More than six decades after police gunfire at Sharpeville left scores dead and wounded, survivors and relatives of those killed have launched a class action against the South African government. They are seeking compensation and challenging the apartheid-era Indemnity Act that has blocked their legal claims.
At least 91 people died and 238 were wounded when police opened fire on peaceful demonstrators protesting apartheid-era pass laws. The survivors contend that the legislation, which shielded police and the state from prosecution and civil lawsuits, is unconstitutional under South Africa’s post-apartheid Constitution.
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Lawyers for Human Rights and other supporters say striking down the law could give victims and their families a path to compensation while helping confront decades of unresolved trauma and injustice.
