playing on those frustrations.

Although there can be no easy solutions, the activist said, he is personally involving himself in poverty alleviation projects, as well as initiatives educating youths on their rights and encouraging them to vote.

“We want them to see that democracy is still something they can participate in,” Mangera said.