Monday, October 28, 2013

Langa Memorial

Most South Africans are familiar with the 1960 Sharpeville massacre where the South African Police opened fire on a protesting crowd, killing 69 people.  Very few people know though that on the 25th anniversary of Sharpeville, something similar happened in Langa township in Uitenhage when the Police opened fire on a crowd of mourners on their way to a banned funeral.  Twenty people were killed in the incident on 21 March 1985 and it became known as the Langa Massacre.  The incident was followed by an international outcry and a Commission of Inquiry (the Kannemeyer Commission) was immediately appointed to investigate the cause of the shooting.  This Heroes Monument marks the spot where the tragedy happened.

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