Today our guest is Political Analyst, Ntsikelelo Breakfast.
- Human Rights Day is historically linked with 21 March 1960, and the events of Sharpeville. On that day 69 people died and 180 were wounded when police fired on a peaceful crown that gathered in protest against the Pass laws.
- While March 21 was always known as Sharpeville Day, although never celebrated as a national holiday during apartheid, it was decided by the 1994 democratically-elected government that it would be remembered as Human Rights Day instead.
- In recognition of the events on this day, the United Nations has declared that March 21st each year is The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
It’s also says the holiday commemorates the establishment of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).