Why human rights still matter

ON THIS Human Rights Day, we are called to reflect not only on our past, but on the soul of our nation and the moral compass of humanity itself.

- DR IQBAL SURVÉ

This is not simply a day of remembrance - it is an awakening. A moment to ask: what does it truly mean to be human in a world still marred by inequality, violence, and exclusion? What are the responsibilities we carry as beneficiaries of hard-won freedoms? And how do we honour those who died so that we might live with dignity?

Human Rights Day in South Africa finds its origins in the tragedy of Sharpeville, where 69 unarmed protestors were killed in 1960 for daring to resist the dehumanising pass laws of apartheid. They did not die for abstract ideals. They died for the right to walk freely, to belong, to be recognised as full human beings. Their sacrifice demands more from us than ceremonial reflection. It demands a relentless pursuit of justice, equality, and the full expression of human dignity — not just in South Africa, but wherever rights are denied.