Neeshan Balton urges young people to remember their roots – SABC News

Executive Director of the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, Neeshan Balton has urged the country’s youth never to forget where they come from.
As part of Anti-Racism Week, the Foundation together with communities, the youth and religious leaders have gathered in Sharpeville, in the Vaal, to commemorate the Sharpeville Massacre.
Sixty-nine people were shot and killed on the 21st of March, 1960 by police while protesting against pass laws.

WATCH | The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation gathers in Sharpeville, Vaal, to remember the 69 people killed in the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre. Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Mmamoloko Kubayi delivers the keynote address. pic.twitter.com/Tcyffr8num
— SABC News (@SABCNews) March 15, 2026

Balton says part of the programme includes visiting the graves of those who lost their lives in the massacre and also reflecting on the massacre’s meaning today and for future generations.
“For over 10 years, we’ve been bringing young people to this Phelindaba cemetery. We start our anti-racism week every year at the cemetery by bringing these young people here to firstly to show them the horrors of racism. Not in a way that they must just read books, but they must experience history by walking in the steps of those who came before them and to share their emotions and the pain,” says Balton.

WATCH | The Ahmed Kathrada Foundation has gathered in Sharpeville in the Vaal to commemorate the 69 people killed during the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre. SABC News reporter Lopang Alamu reports. pic.twitter.com/A5d0VDWhN8
— SABC News (@SABCNews) March 15, 2026

He says they want these young people to begin to understand their roles and responsibilities in terms of being better citizens, in terms of working towards change in whatever way is possible.
“For them to understand the hard road to freedom, and the incomplete work that they now need to find ways of helping to contribute to,” adds Balton.

We are at Phelindaba Cemetery in Sharpeville, where we are about to begin our commemoration of the Sharpeville Massacre of 21 March 1960.
As we gather at the graves of those who lost their lives, we remember their sacrifice and reflect on the responsibility to continue… pic.twitter.com/7jbcH0RyDZ
— Kathrada Foundation (@KathradaFound) March 15, 2026

RELATED VIDEO | Commemoration of Sharpeville Massacre

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