March is Human Rights month in South Africa, a time to reflect on the lessons of our painful history. To commemorate the 58th anniversary of Sharpeville Massacre, a day known as Human Rights Day in our country, Voice of Emfuleni spoke to some of the survivors of that fateful day, the 21st of March 1960.

These are residents of Emfuleni whose lives were scarred forever by that landmark protest against pass laws and the ‘dom pass’ outside the old Sharpeville police station.

When pensioners Elizabeth Chabeli (64) and Abraham Mofokeng (74) walked into the Memorial Square at the Sharpeville Human Righs Precicnt, it soon became clear that this was an emotional time for the men and women who walked away from the Sharpeville Massacre with bullet wounds and survived the attack after spending painful nights in hospitals.

The survivors failed to hold back their tears and stopped to take moments of silence as if remembering the sounds of automatic guns mounted on saracens and the harrowing screams of fleeing protesters who were shot in their backs by apartheid police. It became apparent that the memories of that historic day still linger in their thoughts, so many years later. 

Sick and tired of apartheid pass laws, thousands had gathered to hand themselves over to the police. A recorded 69 people were killed that day and scores more injured. Elizabeth, an 11 year-old Scotch Primary school learner at the time, says the 21st of March 1960 changed her life forever.

“We were turned away from school that morning and later in the day I saw low-flying airplanes. Together with other kids, we ran in different directions and I remember hiding in an outside toilet for a moment,” she says.

While the young Elizabeth tried to find her way home in the chaos, she heard gunshots.

“As I looked over my shoulder, I saw people running and many falling down and while I was trying to understand what was happening, there were bodies everywhere and many other people fell by my side as I ran for my life.”

Elizabeth was shot in her left hand and rushed to the now defunct Vereeniging hospital where she woke up in bandages the following day.

“I thought I was going to die, one of my neighbours, Motshabi Modikoe was shot dead and I remember crying because she was heavily pregnant at the time,” she says.

Sadly, the mother of two children and four grandchildren lost one of her fingers and was hospitalised for more than a month for her injuries.

“Though a lot has changed, I live on my pension to support my family, my only surviving child doesn’t work so the struggle for survival continues,” she says.

Another survivor, Abraham, still has a bullet lodged in his spine after he was shot that day.

“I will not forget that day, we lost heroes and heroines,” he says.

He said the ‘dom pas’ had made their lives difficult at the time.

“The bullets came from three police vehicles and the automatic gun fire killed our people, even pregnant women. It was a shocking scene but I believe that more than 69 people were killed that day as there are still families who have not located the bodies of their deceased to this day,” he says.

By Wandisile Kunene