By Jennifer M. Haralambides
Impunity Watch Reporter, Africa
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Sunday, as South Africa marked the 50th anniversary of one of the darkest days of the Apartheid era, its current Deputy President called for an end to recent violent protests that have engulfed the country. Rather than use violence, Deputy President Kagame Motlanthe charged South Africans to learn from the lessons of the past and use the democratic institutions available . . . to voice our grievances and demands.” Mr. Molanthe called upon his citizens to protect everyone’s human rights and to learn from the lessons of the past, especially in light of the current situation in many South African townships.
Street protests have become commonplace in the townships of South Africa over the last two months, with residents speaking out against poor living conditions. Protesters have also risen up, arming themselves with rocks and stones against housing conditions, lack of basic services and jobs. In response, police have used everything from water cannons to rubber bullets in order to try and get the protesters to disperse.
Deputy President Motlanthe’s remarks came during the 50th Anniversary commemoration of the Sharpeville Massacre, one of the turning points in the struggle against apartheid. At Sharpeville fifty years ago three hundred plus citizens, protesting the pass laws, were fired upon by apartheid police. The pass laws required black citizens to carry identification documents at all times. Sixty-nine protesting South Africans died as a result, many of whom were shot in the back by the apartheid-era police.
The Deputy President called upon his constituents to remember the lessons of the past by upholding the South African constitution and ensuring “the progressive realization of the socio-economic rights as envisaged in the Bill of Rights.” He went on to say that “as government working with our social partners, we must strive to improve the quality of life of all our people by providing shelter, basic amenities, education, and security.”
His statements were refuted, however, by opposition party members, many of which claim that Motlanthe’s African National Congress (ANC)is the country’s greatest threat to human rights, and not the solution, as they claim. Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille, for one, accused the ANC of greed, cronyism and power abuse. And Jan Bosman, representative for the civil rights group, Afrikanerbond, noted that “[i]t is becoming more and more a government that blindly approves or condones abuses against the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by not acting against any abuse or breach.”
For more information, please see:
ABC News – South African Commemorates Sharpeville Massacre – 21 March 2010
News24.com –Hounor Sharpeville, Defend Rights – 21 March 2010
Reuters – End Violent South African Protests – 21 March 2010
BBC News – South Africa Commemorates Sharpeville Massacre of 1960 – 21 March 2010
