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Mass funeral for those killed at Sharpeville commemoration

Saturday, 13 April 1985

Eighty thousand black South Africans attended a mass funeral in KwaNobuhle township for the 28 people killed by police during a demonstration in Langa, Uitenhage on 21 March 1985. The demonstrators were observing the 25th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre of 21 March 1960. The incident happened when marchers gathered in Langa preparing to move on to Kwanobuhle, 10 km away, where the commemorative service for the 1960 massacre was to be held. Unbeknown to the Langa demonstrators, however, the government had banned the event. Police opened fire on the crowd, killing between 20 and 43 people.

Information supplied by http://www.sahistory.org.za

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