Human Rights Day: No point in political parties returning to Sharpeville every year while the lives of residents do not improve
21 March 2024
ActionSA believes that the best way to commemorate Human Rights Day and honour the memory of the lives of the 69 people who passed away at the Sharpeville Massacre on 21 March 1960 is to take action to remove the cruel and evil ruling party and vote for an alternative that will put the interests of South Africans first.
There is simply no point for political parties to make their way to the community of Sharpeville, near Vereeniging, when 30 years into democracy, the lives of residents in the community have barely changed with many battling unemployment, addiction, and a breakdown in service delivery. With 11.7 million South Africans unemployed, and over 28 million dependent on social grants, we have truly failed to live up to the dreams of those who fought for our democracy.
For us, therefore, to truly honour the memory of the Sharpeville massacre, we have to take action to change South Africa’s current trajectory by voting to remove the ruling party who have failed our people. An alternative government can start to immediately improve the lives of people living in communities forgotten by the political establishment, including those living in Sharpeville.
As I paid my respects to the victims of the Sharpeville massacre at their tombstones at the Phelindaba Cemetery in Sharpeville alongside ActionSA National Spokesperson, Lerato Ngobeni, and Gauteng Premier Candidate, Funzi Ngobeni, and hundreds of ActionSA activists, I shared the difference an ActionSA government would make in communities across South Africa.
We would start to undo the harmful legacy of Apartheid and of failed rule by the ruling party by creating millions of new jobs, restoring the rule of law and re-establishing quality service delivery. Instead of using government finances to benefit themselves as other political parties have done, ActionSA will redirect government spending towards frontline service delivery such as policing, health care and education.
ActionSA looks forward to sharing our plan on how we would turn around governance in South Africa and restore hope in our communities at our manifesto launch at the Ellis Park Arena in Johannesburg on Saturday. The South African people are desperate for an alternative that can unite South Africans across the spectrum to build a movement that restores the country to prosperity, and ActionSA is that alternative.
ActionSA honours the victims of the Sharpeville massacre and recommits itself to fighting for their dreams of a prosperous, equal and fair South Africa. Those brave men and women who fought against apartheid in Sharpeville did not have the same rights that a constitutional democracy offers today, and therefore they couldn’t make their voices heard through the ballot box.
A better South Africa is therefore possible, but only once South Africans take action to remove the ruling party from power during the elections on 29 May – and ActionSA will work tirelessly to achieve that better future for all.
Issued by Herman Mashaba, ActionSA President, 22 March 2024
