VOA标准英语2010年-South Africa Marks 50th Anniversary of

（单词翻译）

Wounded people lie in the street in Sharpeville, near Vereeniging, where at least 180 black Africans, most of them women and children, were injured and 69 killed, when South African police opened fire on black protesters, 21 Mar¹ 1960

South Africans are marking the 50th anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre², during which police shot into a crowd of unarmed civilians³ protesting racial discrimination under apartheid.  The event marked a turning point in the anti-apartheid struggle.

South Africans are marking the 50th anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre, during which police shot into a crowd of unarmed civilians protesting racial discrimination under apartheid.  The event marked a turning point in the anti-apartheid struggle.

Choirs⁴ sang in the cool Sunday morning as family members laid flowers at tombstones of the victims of the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre.

On that Sunday 50 years ago, 69 unarmed people were killed and hundreds wounded when police fired into a crowd of 5,000 black South Africans.

They had gathered at the police station of the impoverished⁵ town south of Johannesburg to protest pass laws that restricted their movements.

A similar demonstration⁶ in Langa, near Cape⁷ Town, was also violently suppressed.

Deputy-President Kgalema Motlanthe told the crowd the incidents changed the nature of the anti-apartheid struggle.

"The Sharpeville and Langa massacres⁸ were a tipping point in that they served to trigger off deep revulsion and disgust, both locally and internationally, against the apartheid government," he said.

The incidents brought the banning of liberation movements such as the Pan-African Congress, which organized the demonstration, and the African National Congress.  It also led these groups to abandon non-violence and take up arms.

The demonstrators were protesting laws that required them to carry pass books at all times or risk arrest.  Many burned their pass books and offered to be detained.  Instead, police, overwhelmed by their numbers, shot into the crowd.

The incident brought international condemnation⁹, the beginning of the regime's diplomatic isolation¹⁰ and annual demonstrations¹¹ in South Africa that often were violently suppressed.

Six years later, the United Nations proclaimed the Sharpeville anniversary to be the International Day for the Elimination¹² of Racial Discrimination.

After the end of apartheid in 1994, the new government proclaimed the date South Africa's Human Rights Day and made it a national holiday.

Sharpeville, 50 years later, is still poor.  Many residents live in shacks¹³ without running water or indoor sanitation¹⁴.

Last month residents burned tires in the streets to protest what is called the lack of service delivery and local politicians whom they accuse of corruption¹⁵.  Such demonstrations have become frequent in a country with one of the widest gaps between rich and poor in the world.

Deputy-President Motlanthe said to adequately commemorate¹⁶ the victims of the anti-apartheid struggle, government must work harder to improve the lives of those who have not benefited from it.

"This means as government working with our social partners, we must strive to improve the quality of life of all our people by providing shelter, basic amenities¹⁷, education and security," he added.

But he urged citizens to avoid violence and to voice their grievances¹⁸ through democratic institutions.  He noted¹⁹ that poverty eradication²⁰, health and education are top priorities of the government of President Jacob Zuma.

Mr. Zuma did not attend the ceremonies.  He was in Namibia to mark the 20th anniversary of Namibia's independence.