Melizana retweetledi
On 15 October 1985, apartheid security forces carried out the Trojan Horse Massacre in Athlone, Cape Town. Police and South African Railways officers hid inside a disguised flatbed truck, concealed behind wooden crates, and drove through Thornton Road to provoke protesting youth. When some of the youths threw stones at the vehicle, the officers suddenly revealed themselves and opened fire with live ammunition without any warning directly into the crowd.
Three young people were killed: Michael Miranda (11), Shaun Magmoed (15), and Jonathan Claasen (21), while many others were seriously injured. The incident exposed the extreme brutality of apartheid-era policing and the deliberate targeting of young protesters. Although a 1988 inquest later found the police actions to be “unreasonable,” no officers were ever prosecuted or held accountable for the killings.
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