Port Elizabeth Northern Areas Uprising

In August 1990 the Northern Areas of Port Elizabeth, against a backdrop of severe socio-economic problems, rose up and mobilised around the issue of rent increases and opposition to the Labour Party which had entered into the National Party’s tricameral parliament. The police response led to six days of violence and rioting which left more than 50 people dead and 400 injured. A memorial telling the story of the uprising is located in the Papenkuil cemetery at Korsten.