Human Rights Day: That could be me

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Human Rights Day matters because it reminds us to:

  1. Remember the sacrifices made for freedom and dignity in South Africa
  2. Celebrate the human rights we enjoy today
  3. Recognise that protecting human rights is still our responsibility

Imagine This

It’s 1960.
You’re South African — but the law says that if you’re not white, you must carry a passbook every time you leave your home. Wherever you go, police can stop you and demand to see it. Forget it at home? That’s a crime.

A criminal in your own country — not because of what you did, but because of who you were.

There was no real difference between “us” and “them”. Black. Coloured. South African. Yet under Apartheid law, millions were not treated as citizens in their own land.

Why Sharpeville Matters

On 21 March 1960, thousands of people gathered outside the Sharpeville Police Station, protesting these hated passbooks — symbols of oppression. They burned them and demanded change, chanting “Awaphele Amapasi” — Down with Passes.

The response was brutal. Police opened fire.
69 unarmed people were killed.

The Sharpeville Massacre is not ancient history. It happened in the same decade humans landed on the moon. It’s close enough that we should still feel it — because that could have been any one of us.

How Far We’ve Come

Human Rights Day gives us space to reflect on how far South Africa has come. Today, our rights are protected by the Bill of Rights, one of the most progressive in the world. Where injustice was once legal, dignity and equality are now written into law.

That doesn’t mean everything is fixed — but it does mean progress was paid for with courage, sacrifice, and lives.

The Reality Today

Even now, human rights violations still exist. People face violence, discrimination, abuse, neglect, and exploitation every day. Human Rights Day reminds us not to become numb or indifferent just because the law says we are “equal”.

It calls us to:

  • Speak up when we see injustice
  • Protect the rights of others, not just our own
  • Remain vigilant and report abuse, trafficking, cruelty, and violence

Stronger Together

Human Rights Day isn’t only about remembering the past — it’s about how we live now. It challenges us to ask:

  • Are we standing up when it matters?
  • Are we treating others with dignity?
  • Are we helping build the kind of South Africa we want to inherit?

We may be different — in background, language, or experience — but we are stronger together. And the freedoms we enjoy today exist because ordinary people refused to accept injustice as normal.

So as we mark Human Rights Day, let’s not take our rights for granted. Let’s live in a way that honours those who fought for them — and protects them for those who come after us.

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