SEDIBENG.- It seems Human Rights Day is becoming a thing of the past, if this year’s commemoration is anything to go by. In a move that feels like a slap in the face to our history, the ANC top brass skipped this significant day to hold a massive march in Johannesburg instead.
To me, the ruling party looks like a terminally ill patient
To me the ruling party look like a terminally ill patient who is down to their last days but still thinks they can survive. They are fighting for their political lives to the point where they snubbed an event where people actually sacrificed their lives for all South Africans.
Zakes’ Sports Corner doesn’t care how they justify it; the fact is that Human Rights Day, formerly known as Sharpeville Day, is just as important as that march, if not more so. History will judge us harshly for this.
Those people didn’t die for nothing!
The absence of our local mayors was too loud.
While Emfuleni Mayor Sipho Radebe sent Elias Mokoena to act in his place, and the Premier’s office sent Matome Chiloane, it simply wasn’t the same.
Fair enough!
But having said this, if it weren’t for other political parties stepping in to give the day some dignity, the event would have felt empty. In fact, it feels like the Pan-Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) should officially take back ownership of Sharpeville Day.
The ANC can not be trusted!
The ANC has shown they cannot be trusted.
By choosing a march over a milestone commemoration, they have proven they either don’t take themselves seriously or they don’t care about the people of Sharpeville.
My colleague, Lerato Serero, hit the nail on the head in his column last week when he asked that those that are responsible should take accountability and provide services for the people of Sharpeville, and that they should not only be remembered on the day, March 21.
Some might ask what Zakes’ Sports Corner knows about politics. Well, growing up in this community and working in this newsroom, I know right from wrong.
I lost friends in the Zone 7 Massacre.
I remember playing soccer with them in the dusty streets of Evaton, never imagining they would be taken so soon.
I can not forgive the ANC bigwigs
This is why I cannot forgive the ANC bigwigs for skipping this day for a march, nogal!
The current leaders are leaving a rotten legacy for our children. They are teaching the next generation that Human Rights Day is not that important.
History is watching, and it will judge us.
