KwaDukuza Mayor officially unveils the Groutville Sports Field, marking the 66th anniversary since the disturbing scenes of Sharpville Massacre

KwaDukuza Mayor Siduduzo Gumede used the commemoration of Human Rights to remind the community of Groutville about the significant moments of struggle that led the United Nations General Assembly to declare the 21^st of March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

“On this very day of 1960, the world watched in horror as peaceful protesters in Sharpeville were cut down by bullets fired in defence of a monstrous lie. Sixty-nine souls, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters laid down their lives because they dared to reject the pass laws that reduced human beings to numbers.

 

That massacre did not break us. It ignited a flame that no apartheid regime could extinguish. It became the spark that awakened the conscience of humanity, that forced the United Nations to declare this day International Human Rights Day, and that reminds every generation since that the price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

We gather not merely to mark a date on the calendar, but to stand once again at the altar of human dignity and to reaffirm a timeless truth, that human dignity is not a gift bestowed by history but it is a right inherent in every person, a flame that no oppression can extinguish.

 

Today, in Groutville, we honour that flame. We honour it by opening the doors of opportunity wide, literally and figuratively for our young people. 

 

Because human rights are not abstract declarations on paper; they are lived realities. 

 

Ladies and gentlemen, this year, we mark 30 years since the adoption of our Bill of Rights, we do so under the national theme: "Bill of Rights at 30: Making Human Dignity Real." 

 

Importantly, we have just unveiled the Groutville Sports Field, marking a significant milestone for KwaDukuza Municipality. 

 

The ceremony is our answer to Sharpeville. It is our fulfilment of the Freedom Charter. It is our message to the world that human rights in are not relics of history but they are alive, they are growing, and they are winning.

 

This facility carries the echoes of giants who once walked these paths.

 

It is the place and lifelong home of Inkosi Albert Luthuli, a stalwart who got to be known for non-violent struggle, to justice, and to the dignity of all humanity inspired the world.

 

We trace the footprints of history and in this facility, we find the foot-steps of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, landed in Groutville, so that he can meet Chief Luthuli.

 

It has been 59 years since his historic arrival on June 8, 1966.

 

Their meeting was a bold act of defiance against apartheid restrictions, as Luthuli was under banning orders, and it symbolized international solidarity with the struggle for human rights and freedom in South Africa.

 

The visit highlighted the universal call for human rights, dignity, and justice, reminding us that solidarity from afar can strengthen the fight here at home.

 

True to form, we are also reminded of President Nelson Mandela, who visited Groutville multiple times, including clandestine consultations with Chief Luthuli before his arrest in 1962.

 

Mandela's earlier secret visits to Groutville in the early 1960s embodied the internal fight against apartheid, while RFK's 1966 arrival brought international attention and hope, both reinforcing dignity, justice, and non-racial unity that Mandela later honored publicly in the 1990s at the same site.

 

Mandela returned after his 27 year arrest on Robbin Islan to honour this ground as a beacon of our liberation struggle.

 

The presence of President Mandela and that of Senator Kennedy here, reminds us that the struggle for human rights has always drawn strength from solidarity across continents and across generations. We are proud to have hosted men of such stature on this soil. And we will ensure that legacy of Chief Luthuli is passed down, unbroken, from one generation to another.

 

Luthuli served as President-General of the African National Congress until his mysterious death in 1967 and the truth of his passing remains shrouded in the cowardice of those who feared his moral authority.

Inquest into the death of Chief Luthuli

In October last year, the Pietermaritzburg High Court set aside the 1967 finding of an apartheid-appointed judicial officer that the death of President-General Chief Albert Luthuli was accidental.

 

Today, we are happy that whole world knows that the death of President Luthuli was a well-coordinated and funded murder perpetuated by agents of the Apartheid.

 

We acknowledge the maxim that justice delayed is justice denied but we are comforted by the fact that the whole world is finding closure, and that justice is being realised.

Programme Director, Luthuli embodied the moral courage that defined our fight. His life reminds us that true leadership is measured not in power, but in service to the voiceless.

Bill of Rights at 30: Making Human Dignity Real

Ladies and gentlemen, we mark 30 years since the adoption of the Bill of Rights and 30 years of local government. Today's occasion also resonates deeply with the historic call of our forebears who, in 1955 in Kliptown, gathered to adopt the Freedom Charter under the shadow of oppression. 

 

That Charter declared that "The doors of learning and culture shall be opened!" It proclaimed that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white. 

 

That generations, rising from the shackles of apartheid, gave birth to the ideals that guide us today.

 

As we celebrate Human Rights Day, we are reminded of the vision carried in the Freedom Charter.

A society where every child, every young person, has the opportunity to thrive, to compete, to dream without the barriers of discrimination or exclusion.

 

Human rights are not abstract ideals. They are lived realities. The right to dignity means safe spaces for our youth to gather, to play, to build friendships across divides. 

 

In a world still scarred by inequality, poverty, and division, this facility stands as a practical expression of our Bill of Rights: the right to recreation, to expression through sport, to equality of opportunity.

 

To our athletes, know that your efforts honour the legacy of those who fought so you could run free. 

 

Sport humanizes us; it teaches resilience, respect, and solidarity. It reminds us that victory is sweetest when shared.

 

To our partners, those from the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, the KwaDukuza Sports Confederation, the Luthuli Museum, athletes from various areas, and all who are in support of this programme,  thank you for believing in Groutville. 

 

Your contributions ensures that the history and legacy of Chief Luthuli, of Mandela, of Kennedy, are passed down from one generation to another.

 

And to the residents of Groutville, our people who have endured and preserved this heritage, who have demanded better, today we deliver on that promise.

 

In our effort to build a better Africa and a better world, government has to take responsibility of building on the legacy of our liberation heroes. Be it infrastructure that empowers, through services which bring dignity, through opportunities that unite.

 

As we commence this sports tournament, let it be more than games. Let it be a celebration of human rights made real, dignity in practicality, and hope in every goal.

 

May this facility remind us daily that the struggle for human rights is never finished, but renewed in every act of inclusion, every step toward justice.

Together, we defend our democratic gains, and our shared humanity.

 

So let us rise, ladies and gentlemen. 

 

Let the athletes of Groutville show us what resilience looks like. And let every step taken on this field remind us that the struggle for human rights continues.

 

I now declare the Groutville Sports Field officially open.

 

Ends

 

Issued by the Office of the Mayor