Manaka desired to attend a university, but the recently introduced requirement for Afrikaans, which wasn't offered at Ithumeng, was prohibitive.
He then enrolled at Matibane High School in 1976, which did offer the language, but his attempt was voided, ironically, by the Soweto uprising that came as a response to the 1974 legislation demanding Afrikaans.
[3] Manaka worked as a teacher and,[1] already an admirer of the plays of Gibson Kente,[4] developed an interest in theatre after witnessing his students participate in the 1976 Soweto uprising.
[1] He founded the Soyikwa African Theatre group in 1978, with students from the Creative Youth Association who had gotten together after the uprising.
[4] The group performed political satire drawing from both European and African traditions; themes included Pan-African and Black Consciousness as well as the realities of South African politics--apartheid, the continuing destruction of social life in townships, and widespread poverty in rural areas.