Human Rights Day is celebrated for the first time in South Africa

Date: 21 Mar 1995
Updated: 20 Jul 2026

Human Rights Day is celebrated for the first time in South Africa

Since 1995, Human Rights Day has been a public holiday celebrated in South Africa. It shares the day with the anniversary of the infamous Sharpeville Massacre, which occurred in 1960. This gross violation of human life happened when a march by ordinary South Africans protesting the Pass Laws turned into a police-led bloodbath. The day marked a turning point for the future of South Africa and the struggle for liberation, which intensified in its wake. The police brutality on display during Sharpeville, as well as other innumerable acts of violence under Apartheid, are what inspired South Africa's famously progressive Bill of Rights, in which the right to life, regardless of race, gender or age is entrenched.

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How we know this

01Portfolio Collection, 2011, Bill of Responsibilities Initiative, from Portfolio Collection, 31 March [online], Available at www.portfoliocollection.com [Accessed: 20 March 2015]
02https://www.parliament.gov.za/project-event-details/2
03https://www.gov.za/documents/constitution/chapter-2-bill-rights

Last updated · 20 Jul 2026

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2015, March 20). Human Rights Day is celebrated for the first time in South Africa. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ss/ref/E-0099117

South African History Online (2015) 'Human Rights Day is celebrated for the first time in South Africa', South African History Online, 20 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ss/ref/E-0099117 (Accessed: 22 July 2026).

South African History Online, Human Rights Day is celebrated for the first time in South Africa [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ss/ref/E-0099117, (accessed 22 July 2026).

"Human Rights Day is celebrated for the first time in South Africa." South African History Online, 20 Mar. 2015, https://sahistory.org.za/ss/ref/E-0099117. Accessed 22 July 2026.

South African History Online. "Human Rights Day is celebrated for the first time in South Africa." South African History Online. March 20, 2015. https://sahistory.org.za/ss/ref/E-0099117.