PsySSA Commemorates Human Rights Day
On Human Rights Day, we remember that the struggle for dignity, equality, and justice in South Africa is not only historical—it is deeply psychological and ongoing.
From the trauma of Sharpeville to the enduring effects of inequality, exclusion, and intergenerational pain, the legacy of our past continues to shape the mental health and lived realities of many. As psychology practitioners and scholars, we are called not only to reflect—but to act.
PsySSA reaffirms its commitment to confronting this history with honesty and compassion, advancing social justice, and ensuring that psychological knowledge and services serve all people in South Africa.
Healing our nation requires more than remembrance—it demands transformation, inclusion, and collective responsibility.
Let us continue the work of building a society where human rights are not only protected, but truly lived.
In 1965, six years after the horrific events at Sharpeville, Langa, and other ‘townships’ in South Africa (SA), the United Nations (UN) declared 21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The foundation of colonial extraction (which continues unabated today) was the notorious “Pass Laws”, the last peaceful protest occurring on this day in 1960, with current records indicating that “at least 91 people were killed at Sharpeville and at least 238 people were wounded … many in the back”. In 1996, President Mandela signed into law our country’s liberal-democratic constitution in Sharpeville on 10 December, declared in 1948 by the UN as International Human Rights Day.
It’s appropriate that on this historic day
“We acknowledge psychology’s historical complicity in supporting and perpetuating colonialism and the apartheid system, and mindful of the history and principles underlying the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa ” and that we commit ourselves to:
“Transforming and redressing the silences in South African psychology to serve the needs and interests of all South Africa’s people;
Developing an organizational structure for psychology that reconciles historically opposed groups, gives a voice to hitherto excluded users of psychological knowledge and skills, and ensures transparent accountable governance of the Society to serve the democratically expressed wishes of its membership;
Actively striving for social justice, opposing policies that deny individuals or groups access to the material and psychological conditions necessary for optimal human development, and protesting any violations of basic human rights;
Engaging in policy development processes that are relevant to social enhancement and psychological practice in South Africa;
Promoting the rendering of and advancing mental health services to all in South Africa ”.
This is PsySSA, which should be a veritable beacon in a highly polarised and deadly world where diversity, equity and inclusion become a terrorising mantra of bigots and warmongers.
The scars left by the infamy and profound psychological impacts of the “Pass Laws” in our history reverberate through generations, impacting communities, groups, families and individuals in ways that society has not fully come to grips with.
SA’s exceptionalism, blinding partisanship and twisting of language and narrative to suit narrow sociopolitical ends are the heritage of our colonial and apartheid past. Yet here we are 32 years after PsySSA’s formation and our hard-won, fragile democracy, having to constantly disabuse ourselves of outdated bias and prejudice that should have no place in any vibrant society, stripping individuals of their dignity, autonomy, and sense of belonging, festering otherness. Brutal past and poorly managed current policies have inflicted deep wounds on the psyche, perpetuating cycles of fear, anger, and despair. For many, the trauma of our terrible past persists in the form of complex ongoing psychic emergency that affects life and limb, depression, anxiety, persistent insecurity and other psychological challenges, on a persistent bed of poverty all around us. Poverty of intellect, ethics, leadership, and income are becoming normative.
Intergenerational transmission of these sequelae – without any mediation – ensures their perpetuation, continuing to shape the behaviour of most of our children, who are socialised by needless suffering. Our children – our future – bear the mantle of psychological scars embedded by told and untold stories, widening the Them vs Us divide across society, made worse by the silly season of scores of political parties promising us everything, while effectively seeking it for themselves.
By confronting the past with courage and compassion, we can create a future where human rights are upheld, and psychological health and wellbeing are grounded for all to ensure that our children may fully embrace our common humanity, in peace as fellow human beings.
-Prof Saths Cooper