Let's Bury the Constitution

In retaliation of violent police raids and violence, a group of individuals living in Crossroads informal settlement held a hunger strike at St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town on 27 October 1985. The artist recalls that the cathedral was quiet, with groups of people sitting together and praying. Markman was working as a photographer for the Cape Times at the time the photograph was taken. During one of his visits to cover the event, he saw an old woman reading the UDF Newspaper with the prophetic headline “Before they strengthen Apartheid, Let’s Bury the Constitution”. In 1983, South Africa's third constitution created a tricameral parliament with separate houses representing whites, Coloureds and Indians but without representation for Blacks. Communities actively fought against apartheid segregation, as evinced by the newspaper's cover story, and such resistance led to the current Constitution of 1996.