South Africa's deputy president has called for an end to violent street protests linked to poor service delivery, as the country marked the 50th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre.
Kgalema Motlanthe said the violence of current service protests contrasted sharply with the peaceful beginnings of the Sharpeville demonstration, which ended when police opened fire on marchers, killing 69 people in an incident which brought the injustices of apartheid to world prominence.
"The people of Langa and Sharpeville in 1960 did not voice protest by burning libraries and looting public facilities," 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 Sharpeville -- a protest to highlight the pass laws which required black people to carry identity documents at all times -- 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.
Motlanthe, relatives of those killed and other government officials laid wreaths on the mass graves at the Sharpeville Garden of Rememberance and attended church services to honour the dead as part of Human Rights Day.
"Fellow South Africans let us pledge to show the world our abhorrence to the heinous acts of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance," urged Motlanthe.
"Let us remind ourselves that the lives lost on that fateful day in history and the scores of people injured were not in vain."
At least 180 people were wounded in the Sharpeville 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.
A month after Sharpeville, the apartheid government banned the African National Congress and Pan African Congress parties, a move which signalled the start of the underground armed resistance in South Africa.
The event also contributed to the isolation of the country from the international community and in 1966 the UN General Assembly proclaimed March 21 as the International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimintation.
Then-president Nelson Mandela chose Sharpeville as the venue for the signing of the new South African Constitution in 1996.
Sunday's commemoration also marked the 1985 killings of 29 people marching in the town of Langa to mark the 25th anniversary of Sharpeville.
"The Sharpeville and Langa massacres were a tipping point in that they triggered revulsion and disgust locally and internationally," 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.
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