SOUTH AFRICA REMEMBERS SHARPEVILLE MASSACRE

The 21st of March reminds South Africans how far they have come as a nation. On this date in 1960, apartheid security forces killed 69 unarmed Black protesters in Sharpeville township in Vereeniging. The victims had taken to the streets to demonstrate against laws that required Black people to have a permit to travel around the country.

The Pan-African Congress party, which had organised the protest, was banned shortly after. So was the African National Congress which was the country’s leading anti-apartheid movement.

The atrocity sparked an international outcry, drawing global attention to the brutality of the apartheid system. It also prompted the UN to declare 21st March the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.