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On this day, apartheid police killed 69 peaceful anti-apartheid protesters in 1960.
Families of Sharpeville Massacre victims gather on Human Rights Day in Johannesburg on Friday. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
South Africa on Friday commemorated Human Rights Day in remembrance of the Sharpeville Massacre on 21 March 1960.
On this day, apartheid police killed 69 peaceful anti-apartheid protesters. The day also honours 35 people who were killed on 21 March 1985 when apartheid police targeted community members after a funeral in KwaLanga, Uitenhage.
This year’s Human Rights commemorative events are themed “Deepening a Culture of Social Justice and Human Rights”.
According to the government, this calls for a renewed and strengthened commitment from all levels of society to accelerate practical solutions in driving inclusive growth and job creation, reducing poverty, tackling the high cost of living and building a capable, ethical, developmental state.
Political parties and the government gathered in various locations to commemorate the day.
Deputy President Paul Mashatile delivered an address at the Derrick Ferreira Stadium, Kariega, in the Nelson Mandela Bay municipality, Eastern Cape.
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He was joined by Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture Gayton McKenzie, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi and premier of the Eastern Cape Oscar Mabuyane, among others.
Mashatile officially unveiled a multipurpose sports facility at the James Ndulula Primary School in Kariega as part of Human Rights Day’s legacy projects.
No human rights
The EFF held its Sharpeville rally at Dlomo Dam in Sedibeng, where its leader, Julius Malema, addressed supporters.
“The EFF recognises today as Sharpeville Day in honour of those who were slain by the apartheid government for refusing to have their movement controlled and dictated to them in their own land,” said the party.
EFF treasurer general Omphile Maotwe said the party would not commemorate Human Rights Day while black people still suffered.
“They tell us to celebrate Human Rights Day, but where are the human rights for the landless? The unemployed? The millions who still suffer under the rule of a system designed to oppress them?”
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EFF leader Julius Malema said calling the day anything other than Sharpeville Massacre Day would be a distortion of history.
“We call it Sharpeville Massacre Day because it is a day of struggle and sacrifice and not a day where opportunists and racists should be allowed to hijack this day to claim that it represents their human rights which have been violated,” Malema said.
“We call it Sharpeville Massacre Day because to call it anything else is to undermine the memory of those who gave their lives in the struggle against white domination, and it will allow history to be distorted.
“Sharpeville was not just a massacre; it was a declaration of war by the apartheid regime against the black majority. It was a moment that exposed the true brutality of white minority rule to the entire world.”
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