Class action filed in Gauteng High Court
Lawyers for Human Rights and the London-based firm Leigh Day filed an application in the Gauteng High Court on September 3, 2026, seeking permission to bring a class action against the South African government on behalf of survivors and descendants of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre. The suit seeks to compel President Cyril Ramaphosa, the justice minister and the police minister to take steps to repeal the Indemnity Act 61 of 1961, legislation passed a year after the massacre that has barred compensation claims for more than six decades. The application names three lead plaintiffs, with more than 70 survivors and family members already expressing interest in joining the case.
Lead plaintiffs and personal accounts
Among the lead plaintiffs is 87-year-old Abram Mofokeng, who was 20 when police opened fire. Mofokeng, who was shot in the foot and in the back during the protest, told a commemoration he was attempting to hand himself over for arrest because he was not carrying the required pass book. Two other lead plaintiffs, aged 71 and 72, are descendants of men killed in the shooting. At the September 3 memorial, Mofokeng struggled to recount the day as his daughter and two grandchildren stood beside him.
Sharpeville toll and disputed casualty records
Official records state that police killed 69 people and wounded at least 180 when they fired on protesters outside the Sharpeville police station on March 21, 1960, with many shot in the back as they fled. Research published in 2024, using police records, indicated that as many as 91 people may have been killed and 238 injured. Claims filed for damages in 1960 were subsequently invalidated by the indemnity law.
Commemoration and broader context
The legal step coincided with the annual commemoration at the Sharpeville Memorial, where activists recreated the shootings by painting their bodies red and lying across the grounds, while another group marched to the police station for a moment of silence. Lawyers for Human Rights said the plaintiffs want to enter dialogue with the South African government on appropriate reparations, and described the grief and trauma of survivors and their families as having been largely ignored. The application is the latest attempt by people affected by apartheid-era crimes to seek justice and compensation, running alongside a separate commission of inquiry into delays in prosecuting security-force crimes from that period.
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