Cape Town - According to the South African government, “On March 21 1960, the communities of Sharpeville and Langa townships, like their fellow compatriots across the country, embarked on a protest march to protest against the pass laws. The apartheid police shot and killed 69 of the protesters at Sharpeville, many of them killed while fleeing . Many others were also killed in other parts of the country. The tragedy came to be known as the Sharpeville Massacre and it exposed the apartheid government’s deliberate violation of human rights to the world.”
Out of pure curiosity, we wanted to find out if the people of South Africa know why we celebrate Human Rights Day.
On Friday, March 17, IOL News posted a poll on their Twitter page, and asked the public why we celebrate Human Rights Day. The poll was accompanied by four possible answers:
a) I don’t know b) It is a public holiday
c) Sharpeville Massacre
d) I don’t care
It turns out that the public is not completely clueless about Human Rights Day, since 63% gave the correct response and said Human Rights Day is celebrated because of the Sharpeville Massacre.
Unfortunately, 14% said they don’t care why Human Rights Day is celebrated and 13% said it is a Public Holiday.
However, 10% were honest and said they do not know why Human Rights Day is celebrated on March 21.
Hopefully South Africans will take the initiative to establish the significance behind the public holiday, known as Human Rights Day.