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Some survivors and local leaders say it’s time for a reconciliation and cleansing ceremony.
This Christmas marks 30 years since the Shobashobane massacre, one of the worst politically motivated mass killings in the country. A group of armed men attacked the village in Ezingolweni area on the province’s south coast, killing 19 people and burning homes.
Today, some survivors and local leaders say it’s time for a reconciliation and cleansing ceremony to help heal the wounds left behind.
Survivor, Somandla Ngwazi was 25 years old when the Shobashobane massacre took place.
“As we mark 30 years since the tragedy, let us not go back to that time. Us, who experienced it and saw everything, we are free from it now. We now want those who come after us not to experience anything like it. We want it to remain as part of history,” says Ngwazi.
For many residents on Christmas Day, they just remember their loved ones lost in the massacre.
“We don’t enjoy Christmas. If I can put it that way, because it all comes back to us. Even the weather changes and it becomes the same as that tragic day. We remember the people we were with on that day. That picture comes back. When South Africa celebrates Christmas, we are remembering those we lost that day,” he adds.
“I just don’t remember what it’s like to celebrate Christmas. My last Christmas was on that day,” says Ngwazi.
VIDEO | Shobashobane survivors say wounds have not healed
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwv25e4E0cQ
