Celebrating our human rights
This Human Rights Day (21 March) has a very special meaning to me. I will be celebrating my 5th wedding anniversary. Yes of course I also know the other meaning of this day, and I will forever be thankful that I can associate my wedding day with this special national holiday. South Africa’s Human Rights …
This Human Rights Day (21 March) has a very special meaning to me.
I will be celebrating my 5th wedding anniversary.
Yes of course I also know the other meaning of this day, and I will forever be thankful that I can associate my wedding day with this special national holiday.
South Africa’s Human Rights Day, declared International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination by the UN, is synonymous with an innocuous but historic township, Sharpeville.
For many South Africans, the day will always remain Sharpeville Day, a commemoration of the 21 March 1960 Sharpeville massacre, when the police mowed down 69 unarmed people and injured 180 others who refused to carry the hated dompas identity document that was meant only for indigenous Africans.
These people fought for what they believed was their right to an existence.
They fought for a new constitution and the right to walk the streets freely and without judgement.
This is what I will remember while I celebrate my anniversary. What will you remember, Krugersdorp?
Read more on the Sharpeville massacre here:
