South African Communist Party

Statement on Human Rights Day

Saturday, 21 March 2026:- The South African Communist Party (SACP) joins the millions of South Africans today in celebrating Human Rights Day. We recognise the legacy of struggles of the masses of the people that has brought about this particular day in our history.

In 1994, the people of South Africa marked 34 years of the Sharpeville Massacre while preparing for a national democracy. In 2026, we are commemorating 66 years of Sharpeville Massacre while also celebrating 32 years of democracy. This signifies remarkable progress for the people of South Africa.

The Sharpeville and the Langa massacres commemorated on this day are not mere memories of the brutality of the apartheid and colonial rule but are a testament to the bravery and visionary spirit of the African people whose sacrifices have set the foundation for democratic society we have today.

As the SACP, we recognise that, while Human Rights Day is significant and necessary, its importance and relevance stems not from national ceremonial events but rather from the ongoing demands of the working class whose condition is characterised by minuscule levels of progress, if any, despite formal political shifts from apartheid to democracy.

The progress made by the national democratic project in significantly improving literacy rates, crosscutting access to education, electricity, water and healthcare is currently being counteracted and diminished by a drastic rise of neoliberal policy orientation in state policy. These policies threaten to replace those rights and services with an increased role for monopoly capital, which would result in the impoverishment of the working class and its continued disenfranchisement.

The memory of the Sharpeville and Langa massacres therefore should spur us on at this moment in history to continue the struggle for the total liberation of our people, the working class in particular, from underdevelopment, poverty, hunger, disease, homelessness, unemployment, insecurity and exploitation. This struggle is as relevant today as it was in 1994 when the masses of the people stood in line for the first time to mark the dawn of democracy and majority rule. To fight against neoliberalism at this time is the preeminent task of the revolution.

As we celebrate Human Rights Day, we call on all progressives and the people of South Africa as a whole to keep alive the revolutionary spirit that freed them from colonial oppression as it is a necessary tool at this moment in history for pursuing a holistic national development, to fight poverty and create thoroughgoing economic prosperity and equality.

--
---
ISSUED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN COMMUNIST PARTY,
FOUNDED IN 1921 AS THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SOUTH AFRICA