On September 13th 1989 religious and political leaders in Cape Town organized a peace march to protest the 'white only' elections that had been held the previous week. The march marked a significant transition point towards the end of apartheid and the beginnings of mass democracy in South Africa. Here's the link to the wikipedia article that gives a good summation:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town_peace_march
Yesterday there was a service held at St George's Cathedral to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the march as well as to remember the 23 people who were killed during the march. Although I didn't go to the memorial service (I really wish I had) I did make it out to the vespers service in the evening and talked to a friend who had attended the memorial service, but was also there 20 years ago for the march. One interesting thing she said was that at the commemoration service it was mostly 'old people' which was indicative of a trend in South Africa where the youth have a difficult time understanding the significance of the change between pre-apartheid and post-apartheid. While it would be easy to be appalled at the ignorance of these generalized 'youth', one could also say that it is important to move on and not be forever living in and lamenting the past, being unable to move on. There is still a need for change in South Africa, but it is not the same change that was needed in 1989. Yet to forget our past and where we came from would also be foolish.
It is complicated issues like this that the future leaders of South Africa face in the years to come.
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