Antoinette Sithole, one of South Africa's iconic apartheid heroes has observed that the massacre of about 500 students during the 1976 uprising in Soweto has made South Africa a better place today.  

On the morning of June 16, 1976, a crowd of over 20,000 black students from various schools gathered in Soweto, a suburb of Johannesburg in South Africa to demonstrate.

The students were demonstrating against a decree by the apartheid government that all pupils must learn Afrikaans and that it was going to be the only medium of instructions in schools.

Although the protest was peaceful, the police opened fire, and about 500, or more, people were killed in what was called 'The Soweto Youth Uprising'.

One of the dead was 13-year-old Hector Pieterson, brother of Antoinette Sithole, who was then 16.

A photo of the lifeless body of Antoinette's brother in the arms of Mbuyisa Makhubo - a passerby - and her running beside them from the scene gained international recognition.

37 years after that painful incident, Antoinette Sithole, who is now a national hero, tells Myjoyonline.com in an exclusive interview that, although she cannot forget the horrors of that day, she has learnt to move on.

She said she told herself that, "I cannot live like this. I had to find ways to look at the picture and make my life go on, it's not an easy thing but I had to."

"Today I am proud and very honoured that I am alive and I can tell the story," the 53-year-old added.

Recounting one of the key factors that led to the demonstration that day, Antoinette Sithole said "Most of us, we never even think of tomorrow. Things were so bad, you never think of tomorrow. You wouldn't even trust your own brother, sister or even neighbours because things were really getting out of hand... we never thought it will come to an end but it did."

According to her, the huge numbers were due to the fact that, "we knew people were organizing it [and] they need support and we also felt like we needed support," so they joined in. She unfortunately lost most of her friends on the day.

In spite of the tragedy, Antoinette, who is now a guide at the museum dedicated to her brother - Hector Pieterson Museum, said the incident has made Soweto and South Africa a better place today.

"They did not die in vain. Yes blood was shed, we felt very stressed and traumatized but at the end of the day we felt we achieved what we wanted - freedom," she added.