The Winterveld Massacre

On 26 March 1986, the Bophuthatswana police opened fire on 5,000-10,000 strong crowd gathered at City Rocks sports ground in Winterveld. The City Rocks meeting was called by the youths to discuss detentions, police brutality and rent hikes. The official number of people killed on that day is said to be twelve. However, according to the residents of Winterveld, the number of people who died during the killings exceeded eleven.

Some say that about 50 people were killed on that day. What started as a peaceful gathering, turned into a bloodbath when the police opened to the demonstrators. There was mayhem and stampede when shots were fired with the protesters running in different directions escaping from a volley of bullets from the police. Some of the protesters sought refuge in the nearby houses. The police followed them and killed more protesters who were hiding in the nearby houses’ wardrobes, underneath the beds and toilets. Many were arrested and the fate of some remains unknown to the present day.