Sharpeville massacre: Ramaphosa pays tribute to 'those who fought for the rights we hold so dear today'
President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke at the national Human Rights Day commemoration at the George Thabe Stadium in Sharpeville on Thursday.
President Cyril Ramaphosa lays a wreath at the Sharpeville Memorial site on 21 March 2024. Picture: @PresidencyZA/X
JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa has remembered the 69 people who were murdered in the Sharpeville massacre.
Ramaphosa spoke at the national Human Rights Day commemoration at the George Thabe Stadium in Sharpeville on Thursday.
On this day in 1960, a group of peaceful protestors, who demonstrated against pass laws, were gunned down by police, claiming nearly 70 lives and injuring dozens of others.
Ramaphosa said it was with great sorrow and pain that those who lost their lives are remembered.
"We gather here in Sharpeville on this day so that we may pay tribute to those who fought for the rights we hold so dear today, so that we remember the severe hardship they endured and the great sacrifices that they made."
The president also reflected on how far the country had come in the fight for basic human rights for all.
"We recall how many generations of Black South Africans were denied the right to life and dignity, the right to equal treatment, the right to vote and the right to be heard."