16/06/2026
Amandla!!!
The Struggle Is Still Alive: June 16 and the Fight for South Africa's Creative Soul
By Mthobeli Moni | STRT FORTE | June 16, 2026
June 16 was never just a date. It was a declaration — that young people refuse to be silenced, erased, or underfunded.
Today, the battlefield has shifted. The young creatives of South Africa are not facing teargas on the streets of Soweto. They are facing something quieter but equally brutal: a government that excludes artists from funding, not because their projects lack merit, but because they lack the right political connections.
The same Ministers who wake up to music, watch films with their families and read poetry before bed — turn around and say arts is not a priority. That contradiction is not ignorance. It is contempt.
As we revealed in our recent reporting on the Mzansi Golden Economy scandal, qualified projects from established artists have been rejected without explanation, while waste companies and politically affiliated entities walked away with public money meant for culture and creativity. This is not mismanagement — it is theft from the next generation.
But the spirit of Biko, Sobukwe, Chris Hani, Siphiwo Maxwell Mthimkhulu and Vuyisile Mini did not die for mahala. It lives in artists like 100%Blaq , whose song Die for Mahala carries that same fire. It lives in JBux, who used music to hold power accountable. It lives in Poetic Soul, fighting on the frontlines for people living with disabilities in the arts sector — because representation cannot wait.
To every young creative reading this: June 16 is your permission slip. Let this month be Step 1. Vote with intention. Vote in your metro. Remove the criminals in suits who promised change and delivered corruption.
The struggle for creatives will not stop — until we make it stop.
STRT FORTE stands with South Africa's youth and its artists.
