Commemorating the 42 young lives that were lost at Westdene Dam in 1985
25 Mar 2013
The Executive Mayors of Sedibeng District Municipality and the Emfuleni Local Municipality, accompanied by MMC’s Gomba, Maphalla and Mncube, paid their respects to the memory of 42 young lives that were lost at the Westdene Dam in Johannesburg on the 27th of March 1985. Speaking at an event at the Dam organized by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Mayor Mofokeng said ,“We all have a responsibility towards the children who died on the 27th March 1985 to help maintain an ability to effectively deal with the unthinkable. From the Sedibeng District Municipality, we came here with learners from across our Region, black and white, future leaders of this country. We are doing so with a clear understanding of the future we hope to build and create. The presence of these young leaders is an indication for the need to build greater social cohesion and nation building.”
The Gauteng Provincial Head of the Human Rights Commission, Ms Chantal Kisoon, addressed the event and related the engagement they had with various parties after Zama Khumalo had posted on Facebook that he was inviting people to ‘celebrate the death’ of the 42 that had died. Mr. Khumalo had since issued a public apology for his comments and was present at the event to reiterate his apology in person. The Sedibeng District had included the event as part of its Human Rights month activities. The Executive Mayor also emphasized that. “As part of the nation’s memory, we dare not forget the 42 who lost their lives here, in the same way that we dare not forget the 69 lives which were lost on the 21st of March 1960 in Sharpeville 53 years ago. Our prayers are with the families who lost their loved ones.”
The Executive Mayor of Sedibeng, Cllr. Mahole S. Mofokeng and the Executive Mayor of Emfuleni, Cllr. Gretha Hlongwane attended the event held at Westdene Dam
The event was organised by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation who are making great strides in their
non-racialism campaigns
