Day 4: South Africa Day

The drum beats hard with the rise of the morning sun.

A call for the heart of the beaten but not defeated young activist to rise.

Rise above all resistance.

Rise to heights unknown. 

Rise in their numbers...

Rise young activist, rise!

South Africa Day, December 16 marks a day of relentless courage and enormous bloodshed. A day in South African history we'd love to forget. A day in 1838 where 1000's of spear-laden Zulu Warriors met their bitter end at the hands of a gun-firing and much bigger Voortrekker Army. The Battle of Blood River will forever be a stain in our history that will burn in our hearts for as long as a rift of injustice still lingers in our society.

To the ANC, the December 16, 1961will be remembered as the day they took up arms to take back the country of their ancestors and rid South Africa of Apartheid.

As for December 16, 2010, the day began on a far more pleasant note with fewer complaints and less problems until a horde of COPE members gate-crashed the party. COPE who had initially shown no interest in attending the festival arrived chanting songs of favour for their leader, Mr Mosiuoa Lekota. Unfortunately their arrival without the necessary accreditation caused a stir which quickly had to be extinguished by the available security.

The rest of the day proved to be less dramatic but equally as emotive. Tribal dancers, celebrity guests and many other entertainers including Spokazi and Bricks performed spectacularly flying the South African flag high for all to see. That spirit of unity that usually trickles through the veins of South Africans during world cups transcended into 10’s of thousands of youth that filled the Tshwane Events Centre.