Trojan Horse Massacre Memorial unveiled

On 24 September 2005, Heritage Day, the Trojan Horse Memorial was unveiled in Athlone as a remembrance of the three victims who were killed by the security police on 15 October 1985. The massacre reflected the apartheid government's growing desperation to quell social unrest and protests in the townships of the Western Cape. In Athlone, the area bordered by Klipfontein Road, Belgravia Road, Thornton Road and Alexander Sinton High School, had become a gathering place of anti-apartheid protests particularly by students. On the day of the incident, security police worked together with railway police to crush a gathering of the youth who were protesting against the apartheid government.  A South African Railways truck was loaded with crates close to the edges of the truck, but the middle part of the truck was unloaded to create space for the police to hide. The truck drove down Thornton Road to the middle of the protest with armed police hidden behind the crates. The armed police, hiding behind the crates then sprang up and opened fire, killing three young people, Jonathan Claasen, aged 21, Shaun Magmoed, aged 15, Michael Miranda, aged 11. Several others were injured.   An inquest was launched in March 1988 to investigate the actions of the police. The magistrate ruled that the police had acted in an unreasonable way. 13 men were charged with the incident and the case was referred to the Attorney General of Cape, who refused to prosecute those who were responsible. Families of the victims launched a private prosecution which ended in the acquittal of the accused men in December 1989.