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‘We continue to suffer’: victims of apartheid-era Sharpeville massacre demand compensation
Confirmed
In Short: In January 2025, 25 survivors and relatives of apartheid victims in Sharpeville, South Africa, sued the government for failing to prosecute cases referred to it by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The claimants are hoping to receive about 500,000 rand (£23,000) in c
In January 2025, 25 survivors and relatives of apartheid victims in Sharpeville, South Africa, sued the government for failing to prosecute cases referred to it by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The claimants are hoping to receive about 500,000 rand (£23,000) in compensation, according to Daniel Leader from the UK law firm Leigh Day, which is advising the South African legal team led by Lawyers For Human Rights, an NGO.
Abraham Mofokeng, who was 20 during the 1960 protest, still carries the physical and emotional scars of the Sharpeville massacre. He and others continue to suffer from the aftermath of the apartheid era, with Nesrine Malik noting, 'We continued to suffer.
The claim is part of a wave of litigation over apartheid crimes, with Mofokeng and others hoping to get compensation that would make up for some of what they lost. Mathinye, now 71, expressed her hope for compensation that would address the loss of her father.
Sharpeville's problems extend beyond the 1960 massacre, said Vincent Thamae, a PAC member who supports the massacre victims and their families. He highlighted the dispossession of Black South Africans from productive land, their forced removals to townships, and their exclusion from the economy as ongoing issues.
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- Abraham Mofokeng was 20 when he joined a peaceful protest in Sharpeville Abraham Mofokeng still carries the wounds of the bloody suppression of a protest in South Africa 66 years ago.
- Claim relating to 1960 attack on hundreds of protesters part of wave of litigation over apartheid crimes in South Africa Claim relating to 1960 attack on hundreds of protesters part of wave of litigation over…
- In January 2025, 25 survivors and relatives of victims of apartheid state violence sued South Africa’s government for failing to prosecute cases referred to it by the post-apartheid Truth and Reconciliation…
- The claimants are hoping to get compensation of about 500,000 rand (£23,000), said Daniel Leader, a partner with the UK law firm Leigh Day, which is advising the South African legal team, led by Lawyers For Human…
- Nesrine Malik, Micha Frazer-Carroll and the team guide you through the biggest Black stories from around the world “We continued to suffer,” said Mofokeng, who still lives in Sharpeville.
- Mathinye, who is now 71, said she hoped for compensation that would make up for some of what she lost when her father died.
- Sharpeville’s problems did not begin with the massacre in 1960, but with the dispossession of Black South Africans from productive land, their forced removals to townships and their exclusion from the economy, said…