Heroes’ Day, noun phrase
- Forms:
- Also Heroes Day.
1. The 21st of March, the date of the fatal shooting of 69 people in the township of Sharpeville in 1960, chosen (especially by the PAC) to commemorate all those who have died in the struggle for racial equality; Sharpeville Day, see Sharpeville sense 2. Also attributive.
1975 Rand Daily Mail 21 Mar. 2The two Black unity organisations, the South African Students’ Organization (SASO) and the Black People’s Convention (BPC) are organising services all over the country today to observe ‘Heroes Day’ — the 15th anniversary of the Sharpeville shooting.
1991 Natal Witness 28 Mar. (Echo) 8A Heroes Day rally in Sharpeville township, outside Vereeniging, was washed out by torrential rain last Thursday.
2. The 16th of December, so named in memory of those who died or suffered in the struggle against apartheid.
- Note:
- See note at Day of the Vow.
1990 S. Venter in Tribute Sept. 46The ideal symbolic return date bandied about in certain circles is ‘by December 16’ — Heroes’ Day and the start of the first full-scale ANC conference in South Africa since the organisation was banned in 1960.
The 21st of March, the date of the fatal shooting of 69 people in the township of Sharpeville in 1960, chosen (especially by the PAC) to commemorate all those who have died in the struggle for racial equality; Sharpeville Day, see Sharpeville sense 2. Also attributive.
The 16th of December, so named in memory of those who died or suffered in the struggle against apartheid.
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