0:00:10 > 0:00:12# Say what's the word
0:00:12 > 0:00:15# Tell me, brother, have you heard
0:00:15 > 0:00:17# From Johannesburg
0:00:20 > 0:00:23# Tell me, what's the word
0:00:23 > 0:00:28# Sister woman, have you heard from Johannesburg? #
0:00:39 > 0:00:46When I came to Soweto in 1967, to attend school, it was the hippie era
0:00:46 > 0:00:50where we all wore bell-bottom pants.
0:00:50 > 0:00:55So I also aspired to my own pair of bell-bottoms and platform shoes.
0:00:55 > 0:00:59And I looked forward to one day having an Afro.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03Entering high school, for me,
0:01:03 > 0:01:10was like a whole new world altogether because everybody is now talking, insinuating politics.
0:01:10 > 0:01:17And I was reading voraciously. It was just taking our minds to another level.
0:01:17 > 0:01:19Youth were being called upon
0:01:19 > 0:01:27to take the lead, to move forward, especially in the context of our parents, who were subdued.
0:01:28 > 0:01:34In the early 1960s, opposition to apartheid had been all but crushed.
0:01:34 > 0:01:42The ANC's leaders had either been banned, jailed or forced into exile by the South African government.
0:01:43 > 0:01:50There was a lot of fear among our people. It wasn't easy for people to mention anything political.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Each time you talked politics,
0:01:53 > 0:01:57they would say, "Nelson Mandela is in prison for a lifetime."
0:02:01 > 0:02:05Our parents did not say anything, do anything.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09The police were the law of the land.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18I remember one time I was walking to a train station with my father
0:02:18 > 0:02:22and there was graffiti on the wall. I was learning to read.
0:02:22 > 0:02:28And I read out loud, "Free Mandela!" He must have wondered what I was talking about and he slapped me.
0:02:29 > 0:02:35What Mandela's life sentence in jail represented in our parents, it was like,
0:02:35 > 0:02:40"You people shut up forever or else you'll go to jail for life."
0:02:41 > 0:02:45I think those days made young people say,
0:02:45 > 0:02:50"Hey, we're fired up. We can't take this any more."
0:02:56 > 0:02:59The young people
0:02:59 > 0:03:03have become politicised. Highly politicised.
0:03:03 > 0:03:05They've become activists.
0:03:05 > 0:03:11But this was the 1960s and revolution was in the air.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26Towards the end of the '60s,
0:03:26 > 0:03:30there was this new generation and I am part of that generation.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33And we were militants.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43I came in Amsterdam, I came especially to Amsterdam
0:03:43 > 0:03:50because that was the place where everything was happening. There were people in a revolutionary state.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52And all the new ideas.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58We didn't see ourselves as people from Amsterdam or from Holland.
0:03:58 > 0:04:04We were part of the world and everywhere were people fighting for their rights.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13Most of us saw the liberation struggle in South Africa
0:04:13 > 0:04:19as a continuation of the anti-fascist struggle in the Second World War.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25I'm born in '48,
0:04:25 > 0:04:32so really in the shadow of the Second World War, and in my youth my parents always talked
0:04:32 > 0:04:34about their experiences.
0:04:37 > 0:04:43There was a strong message in what they said. It was anti-fascist, anti-racist.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45So that was deep inside of me.
0:04:45 > 0:04:51To the right in a few moments at number 263, the third house from the corner,
0:04:51 > 0:04:56is the Anne Frank House, where she was hidden during the war.
0:04:56 > 0:05:01The Anne Frank House, of course, is the symbol of what the Nazis did in Holland.
0:05:01 > 0:05:07It's the fascism, the racism, it all comes together in the Anne Frank House.
0:05:08 > 0:05:15So we thought this is the best place to actually show that what is going on in South Africa now is linked.
0:05:15 > 0:05:21So we talked to the people of the Anne Frank House and they found it interesting.
0:05:21 > 0:05:27The Anne Frank House is very popular among foreign visitors, including white South Africans,
0:05:27 > 0:05:30descendants from the Dutch.
0:05:30 > 0:05:37These were our people. It's not only that the man on the bank notes is Jan van Riebeeck,
0:05:37 > 0:05:42a Dutchman, but these were our people.
0:05:42 > 0:05:48So they came to this museum they thought to see the history of the Second World War and Anne Frank.
0:05:48 > 0:05:54Then they came down this little stair and saw on the wall, "Nazism in South Africa now".
0:05:57 > 0:06:02It isn't dead. Nazism isn't dead. It's living in South Africa.
0:06:20 > 0:06:26The native is far from developed and he's criminal
0:06:26 > 0:06:31and dirty. And I don't want him too close to me.
0:06:44 > 0:06:50You couldn't move from one place to the other without the permission of some authority.
0:06:50 > 0:06:56There was a gate at the township where anyone that came in had to sign in and ask for permission
0:06:56 > 0:07:01and register to say where you were going. Almost run like a compound.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17Black people were defined as "non-whites"
0:07:19 > 0:07:25in a context where to be white meant to be human, to be decent, to be affirmed.
0:07:25 > 0:07:31And so black people were defined negatively. You were not what white people were. You were non-white.
0:07:38 > 0:07:43We cannot mix with the lower nations
0:07:43 > 0:07:48at the moment. Unless they are cultivated and educated and so on.
0:07:48 > 0:07:55They've got no education and it'll take a couple of hundred years. They have only just come down from trees.
0:07:55 > 0:08:01They are the lower class. They work under us. It is just right.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10For me it was a personal affront.
0:08:10 > 0:08:16It was my mum being ill-treated. It's not just any black person. It's my mother.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18After a while you get to understand
0:08:18 > 0:08:25that the system actually works that way. All black people are treated the same way. That's apartheid.
0:08:36 > 0:08:42But the nation that had given birth to the Afrikaner still didn't see the problem.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46We had to go everywhere in the country to explain apartheid,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50what is the role of Holland, our historical role.
0:08:50 > 0:08:56They always wanted to send me to these far-out places
0:08:56 > 0:09:02where half of the community had emigrated to South Africa and the other half was in close contact.
0:09:02 > 0:09:09So I would go from one hostile audience to another with my little projector with 8mm film
0:09:09 > 0:09:15and a real tough story because I believed in revolution. But they didn't.
0:09:15 > 0:09:20And then there would always be the screaming uncles and aunties.
0:09:20 > 0:09:27Those blacks were treated well because Auntie So-and-so from Pretoria had written a letter
0:09:27 > 0:09:31that they were treated so wonderfully, part of the family.
0:09:31 > 0:09:33It wasn't easy.
0:09:33 > 0:09:39A lot of Dutch people felt we should not be cut off from our tribesmen,
0:09:39 > 0:09:42from our relatives in South Africa.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Well, we came there in 1652 to South Africa
0:09:51 > 0:09:59and in waves Dutch people have migrated to South Africa. The Afrikaners or the Boers.
0:09:59 > 0:10:04We felt that so much in South Africa had come about as a result of the Dutch heritage.
0:10:04 > 0:10:11Jan van Riebeeck, when he landed here, he didn't take the locals into his house like long-lost brothers.
0:10:11 > 0:10:17A lot of things have been written about how the Dutch also kept themselves apart
0:10:17 > 0:10:19from the indigenous people.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25The role Holland played in the development of the Afrikaner
0:10:25 > 0:10:29can not easily be overemphasised.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33There is, worldwide, about 40 million people
0:10:33 > 0:10:38that have Dutch and Afrikaans as their mother tongue.
0:10:39 > 0:10:45And together we are rather a quite considerable group in the world.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58This whole idea
0:10:58 > 0:11:02that the Afrikaners is a God-elected people
0:11:02 > 0:11:06was strongly supported by the Dutch Reformed Church.
0:11:06 > 0:11:11We were the ones who had invented apartheid. It's a Dutch word.
0:11:11 > 0:11:16Secondly, we gave them their language and, worse, their theology.
0:11:20 > 0:11:25The 20% white people in South Africa felt chosen by God
0:11:25 > 0:11:29to lead 80% of blacks to a better life.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33And a better life meant to be servants to the whites.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39That was a legacy from the Netherlands.
0:11:39 > 0:11:46There was a cultural treaty between Holland and South Africa which was established in 1951.
0:11:46 > 0:11:51We realised very quickly it's the wrong treaty, it's between the wrong parties.
0:11:51 > 0:11:54The African people were left out.
0:12:18 > 0:12:23The apartheid regime said that black people did not deserve to have an education
0:12:23 > 0:12:29that is similar to those of white people because their function in society was menial jobs.
0:12:32 > 0:12:35Bantu education was designed
0:12:35 > 0:12:41to basically provide an education system that is inferior to that of the white people.
0:12:43 > 0:12:48All that Bantu education did was to help develop us
0:12:48 > 0:12:53into the type of labour that would be useful for white folks
0:12:53 > 0:12:55for jobs they were not ready to do.
0:13:10 > 0:13:15So you could see that it didn't matter if they had good brains.
0:13:15 > 0:13:20The system wanted to deny you the good education simply because
0:13:20 > 0:13:26there is no point in showing a black person the green pastures in which they cannot graze.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28It was education for enslavement.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32I was very young in the '60s
0:13:32 > 0:13:38and everything in the state, the entire state machinery, all the resources in society,
0:13:38 > 0:13:43were geared towards making you believe that you were, in fact, inferior.
0:13:43 > 0:13:50If you're living in a country that keeps telling you you are of no value, black people are stupid,
0:13:50 > 0:13:54black people have no brain capacity, black people are primitive,
0:13:54 > 0:13:58then you have to have something that counters that.
0:13:58 > 0:14:04Despite the government's efforts, some students won places on the black campuses
0:14:04 > 0:14:10of South Africa's predominantly white universities. A new movement began to emerge,
0:14:10 > 0:14:13started by a young medical student, Steve Biko.
0:14:13 > 0:14:19We believe in our country there shall be no minority or majority. Just the people.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23And those people will have the same status before the law
0:14:23 > 0:14:26and the same political rights before the law.
0:14:26 > 0:14:33Steve Biko's seminal writings on black consciousness, being black in South Africa,
0:14:33 > 0:14:38was critical for me in terms of locating myself in my environment,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41in terms of thinking of who I was.
0:14:41 > 0:14:47Any changes which are to come can only come as a result of a programme worked out
0:14:47 > 0:14:49by black people.
0:14:49 > 0:14:57And for black people to be able to work out a programme, they need to defeat the one main element
0:14:57 > 0:15:05in politics working against them and this is a psychological feeling of inferiority.
0:15:05 > 0:15:11He used to say that the biggest oppression black people face in South Africa
0:15:11 > 0:15:17is not the oppression by the white man. It's their own mental oppression.
0:15:17 > 0:15:23I remember one time he gave an example that when you walk down the street, you meet a white person.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27No policeman has to come and tell you to take off your hat.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32Automatically, you take that hat off and you squeeze it.
0:15:32 > 0:15:38He used to say that is your greatest enemy. Nobody has said to you, "Take off that hat." It is you.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44He came to us and said to us, "All this can be changed.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47"The system can be challenged."
0:15:47 > 0:15:51Steve Biko hoped to bring about change peacefully.
0:15:51 > 0:15:55The black man has got no ill intentions for the white man.
0:15:55 > 0:16:01The black man is only incensed at the white man to the extent that he wants to entrench himself
0:16:01 > 0:16:05in a position of power to exploit the black man.
0:16:05 > 0:16:12For me, Stephen Biko is the best gift that God ever gave to South Africa.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16He's bigger than Martin Luther King, not because King was not great,
0:16:16 > 0:16:24but because he performed almost the same miracles as King performed under worse conditions.
0:16:24 > 0:16:31There's not one young person who was not touched by Stephen Biko, one way or the other.
0:16:31 > 0:16:36We started forming the South African Students Organisation,
0:16:36 > 0:16:42which was firmly based on black consciousness, the essence of which was for the black man
0:16:42 > 0:16:48to elevate his own position by positively looking at those value systems
0:16:48 > 0:16:53that make him distinctively a man in society.
0:16:57 > 0:17:03The black consciousness movement aroused in us the strength that we didn't know we had.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11And therefore that strength from a few of us
0:17:11 > 0:17:15started spreading and spreading.
0:17:15 > 0:17:21And we went out into the streets like the disciples and we started transforming South Africa.
0:17:36 > 0:17:43I was a high school student at the time. We felt that we had to create a change in our communities.
0:17:43 > 0:17:49For example, Steve studied as a doctor. And so we did things like go out into rural areas
0:17:49 > 0:17:53and help people to build clinics because many communities had none.
0:17:53 > 0:17:58And those became community centres and gave people confidence.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04As the influence of the black consciousness movement began to grow
0:18:04 > 0:18:09in 1973 the South African government launched its offensive.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Steve Biko and seven other leaders were banned.
0:18:12 > 0:18:18Under South Africa's notorious anti-terrorism laws, they could not leave their home township,
0:18:18 > 0:18:25meet with more than one other person, speak publicly or have their words published.
0:18:26 > 0:18:32In Holland, the anti-apartheid campaign was gaining momentum.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52This was such an outrage.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56This was such a horrible thing taking place in South Africa.
0:18:56 > 0:19:00I thought this was a matter of a few years, the world will stand up,
0:19:00 > 0:19:07it's a matter of letting people know what's going on and the world will stand up. It was quite naive.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11But we were getting more and more people involved.
0:19:11 > 0:19:14And then we developed very rapidly.
0:19:15 > 0:19:21Our main goal was to bring South Africans, ANC people, to Holland to let them speak,
0:19:21 > 0:19:26so that they could talk to Members of Parliament, the trade unions,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29so that they'd be seen on television.
0:19:29 > 0:19:34I think their determination to fight and sacrifice...
0:19:34 > 0:19:38'I remember the moment I met Oliver Tambo very, very well.'
0:19:38 > 0:19:43He came especially for the opening of this huge campaign.
0:19:43 > 0:19:47We are confident that, whatever the difficulties,
0:19:47 > 0:19:52our people in South Africa, supported by you all,
0:19:52 > 0:19:56will see their own cause triumph.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03It was a wonderful occasion.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08He immediately gave me this impression that this was a leader.
0:20:08 > 0:20:14I'm not so very much into that sort of thing. I'm far more real Dutch, you know -
0:20:14 > 0:20:19better be normal, you know, half-anarchist, we have no leaders.
0:20:19 > 0:20:22But Oliver Tambo was a leader.
0:20:22 > 0:20:27A long, long friendship started that evening.
0:20:27 > 0:20:33Then he would like to go and have a meal and I was so scared going through the traffic
0:20:33 > 0:20:40with this man! The future of South Africa was in his hands and I had him on the back of my bicycle!
0:20:41 > 0:20:47- #- We're gonna fight, fight, fight Fight against apartheid...- #
0:20:49 > 0:20:55- Now what can the outside world, what can Holland do?- Sanctions. Isolation of South Africa.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59The failure to employ sanctions
0:21:00 > 0:21:05is to feed the escalation of war.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09And therefore the West, by not applying sanctions,
0:21:09 > 0:21:14they are creating precisely the conditions
0:21:14 > 0:21:17in which war must escalate.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21Because the idea of sanctions is to weaken South Africa,
0:21:21 > 0:21:25to make it impossible to continue resisting our just demands.
0:21:35 > 0:21:41The Pretoria regime is the inventor and foremost practitioner of apartheid,
0:21:41 > 0:21:47which has been repeatedly condemned by the Assembly as a crime against humanity.
0:21:48 > 0:21:55Year in, year out, the United Nations General Assembly was discussing South Africa.
0:21:55 > 0:21:59..remain resolutely opposed to the high-handed imposition on them
0:21:59 > 0:22:06of an unrepresentative, discriminatory form of government by the fascist white minority.
0:22:06 > 0:22:11In 1974, as the African group, we decided enough is enough.
0:22:12 > 0:22:20We challenged South Africa and called for the expulsion of them from the General Assembly.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25All the Western European countries, United States, Canada,
0:22:25 > 0:22:32voted against. Those that voted for were the African countries, Asian and East European countries.
0:22:32 > 0:22:35But we had the majority.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46What a travesty we have witnessed here today.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48What a ploy
0:22:48 > 0:22:53to deny a country its rights to address this assembly.
0:22:54 > 0:23:00I object strenuously to this shameful action.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05There was a lot of drama. Anything happening in the UN
0:23:05 > 0:23:10with the South African delegation picking up their stuff and leaving
0:23:10 > 0:23:12was dramatic stuff on television.
0:23:14 > 0:23:18But was it a disaster for South Africa? I don't think so.
0:23:18 > 0:23:241974 was just the final as far as the General Assembly was concerned.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28It didn't cut South Africa off from its activities in the UN.
0:23:28 > 0:23:33It still had access to the Security Council.
0:23:33 > 0:23:39But now the UN Security Council would vote on the resolution passed by the General Assembly,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43making it binding or irrelevant.
0:23:43 > 0:23:48Those of you who sit as members of the Council and fail to take action,
0:23:48 > 0:23:53gentlemen, history will not absolve you.
0:23:53 > 0:23:59The picture presented in this organisation of racial relations in South Africa
0:23:59 > 0:24:01is distorted out of all proportion.
0:24:01 > 0:24:08Our detractors purposely seek to conceal the goodwill that exists
0:24:08 > 0:24:11between black and white in South Africa.
0:24:11 > 0:24:17The Prime Minister has frequently and forcibly condemned incidents between black and white
0:24:17 > 0:24:24- which involve bad manners or humiliating treatment.- Mr Botha had the audacity, the audacity
0:24:24 > 0:24:32to come and sit here and say the information and documentation which was considered
0:24:32 > 0:24:38for resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly was unsubstantiated.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41The whole world is now watching.
0:24:41 > 0:24:47Waiting to see if the Security Council will respect the principled decision
0:24:47 > 0:24:51of the majority members of the United Nations.
0:24:56 > 0:25:02The United States, Britain and France joined today for the first triple veto in the Security Council.
0:25:02 > 0:25:09They rejected a resolution to expel South Africa from the United Nations because of its racial segregation.
0:25:10 > 0:25:15The African nations may have hit a wall at the United Nations,
0:25:15 > 0:25:22but as the black consciousness movement got into its stride, events in Soweto would soon change that.
0:25:22 > 0:25:28At the time we were getting reports of what was happening in the Portuguese colonies
0:25:28 > 0:25:30of Angola and Mozambique.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39The idea of Mozambique having gotten its independence,
0:25:41 > 0:25:46of Angola having gotten its own independence,
0:25:46 > 0:25:50of the struggle in Zimbabwe being at its height,
0:25:51 > 0:25:56the message of freedom had been sold to young people.
0:25:59 > 0:26:05Then the South African government gave the movement the perfect opportunity for action.
0:26:05 > 0:26:121974. The government began to compel students to study in Afrikaans.
0:26:17 > 0:26:19TEACHER SPEAKS AFRIKAANS
0:26:19 > 0:26:23You hated because it was the language of the oppressor.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28It's not as easily understood and acceptable as English, for instance.
0:26:29 > 0:26:37We thought that it was a deliberate attempt by the government to slow the flow of people to universities
0:26:37 > 0:26:42and the junior high students boycotted. It took six months for the high schools.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46The objective was that we would go to one of the schools
0:26:46 > 0:26:52which was longest on the class boycott on account of the enforcement of Afrikaans.
0:26:52 > 0:26:58And we were going to congregate around this school and pledge solidarity with them.
0:26:58 > 0:27:04That really was the sum total of what we were about on that day. Nothing more and nothing less.
0:27:06 > 0:27:12We asked pupils to keep this to themselves and not to talk to their parents.
0:27:13 > 0:27:20I spent the evening preparing my banner. I used a bed sheet that my mother had,
0:27:20 > 0:27:26which of course I never mentioned to her that I had taken it without her permission.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31Our parents didn't know what was happening.
0:27:31 > 0:27:33I said nothing when I left home
0:27:33 > 0:27:37simply because politics wasn't spoken about in my family.
0:27:37 > 0:27:44We were going to be at school around 7.30 as if we were just going to school like any other day.
0:27:44 > 0:27:50But on this day it was quite clear that there was something in the air.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56It was a bit tense at school.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02It was the first time we ever challenged the system at high school.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06As the school starts, we normally go to morning assembly
0:28:06 > 0:28:11and we have morning prayer. Morning prayer is the Lord's Prayer,
0:28:11 > 0:28:15but we then had decided that to get the show off the road
0:28:15 > 0:28:22on this day there was no "Our Father" business. Everyone would sing Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika.
0:28:22 > 0:28:27That was the clarion call. We just left our books and hit the road.
0:28:32 > 0:28:39It was sort of hesitant at the beginning, but then as soon as people started singing,
0:28:39 > 0:28:42the mood was sort of built on.
0:28:42 > 0:28:47# Nkosi sikelela
0:28:47 > 0:28:52# Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
0:28:52 > 0:28:57# Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo
0:28:57 > 0:29:02# Yizwa imithandazo yethu
0:29:02 > 0:29:05# Nkosi... #
0:29:05 > 0:29:10We went from secondary school to secondary school, collecting students.
0:29:10 > 0:29:14And there were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of students.
0:29:16 > 0:29:21On our way back, we met with the police. We said, "Don't provoke them."
0:29:21 > 0:29:26If we give them a reason to do anything that's violent, then we'll regret it.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30Suddenly, there were more schools
0:29:30 > 0:29:33and much greater numbers.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42Thus far, things had been peaceful.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44One could sense the mood changing.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56Then the first shots rang out.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58GUNFIRE
0:30:01 > 0:30:03GUNFIRE CONTINUES
0:30:05 > 0:30:10And from that initial volley, that's when Hector Pieterson was then shot.
0:30:11 > 0:30:13He was just a little kid.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19He came from a lower primary school and was shot and killed.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24Then they released the dogs.
0:30:24 > 0:30:26And the dog charged into the crowd.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31But that dog was not to emerge from there again.
0:30:31 > 0:30:36We stoned them. We just simply stoned them to death, yeah.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38At that point, all hell broke loose.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49GUNSHOTS
0:30:54 > 0:31:00I don't think we actually expected things to turn the way they did.
0:31:01 > 0:31:03It was a scary thing.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Along the way, as people moved back home,
0:31:12 > 0:31:19any government institution, a bar or offices for administration and things, they all were burnt down.
0:31:22 > 0:31:28The very first institution that burnt down, I brought it down. It was the first one to go up.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31A white city office.
0:31:31 > 0:31:36This is where you paid your electricity fees, where you paid your rent.
0:31:36 > 0:31:40Life in Soweto was organised around these offices.
0:31:40 > 0:31:45If you had to get a pass book, you had to register for anything,
0:31:45 > 0:31:47you had to go to these offices.
0:31:47 > 0:31:52When people were raided in the morning for permits,
0:31:52 > 0:31:57it is in that office where they'll say, "Go to house so-and-so, there are two people unknown there,"
0:31:57 > 0:31:59so they will send the cops.
0:31:59 > 0:32:04We made sure that all the records and everything there was destroyed.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08SIREN WAILS
0:32:10 > 0:32:16When these youngsters started with their protest, they were talkin about Afrikaans, Bantu Education,
0:32:16 > 0:32:20but the government responded in a high-handed fashion,
0:32:20 > 0:32:24assuming, as always, that they are in a situation of total power.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27People have chosen, in this particular instance,
0:32:27 > 0:32:32to react in a...faceless way.
0:32:32 > 0:32:37They didn't present a distinct leadership to make demands and to negotiate,
0:32:37 > 0:32:42but instead, they started burning buildings, stoning police
0:32:42 > 0:32:44and creating general chaos.
0:32:44 > 0:32:49And this is the only language in their minds that the white man would understand.
0:32:59 > 0:33:02June 16 became an apocalypse.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10Our fathers and mothers had failed to bring South Africa to the stage
0:33:10 > 0:33:15and here was a bunch of young people turning South Africa around.
0:33:20 > 0:33:25The government's reaction to this challenge was swift and brutal.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29I have to inform you that the police have been instructed
0:33:29 > 0:33:32regardless of who is involved,
0:33:32 > 0:33:35to protect lives and property
0:33:35 > 0:33:38with every means at their disposal.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44And the police said,
0:33:44 > 0:33:47"This is exactly what we have been waiting to hear,"
0:33:47 > 0:33:50and so they went on this carnage.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57Everybody was being shot at and killed.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01We ended up with 500 people killed in two days.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09The news stunned and shocked us.
0:34:10 > 0:34:13To massacre children...
0:34:16 > 0:34:20..on the scale of June the 16th and after...
0:34:22 > 0:34:24..was something utterly incredible.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27Totally inhuman.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31It was bad news for Soweto.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35It became bad news for other townships everywhere in the country.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41That day decided the history of South Africa.
0:34:42 > 0:34:47The message of the Soweto uprising spread like wildfire.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52Within a few weeks, the message is brought across the country
0:34:52 > 0:34:56that here were young people that wer not ready to take it any more.
0:34:56 > 0:35:02Steve Biko's hopes for a peaceful resolution to South Africa's problems had vanished.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05The line that the BPC adopts
0:35:05 > 0:35:08is to explore as much as possible...
0:35:10 > 0:35:15..non-violent means within the country and that is why we exist
0:35:16 > 0:35:19But there are people, and there are many people,
0:35:19 > 0:35:24who have despaired of the efficacy of non-violence as a method.
0:35:24 > 0:35:28I'm of the view that conflict could only be avoidable
0:35:28 > 0:35:33if the Nationalist Government were prepared to avoid it.
0:35:33 > 0:35:39Those who are at the seeking end, that is those who want justice, who want an egalitarian society
0:35:39 > 0:35:45can only pursue their aspirations according to the resistance offered by the opposition.
0:35:45 > 0:35:51If the opposition is prepared to fight with their backs to the wall, conflict can't be avoidable.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01'There were more riots and at least 40 deaths today in Soweto...'
0:36:01 > 0:36:05'What began as a black protest against being taught in Afrikaans
0:36:05 > 0:36:08'is now a manifestation of urban black frustration.'
0:36:08 > 0:36:11'A Dutch Reformed Church was burnt down.'
0:36:11 > 0:36:16'Police fired indiscriminately and wantonly on peacefully marching students.'
0:36:17 > 0:36:23Needless to say, the international community was horrified.
0:36:27 > 0:36:32Now the fires are burning in Alexandra, close to some of the rich white suburbs.
0:36:42 > 0:36:47'Heute im Ghetto der Schwarzen in Soweto vor den Toren von Johannesbur
0:36:47 > 0:36:51'ist ein neuer Hohepunkt der standigen Konfrontation zwischen Schwarz und Weiss.'
0:36:51 > 0:36:56'Des manifestations ont proteste contre la politique d'apartheid
0:36:56 > 0:36:59'apres la repression severe des emeutes de Soweto.'
0:37:04 > 0:37:08Hundreds of police arrived and fired into the crowd. One policeman said,
0:37:08 > 0:37:12"We fired into them. It's no good firing over their heads."
0:37:12 > 0:37:15COMMENTARY IN DUTCH
0:37:22 > 0:37:26More and more people were standing up, lots of people,
0:37:26 > 0:37:31to put pressure on the Dutch government to take a strong stand against apartheid.
0:37:31 > 0:37:39A lot of Dutch people felt we should cut off the cultural treaty between Holland and South Africa.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43You must learn not only to work in the street and to demonstrate,
0:37:43 > 0:37:47but also to single out issues which you might win in parliament
0:37:47 > 0:37:51and this turned out to be a winner.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53SPEAKS IN DUTCH
0:37:54 > 0:37:56Parliament cut the link.
0:37:58 > 0:38:03With Holland so viciously leading international condemnation
0:38:03 > 0:38:06of the political system in South Africa,
0:38:06 > 0:38:10I personally became very anti-Dutch.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13I felt betrayed by people of my own blood.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16After all, they started the whole thing here.
0:38:16 > 0:38:23We're their descendants. We're supposed to be not so stupid that we do everything wrong.
0:38:23 > 0:38:28Instead of taking a positive attitude, it was just condemnation all the way
0:38:30 > 0:38:34If you look to the changes in politics in the Netherlands,
0:38:34 > 0:38:39our government took steps after the eruptions in South Africa.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43In fact, it took Soweto.
0:38:44 > 0:38:51Worldwide, the Anti-Apartheid Movement stepped up its demand for a mandatory arms embargo.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54What has happened in Soweto and other African townships
0:38:54 > 0:38:58over the last few days has indicated quite clearly
0:38:58 > 0:39:01that because South Africa has a paramilitary police force,
0:39:01 > 0:39:06many of the armaments sent from this country for police purpose
0:39:06 > 0:39:09are being used for military purposes and suppression.
0:39:09 > 0:39:14We want to make certain Britain take a much more effective stance
0:39:14 > 0:39:17with regard to the supply of armaments.
0:39:18 > 0:39:22Here it was, Britain, for commercial reasons...
0:39:23 > 0:39:28..selling arms that would kill black South Africans.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32Of course, African countries in particular,
0:39:32 > 0:39:37Julius Nyerere, Kenneth Kaunda, had been saying for years
0:39:37 > 0:39:42that Britain was acting in complicity with the apartheid regime.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46And when a nation decides to arm the South Africans,
0:39:46 > 0:39:49you know the kind of feeling you have.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52This is the nearest thing you have to the Jew-German problem.
0:39:55 > 0:40:00With all that was going on in South Africa, getting worse and worse, Soweto,
0:40:00 > 0:40:07it allowed the issue to be a natural for action at the United Nations.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09CHOIR SINGS
0:40:21 > 0:40:23So when we met in Nigeria,
0:40:23 > 0:40:27the African leaders, the liberation leaders, accused countries
0:40:27 > 0:40:29of selling arms to South Africa.
0:40:29 > 0:40:34But the United States and the Britis representatives are all saying,
0:40:34 > 0:40:37"We are not supplying arms to South Africa. It's not true."
0:40:37 > 0:40:41So the anti-apartheid groups met immediately at lunchtime
0:40:41 > 0:40:45and said, "These governments are not telling the truth.
0:40:45 > 0:40:50"We will walk out of this conference if you don't allow us to speak."
0:40:50 > 0:40:53So then I was allowed to speak to the whole conference.
0:40:53 > 0:40:57What I said was, "The United States says they do not supply planes.
0:40:57 > 0:41:01"The Merlin aircraft - where do they come from?
0:41:01 > 0:41:06"The German government tells us that they do not supply arms to South Africa.
0:41:06 > 0:41:11"The command and control centre in Silvermine has German components.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14"Where do they come from?"
0:41:14 > 0:41:18When I mentioned facts like that, I didn't say, "You're doing it."
0:41:20 > 0:41:23I just said, "Where does it come from?"
0:41:32 > 0:41:35While delegates debated at the UN,
0:41:35 > 0:41:39South Africa continued rounding up suspected organisers.
0:41:42 > 0:41:48The government said that there were people who were a threat to national security,
0:41:48 > 0:41:50so they needed to be taken away.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02My parents went through a lot of harassment during those times.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06My mother was picked up I don't know how many times. Even my dad.
0:42:10 > 0:42:13Just before I got detained, they picked up my grandfather.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16They took all my cousins, everybody.
0:42:20 > 0:42:23But what happens is that my group, particularly me,
0:42:23 > 0:42:26we got beaten up very viciously.
0:42:27 > 0:42:31What does it mean to you that he is in this situation?
0:42:31 > 0:42:33A very difficult question.
0:42:37 > 0:42:39It's pretty bad.
0:42:39 > 0:42:41It's awful, but...
0:42:41 > 0:42:45one has to have courage, determination
0:42:45 > 0:42:49and expect the best out of it.
0:42:50 > 0:42:54Usually, when you have children,
0:42:54 > 0:42:57your hopes are based on their future
0:42:57 > 0:43:02that they'll grow up and be... well, not involved in such cases.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07As a parent, I'm very, very sorry that he's in it.
0:43:29 > 0:43:33In August, the police picked up Steve Biko.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37He had left his home area to meet with the ANC underground.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41He was arrested for violating his banning order,
0:43:41 > 0:43:45shackled hand and foot and moved from jail to jail.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54It was actually a very deep, personal thing
0:43:54 > 0:43:56because I worked with Steve,
0:43:56 > 0:44:01so we were sitting in his house when the news of his detention came through.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03And the anxiety with his family.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06And his children were quite young.
0:44:11 > 0:44:16These were such vicious, petty little racists.
0:44:17 > 0:44:21And they, of course, decided to interrogate Steve.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28And they beat him up, cracked his skull
0:44:28 > 0:44:31and he became unconscious.
0:44:33 > 0:44:37They threw him in that state in the back of a police van, naked,
0:44:37 > 0:44:39and drove off with him.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42And so he died.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48We were in Central Prison.
0:44:48 > 0:44:52We're all thinking about the possibility of being hanged
0:44:52 > 0:44:56because these guys were definitely planning to hang us
0:44:56 > 0:44:58and here was Steve dead,
0:44:58 > 0:45:02you know, right next to our doorstep.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05You know, it was all a shock.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09There was anger, there was frustration.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13It was very painful.
0:45:16 > 0:45:20My newspaper editor burst in, you know, just like "boom"
0:45:20 > 0:45:26and said, "Duma, I want you to write a story. Steven Biko has just been killed in Pretoria."
0:45:26 > 0:45:31And I just burst into tears. For the first time in my life, I cried out loud.
0:45:38 > 0:45:42I remember when the body finally was released to the family.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47It's one of those images that I will take to my grave.
0:45:57 > 0:46:03Then the police wouldn't allow us to bury Steve and they just kept on arresting everybody.
0:46:04 > 0:46:06It was just unbelievable.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10Even in his death, how much they feared Steve Biko!
0:46:12 > 0:46:15Then eventually, me, a 19-year-old, I was a kid,
0:46:15 > 0:46:19I ended up in King William's having to organise the funeral.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53Thousands and thousands of people were being turned back.
0:46:53 > 0:46:57If you were going to Biko's funeral, you were turned back.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01The government set up road blocks all over the country.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08But there were more than 30,000 people at the funeral.
0:47:08 > 0:47:11You can imagine if there were no road blocks...
0:47:38 > 0:47:41THEY SING PROTEST SONG
0:47:48 > 0:47:51I want to be very careful
0:47:51 > 0:47:53and I want to choose my words
0:47:53 > 0:47:59and say boldly before you all and before the whole world
0:47:59 > 0:48:04that we accuse this government of the death of Biko.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06# Biko... #
0:48:06 > 0:48:11Steve Biko's death marked a turning point in South Africa's affairs.
0:48:11 > 0:48:14# Here comes Steven Biko
0:48:14 > 0:48:18# Walking down the water
0:48:19 > 0:48:24# Hey, hey, what you gonna do with Biko?
0:48:24 > 0:48:26# Biko
0:48:26 > 0:48:29# Biko
0:48:29 > 0:48:30# Biko
0:48:30 > 0:48:33# Biko
0:48:33 > 0:48:35# Biko... #
0:48:36 > 0:48:42- Do you think the West should keep the door open to dialogue with South Africa?- No, I think not.- Why not?
0:48:42 > 0:48:49Well, we believe that it is necessary to talk to South Africa in harsh terms,
0:48:49 > 0:48:52otherwise we are all playing for tim
0:48:52 > 0:48:57and we are only enabling the South African regime to make the system permanent,
0:48:57 > 0:48:59to build defences for it,
0:48:59 > 0:49:04and then to perpetrate all the massacres
0:49:04 > 0:49:08which have now become the order of the day in that country.
0:49:08 > 0:49:14We deplore very deeply the recent bloodshed in South Africa.
0:49:14 > 0:49:21We can take the lead in establishing and promoting basic global standards for human rights.
0:49:21 > 0:49:27Here was a President who was very sympathetic to the problems of Africa,
0:49:27 > 0:49:33who was very understanding and a lot of people expected a lot from him.
0:49:33 > 0:49:39Jimmy Carter's election brought a new, more liberal voice to the debate at the United Nations.
0:49:39 > 0:49:44He sent his US Ambassador, Andrew Young, a veteran of the American Civil Rights Movement.
0:49:44 > 0:49:49If South Africa is going to be a part of the civilised community of nations,
0:49:49 > 0:49:53then the civilised, humane, intelligent people
0:49:53 > 0:49:56are going to have to make national policy.
0:49:57 > 0:50:03Right now, the Vorster government is not humane, not civilised, nor is it intelligent.
0:50:03 > 0:50:08I was happy to learn of the strong reaction of the US government
0:50:08 > 0:50:10to the murder of Steve Biko.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14We've hardly heard from any other western countries.
0:50:14 > 0:50:18We must confront all of them in the Security Council.
0:50:25 > 0:50:30In the interest of encouraging South Africa's leaders to embark on a new course,
0:50:30 > 0:50:34President Carter has now authorised me to state
0:50:34 > 0:50:38that the United States will join with other members of this Council
0:50:38 > 0:50:42in proposing a mandatory arms embarg under Chapter 7 of the Charter.
0:50:44 > 0:50:48I went to see the British Foreign Secretary before the vote
0:50:48 > 0:50:51and he said, "We will not support this."
0:50:53 > 0:50:57The United States then intervened with Britain.
0:51:00 > 0:51:06The United Nations Security Council today approved an immediate, binding arms embargo against South Africa.
0:51:06 > 0:51:11It is the most severe action the UN has ever taken against the white-ruled country
0:51:11 > 0:51:14and the first such embargo against a UN member.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17We considered it to be an important breakthrough.
0:51:17 > 0:51:23An arms embargo was a beginning and really it was an indictment against the regime,
0:51:23 > 0:51:28so it was a sense, not so much of elation, but a sense of great satisfaction.
0:51:28 > 0:51:33I do feel that it is proper for us to deplore
0:51:33 > 0:51:37not only in South Africa, but in other nations as well,
0:51:37 > 0:51:42blatant deprivation of basic human rights.
0:51:42 > 0:51:47I don't see that as an interference in the affairs of another country.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51We've always sided with the United States and been friendly to you.
0:51:51 > 0:51:53We understand you as a nation
0:51:53 > 0:51:58because of the composition of our own people and the similarities in our histories.
0:51:58 > 0:52:03We've sided with you in the United Nations 100% and now you push aside this hand of friendship.
0:52:03 > 0:52:05We don't understand this at all.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09There are those in the world outside
0:52:09 > 0:52:13who believe that with this mandatory arms boycott,
0:52:13 > 0:52:17they can bring South Africa to its knees.
0:52:18 > 0:52:22I tell them tonight they have another guess coming.
0:52:22 > 0:52:28They've been working for this arms embargo for more than a decade,
0:52:28 > 0:52:32but naturally, ladies and gentlemen, we saw it coming.
0:52:33 > 0:52:38Therefore, we made provision for just such an occurrence.
0:52:39 > 0:52:42'Surrounded by enemies and threatened with extinction,
0:52:42 > 0:52:46'Israel and South Africa have made a marriage of convenience.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50'The so-called Pariahs' Alliance was publicly displayed
0:52:50 > 0:52:55'when South Africa's Prime Minister John Vorster visited Jerusalem in 1976.
0:52:55 > 0:52:59'Behind the diplomatic courtesies la a hard military bargain -
0:52:59 > 0:53:02'South African finance in exchange for Israeli arms.
0:53:02 > 0:53:07'To demonstrate his commitment to the deal, Vorster, a wartime Nazi sympathiser, laid a wreath
0:53:07 > 0:53:12'at the memorial to the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust.'
0:53:12 > 0:53:16At home, South Africa stepped up its arms production.
0:53:19 > 0:53:23They soon found other UN members willing to turn a blind eye
0:53:23 > 0:53:27to violations of the mandatory arms embargo.
0:53:34 > 0:53:38Black African diplomats at the United Nations are complainin
0:53:38 > 0:53:43that a US-backed arms embargo against South Africa is too weak. They want stronger sanctions.
0:53:43 > 0:53:49Said one ambassador, "Once again the mountain has laboured mightily and brought forth a mouse."
0:53:49 > 0:53:54We were conscious of the fact that it wouldn't change much of the situation.
0:53:54 > 0:53:58What would change the situation was comprehensive economic sanctions.
0:53:58 > 0:54:00My decision has been
0:54:00 > 0:54:06to support strong sanctions against the sale of weapons to South Africa,
0:54:06 > 0:54:13but we are not deciding at this poin on any sort of general trade embargo or investment embargo.
0:54:13 > 0:54:19But how come? Here is a regime which everybody says has defied the international community,
0:54:19 > 0:54:25which does things which are completely inhuman and people aren't prepared to do something.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29'South Africa continues diplomatic and trade relations with the US.
0:54:29 > 0:54:34'Last year, they bought 1.33 billio worth of goods from us.
0:54:34 > 0:54:37'If total sanctions were imposed against South Africa,
0:54:37 > 0:54:41'Britain would lose a billion dollar per year in exports.'
0:54:41 > 0:54:45The US and its western partners reportedly will block any attempt
0:54:45 > 0:54:49to impose the economic sanctions that the Africans want.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54Will those in favour please raise their hands?
0:54:57 > 0:55:00Those against?
0:55:02 > 0:55:05The draft resolution has not been adopted,
0:55:05 > 0:55:09owing to the negative vote of a permanent member.
0:55:13 > 0:55:17By blocking measures against South Africa,
0:55:17 > 0:55:23what we are saying to the freedom fighters is the only other option left is that of armed resistance.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27Biko's generation answered the call.
0:55:27 > 0:55:32The young people came out in their hundreds, if not thousands.
0:55:32 > 0:55:34We said, "What do we do with them?"
0:55:35 > 0:55:38The numbers were so big and they kept on coming.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41And when the young people came,
0:55:41 > 0:55:47they are saying, "People have been here for 20 years. We're not going to be here for 20 years."
0:55:47 > 0:55:51They wanted to be trained, they wanted to go into battle.
0:55:55 > 0:56:00There is going to be an obvious escalation of conflict.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04This is the only thing that can happen. I can see nothing else.
0:56:04 > 0:56:10We are hoping that in the next few years, international pressures will become increasingly effective.
0:56:10 > 0:56:14We need to mobilise the masses of the people in each country,
0:56:14 > 0:56:19the ordinary person who is challenging the positions of his government,
0:56:19 > 0:56:23the worker who is challenging the practices of his employer.
0:56:30 > 0:56:34We are not going to accept "one man, one vote". It means our destruction.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38We will not accept it now, not tomorrow, never, ever.
0:56:46 > 0:56:51When Biko died, after we buried him, it was like "freedom in our lifetime".
0:56:51 > 0:56:55For you, if for nothing else, we will get this freedom.
0:56:55 > 0:57:00# Well, you can blow out a candle
0:57:00 > 0:57:05# But you can't blow out a fire
0:57:07 > 0:57:12# When the flame begins to catch
0:57:12 > 0:57:16# The wind will blow it higher
0:57:16 > 0:57:20# Oh, Biko
0:57:20 > 0:57:24# Biko, because Biko...
0:57:29 > 0:57:31# Yihla Moja
0:57:31 > 0:57:33# Yihla Moja
0:57:33 > 0:57:36# The man is dead...
0:57:48 > 0:57:51# Oh, the eyes
0:57:51 > 0:57:57# Yes, the eyes of the world are watching you
0:57:59 > 0:58:02# Oh, the eyes
0:58:02 > 0:58:08# Yes, the eyes of the world are watching you...
0:58:22 > 0:58:26# Biko
0:58:32 > 0:58:34# Oh, the eyes
0:58:34 > 0:58:40# Oh, the eyes of the world are watching you
0:58:42 > 0:58:45# Oh, the eyes
0:58:45 > 0:58:50# Yes, the eyes of the world are watching you... #