‘BANTU EDUCATION’ WAS DESIGNED TO KEEP AFRICAN PEOPLE LOCKED in at the lower echelons of society, and was deliberately inferior to the education provided for the white population. The rationale behind the new system that was introduced from 1954 was explained by Verwoerd: ‘There is no place for him [the Bantu] in the European community above the level of certain forms of labour’. The new education system was part of the state's broader strategy to bring Africans under control but it had one advantage in that the number of African students in schools increased significantly. In Soweto, as we have seen, this was especially noticeable in the high proportion of children in primary schools.

In the 1960s, the state stopped building schools in Soweto and the result was endemic overcrowding. The average pupil:teacher ratios increased to 58:1 in 1967 from an already high 46:1 at the time Bantu Education was introduced. The quality of education was also severely undermined by the large numbers of unqualified and under-qualified teachers – it was estimated that in 1961 fewer than ten per cent of African teachers had a matric certificate. Not surprisingly, the students suffered. Between 1948 and 1968 the matric pass rate declined from fifty-four per cent to thirtythree per cent.

Despite such impediments, and even though schooling was not compulsory for African children, the Orlando community placed a high premium on education. Parents generally attempted, under very trying economic circumstances to keep their children in school for as long as possible. They were supported by some deeply committed educationists, such as Thamsanqa Khambule and Lungiswa Bacela, and many others.

Lungiswa Bacela has told her story in an interview. It reflects the centrality of education in her own life and her dedication to the education of young people in Soweto. She started her schooling in Pimville and when her grandmother moved to Orlando she joined her and went to school ‘under the late Jolobe of the Presbyterian school. I was also taught by Mr Maseko, who was the principal there, next to Orlando Stadium. That is where I finished my Standard Six.’ At that time African women had very limited employment options.