Cape Town - The video shows a teenage girl in a school uniform seemingly minding her business at first.
Then with an amapiano tune blaring, she throws her right leg up in the air and starts to dance. She is joined by another, dressed in the same uniform.
In the comments section, someone mentioned the uniform was of a school in Rustenburg.
Another asked if “this amapiano and TikTok generation is passing exams”.
There is a comment which refers to the length of the uniform as being too short and inappropriate. The girls, barely in their teens, were also not short of admirers, with many describing them as “cute” and others wishing they had lifted their legs slightly higher. Others hailed their dance moves.
This week 47 years ago, Hector Pieterson was shot and killed at the age of 12 during the Soweto Uprising.
Police opened fire on black students protesting the enforcement of teaching in Afrikaans, whereas they wanted to learn their native languages.
A news photograph by Sam Nzima of the mortally wounded Pieterson being carried by another resident while his sister ran next to them was published around the world.
The anniversary of his death is designated as Youth Day, commemorated this Friday.
Pieterson was picked up by Mbuyisa Makhubo who, together with his sister Antoinette, then 17, ran towards Sam Nzima's car.
Same generation, different era; but note the difference between the behaviour of the youths of 1976 and their 2023 counterpart.
There is a lot more the modern-day young person can do - and this does not have to involve standing up to armed police officers wielding rocks and stones.
Young people can study hard, help parents with household chores, get involved in community work, abstain from sex, stay away from drugs, respect others and elders, etc.
There is a bigger legacy to be created and remembered for, than dancing in the middle of the road.
Cape Times