The Azanian People's Organisation (Azapo) in Makana commemorated Human Rights Day at an event held at Makana Public Primary School yesterday.
The Azanian People's Organisation (Azapo) in Makana commemorated Human Rights Day at an event held at Makana Public Primary School yesterday.
Human Rights Day was previously known as Sharpeville Day to commemorate the shooting of 69 protesters by police on 21st March 1960, and the event is commemorated every year countrywide. Organiser Mkhuseli Futa said the event was to keep the light burning, even for the young generation.
“We don't celebrate this day, we commemorate it because as black people we do no celebrate the death of a person,” he explained. Futa accused the ruling party of changing the political events and trying to sideline other political parties as if they never fought for freedom.
He said the 1960 protest was organised by the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). Futa claimed that the protest that led to the death of 20 people in KwaLanga, Uitenhage, in the Eastern Cape in 1985 was organised by Azanian Student Movement (Azasm). On that day, a large crowd of protesters from Langa began to march to KwaNobuhle to attend a funeral that had in fact been banned.
They were confronted by a police contingent who instructed them to disperse. Twenty people were been killed by the police in Langa that morning. The nature of this incident sent a shock wave around the world. “We will never celebrate these days,” Futa said.
