SA may face class action over Sharpeville Massacre

Survivors of one of the defining events of the anti-apartheid struggle, the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, and their dependents have applied for permission to institute a class action against South Africa’s government over the failure to repeal a 65-year-old law that prevents them from seeking damages.

An application, filed in the Gauteng High Court by one survivor and two descendants on behalf of a group of victims, seeks to start proceedings to compel South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and his justice and police ministers to take steps to repeal the Indemnity Act 61 of 1961.

The gunning down by police of at least 69 protesters at Sharpeville, south of Johannesburg, brought global attention to the struggle against White-minority rule. The application is the latest attempt by people affected by apartheid-era crimes to seek justice and compensation. A commission of inquiry into the delay in prosecuting crimes by South African security forces during that period is also taking place.

“The legal claim is being brought as a class action by three lead plaintiffs on behalf of the wider cohort of victims,” South Africa’s Lawyers for Human Rights and the London-based Leigh Day legal firm said in a statement. “Although the massacre is commemorated each year on March 21 as a landmark event in South African history, the grief and trauma of the survivors and their families has largely been ignored.”+

Vincent Magwenya, Ramaphosa’s spokesman, said he was unaware of the application, which was filed on September 2. Kamogelo Mogotsi, spokeswoman for the police minister, referred queries to the national police spokeswoman, who didn’t’ answer a call to her mobile phone. A phone call to the justice department spokesman wasn’t answered and an email to him wasn’t replied to outside of normal office hours.

The case was brought on behalf of Abram Mofokeng, an 87-year-old who was shot in the foot and back at the protest, and two people, aged 71 and 72, whose fathers were killed. More than 70 survivors and family members have expressed interest in joining the case, the lawyers said.

Research published in 2024, using police records, showed as many as 91 people may have been killed and 238 injured. Claims filed for damages in 1960 were invalidated by the indemnity law.

South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which held hearings in the 1990s after apartheid ended, identified 21 000 victims of the system. In 2003 the government started paying 17 000 of those compensation of R30 000, worth about $4 140 at the time.

Mofokeng “considers that it was completely inadequate and failed to reflect the severe lifelong injury and harm he suffered,” the lawyers said.