The 21 March 1960 Sharpeville Massacre The 21 March 1960 Sharpeville Massacre The 21 March 1960 Sharpeville Massacre The Origin of South Africa's Human Rights Day (Original Caption) 3/21/60-Vereeniging, South Africa: The bodies of dead and wounded lie in the street March 21st, after police opened fire on a crowd of stone-throwing South Africans. They were protesting a law that requires them to carry identification passes at all times. Bettmann Archive / Getty Images By Alistair Boddy-Evans Updated August 21, 2016. On 21 March 1960 at least 180 black Africans were injured (there are claims of as many as 300) and 69 killed when South African police opened fire on approximately 300 demonstrators, who were protesting against the pass laws, at the township of Sharpeville , near Vereeniging in the Transvaal. In similar demonstrations at the police station in Vanderbijlpark , another person was shot.

Later that day at Langa, a township outside Cape Town , police baton charged and fired tear gas at the gathered protesters, shooting three and injuring several others. The Sharpeville Massacre , as the event has become known, signaled the start of armed resistance in South Africa, and prompted worldwide condemnation of South Africa's Apartheid policies . Build-up to the Massacre On 13 May 1902 the treaty which ended the Anglo-Boer War was signed at Vereeniging; it signified a new era of cooperation between English and Afrikaner living in Southern Africa. By 1910, the two Afrikaner states of Orange River Colony (Oranje Vrij Staat) and Transvaal (Zuid Afrikaansche Republick) were joined with Cape Colony and Natal as the Union of South Africa. continue reading below our video Test Your General Science Knowledge The repression of black Africans became entrenched in the constitution of the new union (although perhaps not intentionally) and the foundations of Grand Apartheid were laid.

After the Second World War the Herstigte ('Reformed' or 'Pure') National Party (HNP) came into power (by a slender majority, created through a coalition with the otherwise insignificant Afrikaner Party ) in 1948. Its members had been disaffected from the previous government, the United Party, in 1933, and had smarted at the government's accord with Britain during the war. Within a year the Mixed Marriages Act was instituted – the first of many segregationist laws devised to separate privileged white South Africans from the black African masses. By 1958, with the election of Hendrik Verwoerd , (white) South Africa was completely entrenched in the philosophy of Apartheid. There was opposition to the government's policies. The African National Congress (ANC) was working within the law against all forms of racial discrimination in South Africa.

In 1956 had committed itself to a South Africa which "belongs to all." A peaceful demonstration in June that same year, at which the ANC (and other anti-Apartheid groups) approved the Freedom Charter , led to the arrest of 156 anti-Apartheid leaders and the 'Treason Trial' which lasted until 1961. By the late 1950s, some of ANCs members had become disillusioned with the 'peaceful' response. Known as 'Africanists' this select group was opposed to a multi-racial future for South Africa. The Africanists followed a philosophy that a racially assertive sense of nationalism was needed to mobilize the masses, and they advocated a strategy of mass action (boycotts, strikes, civil disobedience and non-cooperation). The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) was formed in April 1959, with Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe as president. The PAC and ANC did not agree on policy, and it seemed unlikely in 1959 that they would co-operate in any manner. The ANC planned a campaign of demonstration against the pass laws to start at the beginning of April 1960.

The PAC rushed ahead and announced a similar demonstration, to start ten days earlier, effectively hijacking the ANC campaign. The PAC called for "African males in every city and village... to leave their passes at home, join demonstrations and, if arrested, [to] offer no bail, no defence, [and] no fine."1 On 16 March 1960, Sobukwe wrote to the commissioner of police, Major General Rademeyer, stating that the PAC would be holding a five-day, non-violent, disciplined, and sustained protest campaign against pass laws, starting on 21 March. At a press conference on 18 March, he further stated: "I have appealed to the African people to make sure that this campaign is conducted in a spirit of absolute non-violence, and I am quite certain they will heed my call. If the other side so desires, we will provide them with an opportunity to demonstrate to the world how brutal they can be." The PAC leadership was hopeful of some kind of physical response. References: 1.

Africa since 1935 Vol VIII of the UNESCO General History of Africa, editor Ali Mazrui, published by James Currey, 1999, p259-60. South Africa: Remembering Sharpeville Massacre · Global Voices Travel Blog Portfolio wishes all South Africans a safe and peaceful Human Rights day and ask them to learn more about Sharpeville Day. How could such atrocities happen and no one is punished?, asks Sokari Ekine : It’s been a long time coming, but change is gonna come, sang Sam Cooke about America. He could have been singing about South Africa, or the world, even. For what is baffling is how Sharpeville 1960, Soweto 1976, King’s and X’s murders, the Civil Rights movement, Mandela’s 27 years in jail, not to mention the thousands tortured and killed in South Africa, and tortured and lynched in America, what is baffling is how these have not entered the minds of all and instructed them on the evils of discrimination and segregation in all its forms. That is truly baffling to me.

It is also amazingly stunning that all these things happened and almost no one got punished for it, no international hunt for the wrong-doers, no motivation to see them “brought to justice,” as George Bush the son would say about so many who had committed so less. Today is a day to remember and to know why it should be remembered Michael Trapido remembers this day in his post on Thought Leader titled Sharpeville Redux and a Bit More : On that fateful day a group of between 5 000 and 7 000 people converged on the local police station in the township of Sharpeville, offering themselves up for arrest for not carrying their pass books. As the large crowd gathered the atmosphere was peaceful and festive with less than 20 police officers in the station at the start of the protest. Police and military tried using low-flying jet fighters in an attempt disperse the crowd without success. As a result the police set up Saracen armoured vehicles in a line facing the protesters and, at 13:15, incredibly, opened fire on the crowd.

He continues: The official casualties were 69 people killed, including 8 women and 10 children, with more than 180 injured. To date the worst case of police insanity in the history of this country. As a result there followed a spontaneous uprising among black South Africans with demonstrations, protest marches, strikes, and riots taking place throughout the country. This led to the government declaring a state of emergency on March 30 1960, which saw more than 18 000 people detained. Texas In Africa notes that Sharpeville was the first major turning point in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa and that the massacre led to the militarisation of the anti-apartheid movement: The rest of the world started to question the regime's racist policies much more openly; South Africa left the commonwealth a year later. It also provoked the militarization of the anti-apartheid movement. The ANC's militant wing, MK (Umkhonto wa Sizwe) and Poqo, the military wing of the PAC, both formed soon after the massacre. The next thirty years were marked with horrific acts of violence before – to almost everyone's surprise – the evil of apartheid ended peacefully.

Five years later to the day, American civil rights protesters led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. began marching from Selma to Montgomery. The attempt by 600 marchers to do the same thing three weeks earlier culminated in Bloody Sunday, an attack by local and state law enforcement officials. With a protective order from a federal judge, five times as many marchers turned out for the March 21 walk. A few months later, LBJ signed the Voting Rights Act, which effectively ended the last vestiges of legal discrimination in the south. My students (whom, you will remember, are almost all black men) sometimes debate the question: “Are you a Malcolm or a Martin?” What they mean by this is, “Is social change best achieved through peaceful means (as MLK carried out his work) or violent means (as Malcolm X advocated)?” I cannot even begin to claim to be qualified to answer this question. If we look at political history, it's clear that MLK's nonviolent methods worked to restore voting rights and some degree of social equality for American minorities, and they worked relatively quickly.

MK and Poqo's violent methods certainly also had an effect on the apartheid regime, although the struggle was very long and ultimately did not end because of violence but rather because of economic turmoil and Mandela's willingness to negotiate a peaceful settlement with de Klerk. But nothing approaching true equality of economic opportunity has happened for the vast majority of blacks in either country. Ab ioye discusses the international dimension of Sharpeville Day: In 1966 the General Assembly of the UN proclaimed March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The UN called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination. The Canadian government and various institutions in Canada including Carleton University and the University of Toronto, colluded with the white supremacist apartheid government of South Africa by refusing to divest and continuing to trade with the government and South African companies. South Africa Good News has posted a statement from Nelson Mandela Foundation: March 21, 2010, marks 50 years since 69 unarmed protestors were killed by South African police outside a police station in Sharpeville, south of Johannesburg.

Nelson Mandela burning his pass on March 28, 1960, in protest to the atrocities at SharpevilleWhen commemorating Human Rights day, during his presidency, Nelson Mandela said: “21 March is South African Human Rights Day. It is a day which, more than many others, captures the essence of the struggle of the South African people and the soul of our non-racial democracy. March 21 is the day on which we remember and sing praises to those who perished in the name of democracy and human dignity. It is also a day on which we reflect and assess the progress we are making in enshrining basic human rights and values.” Photographer Greg Marinovich has Sharpeville Massacre photos on his blog. The Sharpeville Massacre led to new ways of political organisation and resistance. The African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan African Congress (PAC) were banned after the Sharpeville Massacre.

Sharpeville Massacre | World History Project Source: Wikipedia Added by: Kevin Rogers On 21 March 1960 at least 180 black Africans were injured (there are claims of as many as 300) and 69 killed when South African police opened fire on approximately 300 demonstrators, who were protesting against the pass laws, at the township of Sharpeville, near Vereeniging in the Transvaal. In similar demonstrations at the police station in Vanderbijlpark, another person was shot. Later that day at Langa, a township outside Cape Town, police baton charged and fired tear gas at the gathered protesters, shooting three and injuring several others. The Sharpeville Massacre, as the event has become known, signalled the start of armed resistance in South Africa, and prompted worldwide condemnation of South Africa's Apartheid policies. A build-up to the massacre On 13 May 1902 the treaty which ended the Anglo-Boer War was signed at Vereeniging; it signified a new era of cooperation between English and Afrikaner living in Southern Africa.

By 1910, the two Afrikaner states of Orange River Colony (Oranje Vrij Staat) and Transvaal (Zuid Afrikaansche Republick) were joined with Cape Colony and Natal as the Union of South Africa. The repression of black Africans became entrenched in the constitution of the new union (although perhaps not intentionally) and the foundations of Grand Apartheid were laid. After the Second World War the Herstigte ('Reformed' or 'Pure') National Party (HNP) came into power (by a slender majority, created through a coalition with the otherwise insignificant Afrikaner Party) in 1948. Its members had been disaffected from the previous government, the United Party, in 1933, and had smarted at the government's accord with Britain during the war. Within a year the Mixed Marriages Act was instituted – the first of many segregationist laws devised to separate privileged white South Africans from the black African masses. By 1958, with the election of Hendrik Verwoerd, (white) South Africa was completely entrenched in the philosophy of Apartheid. There was opposition to the government's policies.

The African National Congress (ANC) was working within the law against all forms of racial discrimination in South Africa. In 1956 had committed itself to a South Africa which "belongs to all." A peaceful demonstration in June that same year, at which the ANC (and other anti-Apartheid groups) approved the Freedom Charter, led to the arrest of 156 anti-Apartheid leaders and the 'Treason Trial' which lasted until 1961. By the late 1950s some of ANCs members had become disillusioned with the 'peaceful' response. Known as 'Africanists' this select group was opposed to a multi-racial future for South Africa. The Africanists followed a philosophy that a racially assertive sense of nationalism was needed to mobilise the masses, and they advocated a strategy of mass action (boycotts, strikes, civil disobedience and non-cooperation). The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) was formed in April 1959, with Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe as president. The PAC and ANC did not agree on policy, and it seemed unlikely in 1959 that they would co-operate in any manner.

The ANC planned a campaign of demonstration against the pass laws to start at the beginning of April 1960. The PAC rushed ahead and announced a similar demonstration, to start ten days earlier, effectively hijacking the ANC campaign. The PAC called for "African males in every city and village... to leave their passes at home, join demonstrations and, if arrested, [to] offer no bail, no defence, [and] no fine."1 On 16 March 1960 Sobukwe wrote to the commissioner of police, Major General Rademeyer, stating that the PAC would beholding a five-day, non-violent, disciplined, and sustained protest campaign against pass laws, starting on 21 March. At a press conference on 18 March he further stated: "I have appealed to the African people to make sure that this campaign is conducted in a spirit of absolute non-violence, and I am quite certain they will heed my call. If the other side so desires, we will provide them with an opportunity to demonstrate to the world how brutal they can be." The PAC leadership was hopeful of some kind of physical response. Source: about.com Added by: Kevin Rogers Sharpeville Massacre (21 Mar.

1960) A massacre caused by the police opening fire on demonstrators from the PAC in the Black township of Sharpeville (near Vereeniging, Transvaal), in which sixty-nine people were killed and 186 injured. It came to symbolize the repressive nature of the White regime, triggering large-scale protests from the PAC and ANC. At the same time, it allowed the White apartheid regime to tighten its grip on the country through increased repression, declaring a state of emergency and outlawing both the PAC and the ANC. This almost destroyed Black nationalist opposition in the subsequent decade, while the ‘stability’ thus imposed heralded a period of unequalled economic growth. Source: encyclopedia.com Added by: Kevin Rogers The Sharpeville Massacre, which occurred on March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa, was the incident that to that point resulted in the deaths of the largest number of South Africans in a protest against apartheid. It also came to symbolize that struggle.

Sharpeville, a black suburb outside of Vereeniging (about fifty miles south of Johannesburg), was through the 1950s a community untouched by anti-apartheid demonstrations that occurred in surrounding towns. By 1960, however, anti-apartheid activism reached the town. In March, 1960, Robert Sobukwe, a leader in the anti-apartheid Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) organized the town's first anti-apartheid protest. In order to reduce the possibility of violence he wrote a letter to the Sharpeville police commissioner announcing the upcoming protest and emphasizing that its participants would be non-violent. On March 21, an estimated 7,000 Africans gathered in front of the Sharpeville police station to protest against the restrictive pass laws. Nearly 300 police officers arrived to put an end to the peaceful protest. As they attempted to disperse the crowd, a police officer was knocked down and many in the crowed began to move forward to see what had happened. Police witnesses claimed that stones were thrown, and in a panicked and rash reaction, the officers opened fire into the crowd.

Other witnesses claimed there was no order to open fire, and the police did not fire a warning shot above the crowd. As the thousands of African tried to flee the violent scene, police continued to shoot into the crowd. Sixty-nine Africans were killed and 186 were wounded with most shot in the back. Source: blackpast.org Added by: Kevin Rogers 21 March 1960 Sharpeville: Anti-apartheid protesters gather to challenge South Africa 's pass laws that prescribe where blacks can go. The police open fire and 69 people die - most of them from bullet wounds in the back. The government declares a State of Emergency and bans the ANC and other opposition groups. Mandela is arrested. Oliver Tambo leaves the country under orders to work for the ANC cause from exile. After the Sharpeville Massacre, the ANC was outlawed, and Mandela, still on trial, was detained.

BBC ON THIS DAY | 21 | 1960: Scores die in Sharpeville shoot-out About This Site | Text Only 1960: Scores die in Sharpeville shoot-out More than 50 black people were killed when police opened fire on a "peaceful" protest in the South African township of Sharpeville. Eye-witnesses said men, women and children fled 'like rabbits' as up to 300 officers began randomly shooting into a 5,000-strong crowd outside the municipal offices in Sharpeville. Scores of injured have been taken to Baragwanath hospital near Johannesburg suffering gun-shot wounds. It is not yet clear why the police, in armoured vehicles, opened fire at approximately 1315 local time today, although it is understood some protesters had been stone-throwing. Non-violent campaign Between 5,000 and 7,000 people had gathered at Sharpeville police station to protest against the pass laws, which they claim are designed by an apartheid government to seriously restrict their movement in white areas.

The laws, which require all black men and women to carry reference books containing their personal details including name, tax code and employer details, have this year been extended to all black women as well as men. The law states that anyone found in a public place without their book will be arrested and detained for up to 30 days. PAC leader, Robert Subukwe, said today's march was intended to be the first of a five-day, non-violent campaign by black Africans to persuade the government to abolish the laws. The aim was for all black Africans to leave their pass books at home and present themselves at police stations for arrest. This, said Mr Subukwe, would cause prisons to become overcrowded, labour to dry up and the economy to grind to a halt. But three hours after it began, the 'peaceful' gathering had turned into a blood-bath. It is understood police attempted to disperse the crowd with a squadron of low-flying aircraft before drafting in extra reinforcements. Police Commander D H Pienaar said: "It started when hordes of natives surrounding the police station.

"If they do these things, they must learn their lessons the hard way." Charges against 53 of the 76 Africans detained after the Sharpeville massacre are dropped | South African History Online South African History Online Home » Charges against 53 of the 76 Africans detained after the Sharpeville massacre are dropped Charges against 53 of the 76 Africans detained after the Sharpeville massacre are dropped Sharpeville Casualties Monday, 8 August 1960 On 21 March 1960, 69 Africans were killed when South African police opened fire on demonstrators, who were protesting against the pass laws in the township of Sharpeville, near Vereeniging in the Transvaal. Scores of people were left injured and others were detained. On 8 August 1960, charges against 53 of the 76 Africans detained after the Sharpeville massacre on 21 March were dropped by the Acting Attorney-General for the Transvaal, Mr. P.S. Claasen. According to reports, one of the detainees had died while in custody and 22 inmates still faced charges of public violence.

Five months before the withdrawal of the charges, 52 Africans appeared before the Vereeniging magistrate and were denied bail. The accused were remanded in custody, but eventually bail was granted. References: • The Star, (8 August, 1960), “Charges against 53 Sharpeville Natives Dropped” [Available at the National Library of South Africa, Cape Town Campus] pg 1. The Sharpeville Massacre 1960 The Sharpeville Massacre 1960 The Sharpeville Massacre 1960 0 On 21 March 1960 at least 180 black Africans were injured (there are claims of as many as 300) and 69 killed when South African police opened fire on approximately 300 demonstrators, who were protesting against the pass laws, at the township of Sharpeville, near Vereeniging in the Transvaal. In similar demonstrations at the police station in Vanderbijlpark, another person was shot. Later that day at Langa, a township outside Cape Town, police baton charged and fired tear gas at the gathered protesters, shooting three and injuring several others.

The Sharpeville Massacre, as the event has become known, signalled the start of armed resistance in South Africa, and prompted worldwide condemnation of South Africa's Apartheid policies. A build-up to the massacre On 13 May 1902 the treaty which ended the Anglo-Boer War was signed at Vereeniging; it signified a new era of cooperation between English and Afrikaner living in Southern Africa. By 1910, the two Afrikaner states of Orange River Colony (Oranje Vrij Staat) and Transvaal (Zuid Afrikaansche Republick) were joined with Cape Colony and Natal as the Union of South Africa. The repression of black Africans became entrenched in the constitution of the new union (although perhaps not intentionally) and the foundations of Grand Apartheid were laid. After the Second World War the Herstigte ('Reformed' or 'Pure') National Party (HNP) came into power (by a slender majority, created through a coalition with the otherwise insignificant Afrikaner Party) in 1948.

Its members had been disaffected from the previous government, the United Party, in 1933, and had smarted at the government's accord with Britain during the war. Within a year the Mixed Marriages Act was instituted ï¿½ the first of many segregationist laws devised to separate privileged white South Africans from the black African masses. By 1958, with the election of Hendrik Verwoerd, (white) South Africa was completely entrenched in the philosophy of Apartheid. There was opposition to the government's policies. The African National Congress (ANC) was working within the law against all forms of racial discrimination in South Africa. In 1956 had committed itself to a South Africa which "belongs to all." A peaceful demonstration in June that same year, at which the ANC (and other anti-Apartheid groups) approved the Freedom Charter, led to the arrest of 156 anti-Apartheid leaders and the 'Treason Trial' which lasted until 1961. By the late 1950s some of ANCs members had become disillusioned with the 'peaceful' response.

Known as 'Africanists' this select group was opposed to a multi-racial future for South Africa. The Africanists followed a philosophy that a racially assertive sense of nationalism was needed to mobilise the masses, and they advocated a strategy of mass action (boycotts, strikes, civil disobedience and non-cooperation). The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) was formed in April 1959, with Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe as president. The PAC and ANC did not agree on policy, and it seemed unlikely in 1959 that they would co-operate in any manner. The ANC planned a campaign of demonstration against the pass laws to start at the beginning of April 1960. The PAC rushed ahead and announced a similar demonstration, to start ten days earlier, effectively hijacking the ANC campaign. The PAC called for "African males in every city and village...

To leave their passes at home, join demonstrations and, if arrested, [to] offer no bail, no defence, [and] no fine."1 On 16 March 1960 Sobukwe wrote to the commissioner of police, Major General Rademeyer, stating that the PAC would beholding a five-day, non-violent, disciplined, and sustained protest campaign against pass laws, starting on 21 March. At a press conference on 18 March he further stated: "I have appealed to the African people to make sure that this campaign is conducted in a spirit of absolute non-violence, and I am quite certain they will heed my call. If the other side so desires, we will provide them with an opportunity to demonstrate to the world how brutal they can be." The PAC leadership was hopeful of some kind of physical response. References: 1. Africa since 1935 Vol VIII of the UNESCO General History of Africa, editor Ali Mazrui, published by James Currey, 1999, p259-60.

A few days before the massacre a pamphlet was circulated in the townships near Vereeniging (Sharpeville, Bophelong, Boipatong, and Evaton) calling for people to stay away from work on the Monday. The PAC, however, was not prepared to leave the demonstration to public choice. Testimony was given at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) hearings that the telephone lines between Sharpeville and Vereeniging were cut on the Sunday evening, and that (some) bus drivers were detained until the Monday morning to stop people travelling out of Sharpeville to work. 2 "Evidence before the Commission points to a degree of coercion of non-politicised Sharpville residents who were pressurised into participating in the anti-pass protest."3 By 10 in the morning almost 5,000 protesters had congregated in the centre of Sharpeville, from where they walked to the police compound. Similar groups (about 4,000 in total) walked from Bophelong and Boipatong to the police station at Vanderbijlpark, whilst a larger gathering of almost 20,000 people formed at the police station in Evaton.

The crowd at Evaton was dispersed by low-flying Sabre jets, and that at Vanderbijlpark was dispersed by a baton charge and tear gas. One person was killed at Vanderbijlpark when the police opened fire in response (the police claimed) to stone throwing by the crowd. At Sharpville, with a number of PAC officials in the crowd, the low-flying jets had no effect. The crowd remained around the police compound, waiting for a PAC statement to be read out. In the official TRC version of events the police remained passive until one-fifteen. Despite claims in the press in 1960 (and still in many reports) that squads of police went out into the crowd to arrest PAC officials, no action was actually taken by the police against the PAC at that time. "The police refused to arrest PAC members who presented themselves for arrest."4 Police accusations that the PAC leadership refused to instruct the crowd to disperse, however, were deemed false: various officials did in fact ask them to move away from the compound's fence. Only 300 or so protesters were still in the vicinity when the shooting started (this means, however, that the police managed to shoot almost all those near to the compound).

By mid-day the small contingent of police normally present at the station (12 in all) had been boosted significantly: nearly 300 armed police and five Saracens (armoured vehicles) were present. No one knows why the first shot was fired. The police claim it was in response to stone throwing by the crowd, and although this is mostly dismissed, such debris is visible amongst the fallen bodies and discarded footwear in photographs of the aftermath. The first shots being fired in response by inexperienced and nervous officers. (Rarely mentioned in contemporary reports is that the police were nervous because, only a few weeks before, nine policemen had been killed by a mob at Cato Manor, a township outside Durban.) Eyewitnesses from the crowd claim that an order was given to fire, or that the banging of a Saracen door was mistaken for gunfire from the crowd. No firm evidence for any weapons amongst the crowd (guns or traditional spears and knobkerries) has ever been given.

The TRC concluded that there was a "degree of deliberation in the decision to open fire at Sharpville" which indicated "that the shooting was more than the result of inexperienced and frightened police officers losing their nerve."5 Somewhere between 50 and 75 of the police opened fire. The crowd initially confused, and perhaps thinking the police were using blanks, stood still. It was not until the bodies started to fall that they ran. The police continued to shoot the protesters even as they fled from the site. Of the 180 injured, only 30 had been shot from the front. The injured included 31 women and 19 children, while among the 69 killed, eight were women and ten children. It took a while for emergency services to arrive (the telephone lines had been cut) and the police were slow to provide help. Following the massacre, the police made 77 arrests, including several people still receiving treatment in hospital (they were placed under guard until they were fit enough to be detained). Of those arrested, 55 were later released. In September that year 224 civil claims for damages were served against the Minister of Justice.

The government's response was the Indemnity Act (1961): legislation that indemnified the government and its officials retrospectively against such claims. (Shortly afterwards, in response to public pressure, the government set up a committee to examine the claims and to recommend ex gratia payments; but few were actually paid out.) What caused worldwide condemnation was not so much the deaths (such killings are more common that we would like to think: Frank Welsh in his History of South Africa6 compares it to 'Bloody Sunday', Londonderry January 1972, and the shooting of Kent State University students, Ohio 1970) but the callous way in which the Apartheid government put the blame squarely on the dead and injured. It had only been six weeks since the British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, had given his "winds of change" speech in Cape Town. Britain, who had consistently vetoed United Nation sanctions against South Africa could no longer condone South Africa's actions.

(In April 1960 the only UN member not to condemn the event was South Africa itself.) Curiously, although there was worldwide condemnation, South African exports to Europe increased by 50%, to America by 65%, and to Asia by 300% during this period. Rather than instigate a change in policy, Apartheid was more rigidly applied. A state of emergency was declared on 30 March (it lasted until 31 August 1960) and 18,000 black strikers were detained. On 8 April the Unlawful Organisations Act (1960) declared both the ANC and PAC illegal. The following day a disgruntled farmer, David Pratt, attempted to assassinate the South African Premier Dr Hendrik Verwoerd. Rather than have a white man be held culpable for the assassination attempt, Pratt was found mentally ill. A referendum of the white electorate in South Africa in October 1960 voted for a republic government (52% to 47%, reflecting the division between Afrikaans and English voters).

Verwoerd consequently withdrew South Africa from the Commonwealth of Nations in March 1961 and South Africa became a republic on 31 May 1961. In the crisis that followed the ANC and PAC were banned, and the 'armed struggle' was launched. Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and several others in the ANC leadership formed its military wing, Umkonto we Sizwe or MK (the Spear of the Nation), on a farm at Rivonia. Mandela acted as chief-of-staff, launching the MK's sabotage campaign in December 1961. The Rivonia farm was raided in 1963 and the consequent arrests resulted in the infamous 'Rivonia' Trial which lead to the imprisonment for life of several ANC leaders (on Robben Island). The PAC also set up its armed wing, POQO, which means independent ' or 'stand alone' (the PAC was completely opposed to multi-racial solutions in Africa) in 1961. Following the ban the ANC and PAC were forced to go underground and operate from outside South Africa. Internal opposition was left to people like Steve Biko and the members of the Black Consciousness Movement.

In 1966, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 21 March, the anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. In 1996, on the 26th anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre, Nelson Mandela chose Sharpeville as the site to announce the signing of the new democratic constitution. The day is now commemorated as South Africa's Human Rights Day. References: 1. Africa since 1935 Vol VIII of the UNESCO General History of Africa, editor Ali Mazrui, published by James Currey, 1999, p259-60. 2. Truth and Reconciliation Commission report Vol 3 Chapter 6 para 29. 3. Ibid para 28.

Sharpeville: An Apartheid Massacre and its Consequences (eBook, PDF) von Tom Lodge - buecher.de Sharpeville: An Apartheid Massacre and its Consequences (eBook, PDF) An Apartheid Massacre and its Consequences -61% **Preis der gedruckten Ausgabe (Gebundenes Buch) eBook bestellen Sharpeville: An Apartheid Massacre and its Consequences (eBook, PDF) An Apartheid Massacre and its Consequences Format: PDF eBook, ePUB On 21 March 1960 several hundred black Africans were injured and 69 killed when South African police opened fire on demonstrators in the township of Sharpeville, protesting against the Apartheid regime's racist 'pass' laws. The Sharpeville Massacre, as the event has become known, signalled the start of armed resistance in South Africa, and prompted worldwide condemnation of South Africa's Apartheid policies.

The events at Sharpeville deeply affected the attitudes ofboth black and white in South Africa and provided a major stimulus to the development of an international 'Anti-Apartheid' …mehr Geräte: PC Alle Produkte Produktbeschreibung On 21 March 1960 several hundred black Africans were injured and 69 killed when South African police opened fire on demonstrators in the township of Sharpeville, protesting against the Apartheid regime's racist 'pass' laws. The Sharpeville Massacre, as the event has become known, signalled the start of armed resistance in South Africa, and prompted worldwide condemnation of South Africa's Apartheid policies. The events at Sharpeville deeply affected the attitudes ofboth black and white in South Africa and provided a major stimulus to the development of an international 'Anti-Apartheid' movement. In Sharpeville, Tom Lodge explains how and why the Massacre occurred, looking at the social and political background to the events of March 1960, as well as the sequence of events that prompted the shootings themselves.

He then broadens his focus to explain the long-term consequences of Sharpeville, explaining how it affected South African politics over the following decades, both domestically and also in the country's relationship with the rest of the world. Produktdetails Best.Nr.: 38130400 Kundenbewertungen Schreiben Sie eine Kundenbewertung zu diesem Produkt und gewinnen Sie mit etwas Glück einen 15,- EUR bücher.de-Gutschein! Sharpeville massacre | South African history [1960] | Britannica.com South African history [1960] Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre Sharpeville massacre, (March 21, 1960), incident in the black township of Sharpeville, near Vereeniging , South Africa , in which police fired on a crowd of blacks, killing or wounding some 250 of them. It was one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa.

The wounded being tended to after police opened fire on an antiapartheid demonstration in … Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images The Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), a splinter group of the African National Congress (ANC) created in 1959, organized a countrywide demonstration for March 21, 1960, for the abolition of South Africa’s pass laws. Participants were instructed to surrender their reference books (passes) and invite arrest. Some 20,000 blacks gathered near a police station at Sharpeville, located about 30 miles (50 km) south of Johannesburg . After some demonstrators, according to police, began stoning police officers and their armoured cars, the officers opened fire on them with submachine guns. About 69 blacks were killed and more than 180 wounded, some 50 women and children being among the victims. A state of emergency was declared in South Africa, more than 11,000 people were detained, and the PAC and ANC were outlawed. Reports of the incident helped focus international criticism on South Africa’s apartheid policy.

Following the dismantling of apartheid, South African President Nelson Mandela chose Sharpeville as the site at which, on December 10, 1996, he signed into law the country’s new constitution. Learn More in these related articles: Sharpeville Massacre, 21 March 1960 | South African History Online South African History Online Home » Sharpeville Massacre, 21 March 1960 Sharpeville Massacre, 21 March 1960 Related articles Sharpeville Crowds fleeing from bullets on the day of the Massacre. © Baileys African History Archive (BAHA)Crowds fleeing from bullets on the day of the Massacre. © Baileys African Histor At the annual conference of the African National Congress (ANC) held in Durban on 16 December 1959, the President General of the ANC, Chief Albert Luthuli , announced that 1960 was going to be the "Year of the Pass." Through a series of mass actions, the ANC planned to launch a nationwide anti-pass campaign on 31 March - the anniversary of the 1919 anti-pass campaign.

A week later, a breakaway group from the ANC, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) held its first conference in Johannesburg. At this conference, it was announced that the PAC would launch its own anti-pass campaign. Early in 1960 both the ANC and PAC embarked on a feverish drive to prepare their members and Black communities for the proposed nationwide campaigns. The PAC called on its supporters to leave their passes at home on the appointed date and gather at police stations around the country, making themselves available for arrest. The campaign slogan was "NO BAIL! NO DEFENCE! NO FINE!" The PAC argued that if thousands of people were arrested, then the jails would be filled and the economy would come to a standstill. Although the protests were anticipated, no one could have predicted the consequences and the repercussions this would have for South African and world politics. An article entitled "PAC Campaign will be test," published in the 19 March 1960 issue of Contact, the Liberal Party newspaper, described the build up to the campaign: The Pan Africanist Congress will shortly launch a nationwide campaign for the total abolition of the pass laws. The exact date on which the campaign will start is still unknown.

The decision lies with the P.A.C. President, Mr. R.M. Sobukwe. But members say that the campaign will begin 'shortly - within a matter of weeks.' At a press conference held on Saturday 19th March 1960, PAC President Robert Sobukwe announced that the PAC was going to embark on an anti-pass campaign on Monday the 21st. According to his "Testimony about the Launch of the Campaign," Sobukwe declared: The campaign was made known on the 18th of March. Circulars were printed and distributed to the members of the organisation and on the 21st of March, on Monday, in obedience to a resolution they had taken, the members of the Pan Africanist Congress surrendered themselves at various police stations around the Country. At the press conference Sobukwe emphasized that the campaign should be conducted in a spirit of absolute non-violence and that the PAC saw it as the first step in Black people's bid for total independence and freedom by 1963 (Cape Times, 1960). Sobukwe subsequently announced that: African people have entrusted their whole future to us.

And we have sworn that we are leading them, not to death, but to life abundant. My instructions, therefore, are that our people must be taught now and continuously that in this campaign we are going to observe absolute non-violence. On the morning of 21 March, PAC members walked around Sharpeville waking people up and urging them to take part in the demonstration. Other PAC members tried to stop bus drivers from going on duty and this resulted in a lack transport for Sharpeville residents who worked in Vereeniging. Many people set out for work on bicycles or on foot, but some were intimidated by PAC members who threatened to burn their passes or "lay hands on them" if they went to work (Reverend Ambrose Reeves, 1966). However, many people joined the procession quite willingly.

Early on the 21st the local PAC leaders first gathered in a field not far from the Sharpeville police station, when a sizable crowd of people had joined them they proceeded to the police station - chanting freedom songs and calling out the campaign slogans "Izwe lethu" (Our land); "Awaphele amapasti" (Down with passes); "Sobukwe Sikhokhele" (Lead us Sobukwe); "Forward to Independence,Tomorrow the United States of Africa." The day of the Massacre, mourning the dead and getting over the shock of the event. © Baileys African History Archive (BAHA) When the marchers reached Sharpeville's police station a heavy contingent of policemen were lined up outside, many on top of British-made Saracen armored cars. Mr. Tsolo and other members of the PAC Branch Executive continued to advance - in conformity with the novel PAC motto of "Leaders in Front" - and asked the White policeman in command to let them through so that they could surrender themselves for refusing to carry passes.

Initially the police commander refused but much later, approximately 11h00, they were let through; the chanting of freedom songs continued and the slogans were repeated with even greater volume. Journalists who rushed there from other areas, after receiving word that the campaign was a runaway success confirmed "that for all their singing and shouting the crowd's mood was more festive than belligerent" (David M. Sibeko, 1976). By mid-day approximately 300 armed policemen faced a crowd of approximately 5000 people. At 13h15 a small scuffle began near the entrance of the police station. A policeman was accidently pushed over and the crowd began to move forward to see what was happening. To read more witness accounts of the Sharpeville Massacre, click on the ' Witness accounts ' tab above. According to the police, protesters began to stone them and, without any warning, one of the policemen on the top of an armoured car panicked and opened fire. His colleagues followed suit and opened fire. The firing lasted for approximately two minutes, leaving 69 people dead and, according to the official inquest, 180 people seriously wounded.

The policemen were apparently jittery after a recent event in Durban where nine policemen were shot. Unlike elsewhere on the East Rand where police used baton when charging at resisters, the police at Sharpeville used live ammunition. Eyewitness accounts attest to the fact that the people were given no warning to disperse. Eyewitness accounts and evidence later led to an official inquiry which attested to the fact that large number of people were shot in the back as they were fleeing the scene. The presence of armoured vehicles and air force fighter jets overhead also pointed to unnecessary provocation, especially as the crowd was unarmed and determined to stage a non-violent protest. According to an account from Humphrey Tyler, the assistant editor at Drum magazine : The police have claimed they were in desperate danger because the crowd was stoning them. Yet only three policemen were reported to have been hit by stones - and more than 200 Africans were shot down. The police also have said that the crowd was armed with 'ferocious weapons', which littered the compound after they fled. I saw no weapons, although I looked very carefully, and afterwards studied the photographs of the death scene. While I was there I saw only shoes, hats and a few bicycles left among the bodies.

The crowd gave me no reason to feel scared, though I moved among them without any distinguishing mark to protect me, quite obvious with my white skin. I think the police were scared though, and I think the crowd knew it. Within hours the news of the killing at Sharpeville was flashed around the world. Other protests around the country on 21 March 1960 To read more about the protests in Cape Town . On the morning of 21 March Robert Sobukwe left his house in Mofolo, a suburb of Soweto , and began walking to the Orlando police station. Along the way small groups of people joined him. In Pretoria a small group of six people presented themselves at the Hercules police station. In addition other small groups of PAC activists presented themselves at police stations in Durban and East London. However, the police simply took down the protesters names and did not arrest anyone. When the news of the Sharpeville Massacre reached Cape Town a group of between 1000 to 5000 protestors gathered at the Langa Flats bus terminus around 17h00 on 21 March 1960.

This was in direct defiance of the government's country-wide ban on public meetings and gatherings of more than ten persons. The police ordered the crowd to disperse within 3 minutes. When protesters reconvened in defiance, the police charged at them with batons, tear gas and guns. Three people were killed and 26 others were injured. Langa Township was gripped by tension and in the turmoil that ensued, In the violence that followed an employee of the Cape Times newspaper Richard Lombard was killed by the rioting crowd. References:

Question: In which township were 69 demonstrators killed by South "African police in March 1960?
Answer: Sharpeville