Human Rights Day remembered

By Khanyisa Tabata
21 March 2010

Today is Human Rights Day and marks the 50th anniversary of the shootings in Sharpville in 1960 in which 67 people died.

An ANC statement honours those who died fighting apartheid. But it also strongly condemns all violence, destruction of State and private property, and the looting of shops under the guise of "service delivery protests".

And it says in Soweto, where there have been violent protests round the Jub Jub trial, parents, educators and the community at large must ensure that learners go back to school.

Meanwhile DA leader Helen Zille has also remembered those who died fifty year ago in her news letter saying “Sixteen years ago we began the transition from an authoritarian regime to a rights-based constitutional democracy. From the moment our Constitution was adopted, our job was to defend and advance the rights and freedoms contained in it.

“This remains the task of every South African. As we celebrate Human Rights Day, we should reflect on the very real threats to our human rights and what we must do to counteract these threats. Our constitutional rights are threatened by greed, cronyism, corruption and power abuse.

Zille added that let us all take the decision today to reclaim the human rights that are gradually being eroded. Let us all remember that we will only succeed if we vigilantly defend and advance each other’s rights. When it comes to human rights, an injury to one is an injury to all. Reclaiming our human rights would be the most fitting tribute to those who lost their lives fifty years ago today.