South Africa's deputy president Sunday called for an end to violent public protests linked to poor service delivery as the country marked the 50th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre.

"The people of Langa and Sharpville in 1960 did not voice protest by burning libraries and looting public facilities," Kgalema Motlanthe told hundreds of people gathered at a sports stadium in the town, 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Johannesburg.
 

"On the contrary, they left their passes at home and marched peacefully to the police stations to hand themselves over for arrest," he said.
 

Half a century after the Sharpeville massacre, post-apartheid South Africa has been gripped by violent clashes between police and impoverished communities demanding services such as clean water, housing and electricity.
 

"In a democratic era I urge you to hold government accountable by using the democratic institutions available to us to voice our grievances and demands," Motlanthe said.
 

Police said 29 people were arrested at the weekend after three buildings were set alight during service delivery protests in Mpumalanga province.

On Saturday, protesters barricaded the R50 highway and stoned passing cars, destroyed property, buildings and police vehicles, said Mpumalanga police spokesman Leornard Hlathi.
 

"The Sharpeville and Langa massacres were a tipping point in that they triggered revulsion and disgust locally and internationally," said Motlanthe.
 

Police opened fire on black demonstrators in Sharpeville on 21 March, 1960, killing 69 people in an incident which brought the injustices of apartheid onto the world stage. At least 180 people were wounded in the shootings, many shot in the back as they tried to flee. The event which was seen as a turning point in the nation's liberation struggle.

Commemorations
Sunday's commemoration also marked the 1985 killings of 29 people marching in the town of Langa to mark the 25th anniversary of Sharpeville.
 

A month after the Sharpeville massacre the apartheid government banned the African National Congress and Pan African Congress parties.

The event also contributed to the isolation of South Africa from the international community and in 1966 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 March as the International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimintation.
 

"Fellow South Africans let us pledge to show the world our abhorrence to the heinous acts of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.
 

"Let us remind ourselves that the lives lost on that fateful day in history and the scores of people injured were not in vain," said Motlanthe.
 

Helen Zille, leader of the main opposition Democratic Alliance, urged South Africans "to reflect on the very real threats to our human rights and what we must do to counteract these threats."
 

"Our constitutional rights are threatened by greed, cronyism, corruption and power abuse," Zille said in a statement.
 

Earlier Motlanthe and other government officials laid wreaths and attended church services to honour the dead as part of Human Rights Day.
 

Source: AFP