On Youth Day, the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) hosts a dialogue examining how youth activism in South Africa has evolved from the apartheid era to current challenges. The discussion focuses on “echoes of 1976,” linking the 1976 youth uprising era to contemporary youth movements shaped by inequality and exclusion. Organisers use the event to explore continuities in youth political engagement and the changing context in which young people campaign and mobilise. The programme also considers how structural issues—such as social and economic disparities—inform youth struggles today. By placing past youth resistance alongside present-day concerns, the dialogue aims to provide a historical perspective on the drivers of youth activism. Across the coverage available, the emphasis remains on understanding youth struggles across different periods in South Africa, rather than on any single incident. The event is framed as a platform for dialogue and analysis of the factors influencing youth participation in social and political life from apartheid-era activism to the present.