In commemoration of South African Youth Day and in solidarity with Jamaicans taking a stand against the recent spate of violent attacks against children, the South African High Commissioner in Jamaica, Ambassador Lumka Yengeni visited the Secret Gardens Monument in downtown Kingston on Friday.

Friday marks the anniversary of South Africa’s Youth Day, a day to honor the young people who were ambushed by the police forces of the racist apartheid regime on June 16, 1976. On that tragic day, over 500 young people, including school students, were killed during protests against the Bantu Education System and the compulsory use of Afrikaans in secondary schools.

At the Secret Gardens, Ambassador Yengeni laid a wreath in the presence of the Deputy Mayor of Kingston, Winston Ennis and other members of the Kingston and St. Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC).

The Secret Gardens Monument, located at the intersection of Tower and Church streets, was erected in 2008 by the KSAMC in memory of children who died violently in Jamaica. The monument bears the names, dates of death, and ages of the children killed due to violence in the country.