/ 22 March 1999

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY COMMEMORATED

THOUSANDS of people commemorated Human Rights Day on Sunday. While top musicians performed at a concert in Vereeniging, the National Association of People Living with Aids held fasts and marches throughout the country to highlight the plight of Aids sufferers. Human Rights Day was declared a public holiday in 1996 after decades of unofficial commemoration of the day, known as Sharpeville Day. On March 21 1960, 69 people were killed and hundreds wounded by police at Sharpeville neer Vereeniging. The victims were surrendering themselves for arrest as part of countrywide anti-pass campaign. Monday is also a public holiday in South Africa, to compensate for Human Rights Day falling on a Sunday.