News 24 on 21 March 2017

It has been 57 years since that fateful day in Sharpeville on 21 March 1960 when 69 people died and 180 wounded, when police opened fire on a peaceful protest against pass laws by people only seeking to be treated humanely by advancing the calls for equality, justice and freedom.

Another Human Rights Day has come and as we reflect we are reminded of the great strides that have been made in ensuring that human rights are protected and that they apply to all equally. The more time lapses from the dawn of democracy in our beloved country the more important it has become to guard it jealously with the bittersweet reminder that our freedom was not free.

This august hour, in a post-Marikana phase, it has become a necessity to have the most difficult conversations about what it will take to radically transform our society into a more humane one by including the voices of those located on the periphery.

For a long time since the advent of democracy we have ever so gradually become a society of somnambulists by delegating our responsibilities to nurture democracy to leaders who represent us in various stages.

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