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The Road to Progress is Paved with Good Books

The long weekend just passed saw South Africans commemorating Youth Day, a public holiday celebrated each year in honour of the Soweto Uprisings.

The Soweto Uprising was a series of demonstrations and protests led by black school children in South Africa that began on the morning of 16 June 1976, in response to an educational policy decreeing Afrikaans as the medium of instruction for mathematics, arithmetic, and social studies from standard five (grade seven).

Black school children, in a march planned and coordinated by the Soweto Students’ Representative Council’s (SSRC) Action Committee, protested on the grounds that this would inevitably stifle critical thinking and hamper learners’ understanding of  learning material as they would also be forced to contend with learning a new language. According to official reports, 176 young people died on that day, shot by police who opened fire on the protesters.

16 June 1976 is widely acknowledged as the beginning of the end of apartheid and the sacrifice made by those young people is why we still commemorate Youth Day today.

In 2019 young people still have a critical role to play in the development of the country and while there is great room for improvement, the education system supports the inclusion of black citizens in all spheres of the economy, at all levels. No longer are black people deliberately intended and policies crafted to ensure they remain slaves, labourers and servants on their land.

David Krut Bookstore's Children's Section carries a wide range of books in a variety of languages.
Young Readers’ Nook @ David Krut

David Krut Bookstores is conscious of the importance of language in successfully navigating the world and we are proud of our large and growing selection of children’s books in a variety of genres and languages, for all ages.

We also have a wide range of exquisite collector’s books for art lovers to suit all budgets, and our range of titles for the adult reader is a thrill to browse.

Come into the bookstore at Arts on Main (264 Fox Street) or at 151 Jan Smuts Avenue and choose from our wide selection – we have something to please the discerning reader at any age.