Poloko Tau
‘Why Soweto?” the large graffiti shouts on the wall at the entrance to the Sharpeville Human Rights Precinct, a memorial site where 69 people were killed by apartheid forces during an anti-pass-book protest on March 21, 1960.
More than 2 000 Sharpeville residents took to the streets yesterday in a protest that turned violent. It was sparked by the government’s decision to celebrate Human Rights Day in Kliptown, Soweto, today and not in Sharpeville as they had expected.
A small march through the township in the morning escalated into a big protest, with streets barricaded with tree logs, garbage, rocks and burning tyres. Protesters converged at the memorial site where Sedibeng mayor Simon Mofokeng was to address them.
Before he could speak, a burning tyre was shoved under the Nyala police vehicle he was in. All hell broke loose as the Nyala backed off. The vehicle was pelted with stones, and hundreds of people ran after it as it negotiated its way over heavily barricaded streets.
A large crowd then went to a nearby supermarket where they unsuccessfully tried to break open a roller door and damaged an ATM.
Officers travelling in a smaller police vehicle were forced to flee when the mob started throwing stones at them. Minutes later, an Nyala pulled in and rubber bullets were fired for a few seconds until the crowd dispersed.
What residents could have heard from Mofokeng was that he is on their side. “Myself and Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane have tirelessly but unsuccessfully tried to convince the leadership to host the celebration in Sharpeville. Our proposal to have a two-phase programme for the event to be held in Sharpeville and later in Kliptown was also turned down,” he said.
Mofokeng said he had argued that today was an “opportunity for the people of Sedibeng and Sharpeville to have a chance to be addressed by President Jacob Zuma.
“Human Rights Day is a national day but it came after what happened in Sharpeville. If this day is celebrated in Gauteng then it should be celebrated in Sharpeville. I can’t imagine a commemoration of this significant day anywhere else and not in Sharpeville,” he said.
Mofokeng said a decision was taken that the Sedibeng regional leadership will not attend the Kliptown event to be addressed by Zuma today.
A parallel event has been planned in Sharpeville.
“There will be no time to go to Kliptown. We will lay wreaths at the graves of the Sharpeville massacre victims and we’ll have entertainment activities that will keep us in Sharpeville the whole day.”
Sharpeville massacre victims have also thrown their weight behind the protest.
Abram Mofokeng, 73, still walks around with a bullet that has been lodged along his spine for 52 years.
“I was shot in the leg and back on that day and saw all those bodies scattered in the street. Now, how do we let a year pass without anything planned to give those who died an honour they deserve, which has always been our culture here in Sharpeville?” Mofokeng said.
“A well-organised event would have allowed Zuma to address those in Kliptown and then still come to honour our heroes with us.
“It is sad that a protest is happening on the eve of the commemoration on the same grounds where so many of our comrades’ lives were lost.”
Selloane Phetoane, 47, chairwoman of the Khulumani Support Group, an organisation supporting survivors and victims of massacres, said the Gauteng government had been warned.
“We went to the provincial government and warned them that people won’t be happy that the celebration is being held in Soweto, with nothing planned for Sharpeville. We gave up and will now honour our heroes all by ourselves, and no one will go to Kliptown,” she said.
Police said the situation was tense and streets had remained barricaded in Sharpeville last night. “No one was arrested and police will monitor the area in the night,” spokesman Captain Bheki Thwala said.
l Sapa reports that shots were fired in Sharpeville last night and one person was wounded, police said.
“An ambulance is taking that person to hospital,” said Constable Tshishiwa Mitileni.
It was not known if the victim was a man or a woman.