GRANDIOSE plans for next year’s commemorations of the 50th Anniversary of the 1976 Soweto Uprising were revealed during a media briefing at the June 16 Memorial Acre in Central Western Jabavu, Soweto on the morning of December 10, 2025.
The Tsietsi Mashinini Foundation (TMF) and the Township Economic Commission of South Africa (TECSA) launched a strategic partnership for the looming commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the 1976 Soweto Uprising under the title: ‘Road to the 50th Soweto Uprising Anniversary – Commemoration & Celebration’.
At a presser also attended by miscellaneous stakeholders from civic organisations and the community, the TMF’s Dee Mashinini and TECSA’s president Bheki Twala respectively made presentations offering insight into the full calendar of 2026 events commemorating the historic milestone – as well as their organizations’ respective roles towards ensuring that the year-long programme went according to plan.
According to the programme, celebrations will comprise of the public birthday celebration of Tsietsi Mashinini on January 27th; a gala dinner on May 20; the annual Tsietsi Mashinini Lecture and a cultural cleansing ceremony slated for June 13 and 14; and a commemorative march and memorial wall unveiling on June 16th.
Tsietsi’s younger brother and a figure who has also paid his dues to the struggle, Dee expounded at length regarding how his foundation has been planning – for the past two years – towards the successful implementation of the coming year’s events.
Among details he mentioned were: the intended slaughtering of a white lamb for the whole of Soweto (which lost 530 children during the 1976 riots) “because blood was spilled against their will”; that the commemorative march to Orlando Stadium would culminate in an address by South Africa’s president; the establishment of a roll call of victims of 1976 in the form of a memorial wall within the acre’s precinct – as a way of giving back to their families.
Mashinini further elaborated on the nitty-gritty such as budgets, logistics, participation, et cetera, and concluded his presentation by emphasizing that his foundation didn’t own the anticipated event – but that the Soweto community at large did.
Aligned to the afore-mentioned TMF-initiated events, Twala laid out an overview of TECSA’s role in the commemoration by mentioning – inter alia – economic activation and youth engagement involving the participation of 50 000 youth from 50 African and beyond the continent.
He touted the programme as offering opportunities for stakeholder collaboration and rounded off his address by offering: “we are inviting you to come and sit at the table with us.”
To an enquiry regarding the availability of funding for the planned events, Mashinini and Twala mentioned financial undertakings made by government as well as corporate entities – whilst giving assurance that those would respond timeously in ensuring that all intended events occur.
After a Q & A session, the collaboration betwixt the two entities were formalized by the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by Mashinini and Twala.
A corporate identity banner limning Tsietsi’s face surrounded by an image of the iconic cooling towers, an arc of the South African flag and the words and figures reading, 50th Soweto Uprising Commemoration & Celebrations 2026 emblazoned across – was unveiled to wrap up proceeding before attendees adjourned to the acre’s precinct for a group photograph around Tsietsi’s statue.
The Tsietsi Mashinini Foundation (TMF) preserves and promotes the legacy of Tsietsi Mashinini, championing youth development, cultural preservation, and civic engagement in South Africa. The Township Economic Commission of South Africa (TECSA) drives economic development and empowerment initiatives across South Africa’s townships, fostering entrepreneurship, youth engagement, and community upliftment. TECSA has been commissioned by the TMF to play a central role in the 2026 anniversary programme.
About Tsietsi Mashinini
Tsietsi Mashinini came from a big family comprising 13 children whose home was located in a section of Central Western Jabavu adjacent to the Morris Isaacson High School whose students he led in demonstration against the imposition of Afrikaans on black students, back in 1976.
A student leader at the school where he acquired a black belt in karate, Dee remembers him as the intrepid type who’d rally fellow students to eradicate gangsterism around his neighbourhood and who in one daring instance eluded police surveillance by slipping out of the Morris Isaacson school gates whilst disguised as a girl.
He identified with Black Consciousness and was at some moment paid a nocturnal visit at his home by Stephen Biko – among the sort of derring-do which had his father fearing for his safety.
Having had died aged 33 under mysterious circumstances whilst exiled in Guinea in 1990 – come January 27, 2026, Tsietsi would had turned 69.
In acknowledgement of Tsietsi’s family’s sacrifices towards the attainment of black South Africans’ freedom, the synopsis of a book by American journalist-cumambassatrix Lynda Schuster titled A Burning Hunger: One Family’s Struggle Against Apartheid, surmises: If the Mandelas were the generals in the fight for black liberation, the Mashininis were the foot soldiers.
For any individual or entity keen on involvement in the commemoration event, contact:
Dee Mashinini on +27 83 442 0171 / admin@tsietsimashininifoundation.org /
www.tsietsimashininifoundation.org or
Lesego Seloane on 0730123835 / tecsagauteng@gmail.com
Image Jacob MAWELA (Dee Mashinini of the Tsietsi Mashinini Foundation -right- and Bheki Twala of the Township Economic Commission of South Africa limned shaking hands after signing an MoU to stage the 50th Soweto Uprising Anniversary events).
