100 years!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is the 100th birthday of the ANC.

What an historical day!

All over South Africa people are celebrating. Heads of state and leaders from all over the world have descended on the city of Bloemfontein, South Africa to celebrate this momentus occasion.

The party was founded in 1912 by a group of men who wanted to organise against the many effects of colonialism on the people of South Africa.

Their mission was to lobby for the rights of black people, and even made a trip to the United Kingdom to meet with the British government.

At the time, the men probably had no idea that they had founded what would become the African continent's oldest liberation movement, and the what would become the world's largest liberation struggle.

The journey from that day until today, 100 years later, has been long. It has been filled with struggle and adversity, but also a miraculous triumpth.

South Africa has been a democracy for 17 years now. The road to reversing the effects of many years of oppression and injustice is long and arduous, but I have no doubt that the country will get there.

We wish the ANC a Happy Birthday!!!

And we congratulate all the people who contributed to the struggle for their bravery and determination. If it were not for them, Melodi Radio and Entertainment would not exist today.

And more importantly, we would not have the opportunity to dream of doing and achieving great things.

Youth Day

16 June 1976

Today, June 16th, we remember 35 years ago when black South African students decided that they wanted to have a voice in their education, their government and their country.

For our non-South African friends: this day is what has come to be called the Soweto Uprising. Thousands of school children took to the streets to protest against having to be taught in Afrikaans, what was at that time the language of the oppressors, the Apartheid government.

The government retaliated against the school children with live ammunition, and Hector Peterson (pictured) was the first to be killed.

Every year, on this date, in South Africa we remember this important day. It was what many consider to be the start of an intensified anti-Apartheid movement within and outside of the country. After the event, many of these school children joined the struggle against Apartheid and went into exile to join Umkhonto We Sizwe, the armed wing of the struggle.

Though it was a tragic day, it is also a testament to the power of young people to be able to make a change. Back then there was no twitter or facebook to mobilise (like we see with the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East) but these young children made a huge and lasting impact to what is now a free and democratic South Africa.