ANC WESTERN CAPE HUMAN RIGHTS DAY STATEMENT

A LIFETIME ago, shortly after 1pm, 69 unarmed civilians died after being shot by South African Police when they demonstrated against the pass laws in Sharpeville.

That event on 21 March 1960, also saw 180 people injured.

On the afternoon of the same day, in Langa, Cape Town, three people were killed and 26 injured in a confrontation with police.

March 21 is regarded as the day when the liberation struggle in South African history changed and the march to freedom accelerated.

Today South Africa celebrates Human Rights Day, and as we do, we will also commemorate the 59th anniversary of the Sharpeville and Langa killings.

For us, it will be a solemn day, where we will recall with sadness the high price so many people paid for our freedom. But it will also be a day of joy and a time to celebrate the end of apartheid and its draconian laws. We can say with one voice: We are free at last.

However, in the Western Cape, black South Africans do not walk in the same freedom as that enjoyed by their compatriots in South Africa’s eight other provinces. Our people suffer severe discrimination from the DA, just because they are black.

In their ballot, they have the key to their freedom. We urge them to use their vote in the May 8 general election and get rid of the DA. Vote right so that when we celebrate Human Rights Day in 2020, the Western Cape will no longer be led by the DA and regard itself as a separate part of South Africa. Vote to be a member of the South African family.

Statement issued by Dennis Cruywagen, ANC Western Cape, 21 March 2019