what caused the sharpeville massacre

After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of about 7,000 protesters went to the police station. T he Sharpeville massacre, the name given to the murder of 69 unarmed civilians by armed South African police, took place on 21 March 1960. 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 countrys new constitution. The police and army arrested thousands of Africans, who were imprisoned with their leaders, but still the mass action raged. I will argue that the massacre created a major short-term crisis for the apartheid state, a crisis which appeared to Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the day that changed the course of South African history. By the end of the day, 69 people lay dead or dying, with hundreds more injured. 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. This shows a major similarity as they wanted to achieve the same things. After translating an article, all tools except font up/font down will be disabled. . In addition other small groups of PAC activists presented themselves at police stations in Durban and East London. They met a police line a few blocks from the Courthouse and were forbidden from proceeding because they did not have a parade permit (Reed 26). On March 21st, 1960, the Pan Africanists Congress, an anti-Apartheid splinter organization formed in 1959, organized a protest to the National Partys pass laws which required all citizens, as well as native Africans, to carry identification papers on them at all times. Selinah Mnguniwas 23 years old and already three months pregnant when she was injured in the Sharpeville massacre on 21 March 1960. During those five months roughly 25,000 people were arrested throughout the nation. These protests were to begin on 31 March 1960, but the rival Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), led by Robert Sobukwe, decided to pre-empt the ANC by launching its own campaign ten days earlier, on 21 March, because they believed that the ANC could not win the campaign. The campaign slogan was "NO BAIL! Philip Finkie Molefe, responsible for establishing the first Assemblies of God church in the Vaal, was among the clergy that conducted the service.[11]. Massacre in Sharpeville. Let's Take Action Towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Plaatjie, T. (1998) Focus: 'Sharpeville Heroes Neglected', The Sowetan, 20 March.|Reverend Ambrose Reeves (1966). The Sharpeville massacre, the name given to the murder of 69 unarmed civilians by armed South African police, took place on 21 March 1960. Sharpeville massacre, (March 21, 1960), incident in the Black township of Sharpeville, near Vereeniging, South Africa, in which police fired on a crowd of Black people, killing or wounding some 250 of them. But it was not until after Sharpeville that the UN made clear that the countrys system of racial segregation would no longer be tolerated. Many people need to know that indiviual have their own rights in laws and freedom . Some 20,000 Blacks gathered near a police station at Sharpeville, located about 30 miles (50 km) south of Johannesburg. The poet Duncan Livingstone, a Scottish immigrant from the Isle of Mull who lived in Pretoria, wrote in response to the Massacre the Scottish Gaelic poem Bean Dubh a' Caoidh a Fir a Chaidh a Marbhadh leis a' Phoileas ("A Black Woman Mourns her Husband Killed by the Police"). Other evidence given to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission "the evidence of Commission deponents reveals a degree of deliberation in the decision to open fire at Sharpeville and indicates that the shooting was more than the result of inexperienced and frightened police officers losing their nerve. Black citizens began to resist this prejudice though and also used violence against the enforcers of Apartheid. The two causes went hand in hand in this, rocketing in support and becoming the main goal of the country - the end of segregation was the most dire problem that the Civil Rights Movement needed to solve. During the shooting about 69 black people were killed. Ingrid de Kok was a child living on a mining compound near Johannesburg where her father worked at the time of the Sharpeville massacre. At 13h15 a small scuffle began near the entrance of the police station. Baileys African History Archive (BAHA)Crowds fleeing from bullets on the day of the Massacre. Only the four Native Representatives and members of the new Progressive Party voted against the Bill. On March 21, 1960, police in Sharpeville, South Africa, shot hundreds of people protesting laws that restricted the movement of blacks. The protesters offered themselves up for arrest for not carrying their passes. On March 21, 1960, without warning, South African police at Sharpeville, an African township of Vereeninging, south of Johannesburg, shot into a crowd of about 5,000 unarmed anti-pass protesters, killing at least 69 people - many of them shot in the back - and wounding . Racial and religious conflicts; conflicts between dictatorial governments and their citizens; the battle between the sexes; conflicts between management and labor; and conflicts between heterosexuals and homosexuals all stem, in whole or in part, to oppression. In 1960 it was the site of one of the earliest and most violent demonstrations against apartheid. On March 21, an estimated 7,000 South Africans gathered in front of the Sharpeville police station to protest against the restrictive pass laws. The Sharpeville Massacre, 1960 Police Attack Demonstrators in Sharpeville, March 21, 1960 Few events loom larger in the history of the apartheid regime than those of the afternoon of March 21, 1960, in Sharpeville, South Africa. On this 60th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, the world should remember the contingency and fragility of the international human rights law system that we so easily take for granted today. What event happened on March 21 1960? These laws restricted blacks movements within the country. The moral outrage surrounding these events led the United Nations General Assembly to pronounce 21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which recognized racism as a gross human rights violation. As well as the introduction of the Race Convention, Sharpeville also spurred other moves at the UN that changed the way it could act against countries that breached an individuals human rights. apartheid: aftermath of the deadly Sharpeville demonstration, This article was most recently revised and updated by, https://www.britannica.com/event/Sharpeville-massacre, Canadian Museum for Human Rights - The Sharpeville Massacre, South African History Online - Sharpeville Massacre, Sharpeville massacre - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11), Sharpeville massacre - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Witness History. Take a minute to check out all the enhancements! A few days later, on 30 March 1960, Kgosana led a PAC march of between 30 000-50 000 protestors from Langa and Nyanga to the police headquarters in Caledon Square. Race, ethnicity and political groups, is an example of this. The Sharpeville massacre was a turning point in South African history. Robert Sobukwe and other leaders were arrested and detained after the Sharpeville massacre, some for nearly three years after the incident. [10] Few of the policemen present had received public order training. And then there are those who feel deeply involved and moved, but also powerless to deal with the enormity of the situation (Krog 221). Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The Sharpeville massacre sparked hundreds of mass protests by black South Africans, many of which were ruthlessly and violently crushed by the South African police and military. [6]:pp.14,528 From the 1960s, the pass laws were the primary instrument used by the state to detain and harass its political opponents. The event has been seen by some as a turning point in South African history. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. Within hours the news of the killing at Sharpeville was flashed around the world. Approximately 10,000 Africans were forcibly removed to Sharpeville. In the late 1980s, one of the most popular anti-apartheid movements that contributed to the end of the apartheid was the Free Mandela campaign. The commission completed this task, under the chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt, when it finalised the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Eyewitness accounts of the Sharpeville massacre 1960 The day of the Massacre, mourning the dead and getting over the shock of the event Baileys African History Archive (BAHA) Tom Petrus, author of 'My Life Struggle', Ravan Press. In March 1960, South African police shot dead 69 black protestors, sparking worldwide outrage . Yet only three policemen were reported to have been hit by stones - and more than 200 Africans were shot down. A posseman. The officers asked the demonstrators to turn around; however, they did not budge. NO FINE!" On 24 March 1960, in protest of the . The Supreme Courts decision in the famous and landmark case, Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 set a precedent for desegregation in schools. At this conference, it was announced that the PAC would launch its own anti-pass campaign. Due to the illness, removals from Topville began in 1958. The march leaders were detained, but released on the same day with threats from the commanding officer of Caledon Square, Terry Tereblanche, that once the tense political situation improved people would be forced to carry passes again in Cape Town. The ban remained in effect until August 31, 1960. The logjam was only broken after the Sharpeville massacre as the UN decided to deal with the problem of apartheid South Africa. [10] At about 13:00 the police tried to arrest a protester, and the crowd surged forward. The significance of the date is reflected in the fact that it now marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Often times individuals feel proud to be a member of their group and it becomes an important part of how they view themselves and their identity. Sources disagree as to the behaviour of the crowd: some state that the crowd was peaceful, while others state that the crowd had been hurling stones at the police and that the mood had turned "ugly". The story of March 21 1960 is told by Tom Lodge, a scholar of South African politics, in his book Sharpeville. [17], Not all reactions were negative: embroiled in its opposition to the Civil Rights Movement, the Mississippi House of Representatives voted a resolution supporting the South African government "for its steadfast policy of segregation and the [staunch] adherence to their traditions in the face of overwhelming external agitation. This shows a significant similarity in that both time periods leaders attempted to achieve the goal of ending. In 1960 it was the site of one of the earliest and most violent demonstrations against apartheid . March 16 saw a demonstration in Montgomery, Alabama in which 580 demonstrators planned to march from the Jackson Street Baptist Church to the Montgomery County Courthouse (Reed 26). Kgosana agreed to disperse the protestors in if a meeting with J B Vorster, then Minister of Justice, could be secured. 20072023 Blackpast.org. In March 1960, Robert Sobukwe, a leader in the anti-apartheid Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) organized the towns first anti-apartheid protest. Sobukwe subsequently announced that: On the morning of 21 March, PAC members walked around Sharpeville waking people up and urging them to take part in the demonstration. As the small crowd approached the station, most of the marchers, including Sobukwe, were arrested and charged with sedition. Nearly 300 police officers arrived to put an end to the peaceful protest. These resolutions established two important principles: that the human rights provisions in the UN Charter created binding obligations for member states, and the UN could intervene directly in situations involving serious violations of human rights. A United Nations photograph by Kay Muldoon, Courtesy of the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa, SATIS (Southern Africa - the Imprisoned Society). Riding into the small group of protestors, they forced most to withdraw, but a few stood fast around a utility pole where horsemen began to beat them. The subject of racial discrimination in South Africa was raised at the UN General Assembly in its first session, in 1946, in the form of a complaint by India concerning the treatment of Indians in the country. This movement sought to overcome the subjugation the racist South African government and apartheid laws imposed on Blacks. Eventually a few of the demonstrators dared to cross the street, led by James Forman who had organized the march. Krog was one of these Afrikaners. It include with civil right that violence verses non-violence that the government could or. [16], The Sharpeville massacre contributed to the banning of the PAC and ANC as illegal organisations. But even still, southern activists worked to defend the practice of segregation. ISCOR and SASOL, the state's metal and fuel companies, were and continue to be the two key role players in the provision of employment in the Sharpeville region. The victims included about 50 women and children. Our work on the Sustainable Development Goals. The argument against apartheid was now framed as a specific manifestation of a wider battle for human rights and it was the only political system mentioned in the 1965 Race Convention: nazism and antisemitism were not included. He was followed by Dr. Yusuf Dadoo, Chairperson of the South African Indian Congress and Chairperson of the underground South African Communist Party. 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. It was a system of segregation put in place by the National Party, which governed in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. The key developments were the adoption of Resolution 1235 in 1967, which allowed for the examination of complaints of gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as exemplified by the policy of apartheid, and Resolution 1503 in 1970, which allowed the UN to examine complaints of a consistent pattern of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights. Max Roach's 1960 Album We Insist! The adoption of the Race Convention was quickly followed by the international covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights in 1966, introduced to give effect to the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The event also played a role in South Africa's departure from the Commonwealth of Nations in 1961. The Sharpeville massacre was reported worldwide, and received with horror from every quarter. They were mild campaigns at first, but as the government became more hostile, so did ANC protests. The Sharpeville massacre also touched off three decades of protest in South Africa, ultimately leading to freedom for Nelson Mandela, who had spent 27 years in prison. At the end of the bridge, they were met by many law enforcement officers holding weapons; thus, the demonstrators were placing their lives in danger. Sixty-nine Africans were killed and 186 were wounded, with most shot in the back. 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. The police response to the protest became the primary cause of the massacre. 1960 police killing of protesters in Transvaal (now Gauteng), South Africa. Migration is a human right, How the Sharpeville massacre changed the United Nations, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, $6 off a $50+ order with this AliExpress discount code, 10% off selected orders over 100 - eBay discount code, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. The massacre was photographed by photographer Ian Berry, who initially thought the police were firing blanks. When protesters reconvened in defiance, the police charged at them with batons, tear gas and guns. Professor of International Law, Lancaster University. This article first appeared on The Conversation, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. A new, third level of content, designed specially to meet the advanced needs of the sophisticated scholar. Although blood was not shed on Krogs hands directly, she took on the shame of her race. Perseverance and determination are also needed to build on the lessons learnedfrom the Sharpeville tragedy and repair the injustices of the past. At least 180 were wounded. "[6]:p.538, The uproar among South Africa's black population was immediate, and the following week saw demonstrations, protest marches, strikes, and riots around the country. 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: 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. The Department of Home Affairs (a government bureau) was responsible for the classification of the citizenry. The adoption of the convention was quickly followed by two international covenants on economic, social and cultural rights and on civil and political rights in 1966, introduced to give effect to the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This affirmed that the elimination of racial discrimination was a global challenge that affronted the respect and dignity of all human beings. That date now marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and without the Sharpeville massacre, we may not have the international system of human rights that we have today. We need the voices of young people to break through the silence that locks in discrimination and oppression. It was adopted on 21 December 1965. His colleagues followed suit and opened fire. Youth standing up against racism was the 2021 theme, aimed at fostering a global culture of tolerance, equality and non-discrimination that calls on each one of us to stand up against racial prejudice and intolerant attitudes. One of the insights has been that international law does not change unless there is some trigger for countries to change their behaviour. By comparing and contrasting the American Jim Crow Laws and South African apartheid, we have evidence that both nations constitutions led to discrimination, activism, reform and reconciliation. A deranged White man, David Pratt, made an assassination attempt on Dr. Verwoerd, who was seriously injured. To read more about the protests in Cape Town. [5], F-86 Sabre jets and Harvard Trainers approached to within 30 metres (98ft) of the ground, flying low over the crowd in an attempt to scatter it. The incident resulted in the largest number of South African deaths (up to that point) in a protest against apartheid. Steven Wheatley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. The Sharpeville Massacre On the morning of March 21, 1960, several thousand residents of Sharpeville marched to the township's police station. Crowds fleeing from bullets on the day of the Massacre. With the election of Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa in 1994, the apartheid system ended. However, Foreign Consulates were flooded with requests for emigration, and fearful White South Africans armed themselves. But attempts to transform this non-binding moral declaration into a binding legal code were immediately bogged down in Cold War disputes. p. 334- 336|Historical Papers Archive of the University of the Witwatersrand [online] Accessed at: wits.ac.za and SAHA archive [link no longer available]. Despite the Sharpeville massacre feeling seismic in its brutality, "we all thought at that moment that it would cause a change in the political situation in South Africa," said Berry - "it was really ten years before anything changed." . The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. Sharpeville massacre, (March 21, 1960), incident in the Black township of Sharpeville, near Vereeniging, South Africa, in which police fired on a crowd of Black people, killing or wounding some 250 of them. Reddy. But change can also be prompted by seemingly minor events in global affairs, such as the Sharpeville massacre the so-called butterfly effect. Some were shot in the back as they fled.[1]. As an act of rebellion the passes were set alight, as seen in a picture by Ranjith Kally. The Sharpeville massacre sparked hundreds of mass protests by black South Africans. A dompass in those days was an Identification Document that determined who you were, your birth date, what race you are and permission from your employers to be in a specific place at a specific time. Confrontation in the township of Sharpeville, Gauteng Province. In 1994, Mandela signed the nations first post-apartheid constitution near the site of the 1960 massacre. The PAC and the African National Congress, another antiapartheid party, were banned. The protesters responded by hurling stones (striking three policemen) and rushing the police barricades. According to his "Testimony about the Launch of the Campaign," Sobukwe declared: To read more witness accounts of the Sharpeville Massacre, click on the, According to an account from Humphrey Tyler, the assistant editor at, Afrikaner Nationalism, Anglo American and Iscor: formation of Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corporation, 1960-70 in Business History", The Sharpeville Massacre: Its historic significance in the struggle against apartheid, The PAC's War against the State 1960-1963, in The Road to Democracy in South Africa: 1960-1970, The Sharpeville Massacre - A watershed in SouthAfrica, Saluting Sharpevilles heroes, and South Africa's human rights, New Books | Robert Sobukwes letters from prison, South African major mass killings timeline 1900-2012, Origins: Formation, Sharpeville and banning, 1959-1960, 1960-1966: The genesis of the armed struggle, Womens resistance in the 1960s - Sharpeville and its aftermath, Eyewitness accounts of the Sharpeville massacre 1960, List of victims of police action, 21 March, 1960 (Sharpeville and Langa), A tragic turning-point: remembering Sharpeville fifty years on by Paul Maylam, Apartheid: Sharpeville Massacre, 21 March 1960, Commission of Enquiry into the Occurrences at Sharpeville (and other places) on the 21st March, 1960, Volume 1, Johannesburg, 15 June 1960, Commission of Enquiry into the Occurrences at Sharpeville (and other places) on the 21st March, 1960, Volume 2, Johannesburg, 15 June 1960, Documents, and articles relating to the Sharpeville Massacre 1960, Editorial comment: The legacy of Sharpeville, From Our Vault: Sharpeville, A Crime That Still Echoes by J Brooks Spector, 21 March 2013, South Africa, Message to the PAC on Sharpeville Day by Livingstone Mqotsi, Notes on the origins of the movement for Sanctions against South Africa by E.S. The ANC was encouraged and campaigned for democracy in South Africa. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Many thousands of individuals applied for the amnesty program and a couple thousand testified through the course of 2 years. Stephen Wheatley is a professor of international law at Lancaster University. In the 1960s, many of the colonial nations of Africa were gaining independence. 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. In 1946, the UN established the Commission on Human Rights, whose first job was to draft a declaration on human rights. The police shot many in the back as they turned to flee, causing some to be paralyzed. In 1960, states had no binding international human rights obligations with oversight mechanisms. In the aftermath of the events of 21 March, mass funerals were held for the victims. This abuse towards people of colour in South Africa made people around the world want to protest against South Africa's government. When police opened . The police were armed with firearms, including Sten submachine guns and LeeEnfield rifles. The massacre also sparked hundreds of mass protests by black South Africans, many of which were ruthlessly and violently crushed by the South African police and military. On March 21, 1960. During the Eisenhower administration, Congress passed two measures that proved to be ineffective: the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of about 7,000 protesters went to the police station. He was tricked into dispersing the crowd and was arrested by the police later that day. The apartheid in South Africa which was in effect from 1948 until 1994 was not only a racist policy which greatly affected the quality of life of minorities in the country for the worse but was a outright crime against humanity. This assisted in minimizing unity between the exploited to rally against European control as it backhandedly induced submission for survival. To share with more than one person, separate addresses with a comma. The Minister of Native Affairs declared that apartheid was a model for the world. African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. [10], PAC actively organized to increase turnout to the demonstration, distributing pamphlets and appearing in person to urge people not to go to work on the day of the protest. On 24 March 1960, in protest of the massacre, Regional Secretary General of the PAC, Philip Kgosana, led a march of 101 people from Langa to the police headquarters in Caledon Square, Cape Town. In conclusion; Sharpeville, the imposition of a state of emergency, the arrest of thousands of Black people and the banning of the ANC and PAC convinced the anti-apartheid leadership that non-violent action was not going to bring about change without armed action. Sobukwe was only released in 1969. Sharpeville was first built in 1943 to replace Topville, a nearby township that suffered overcrowding where illnesses like pneumonia were widespread. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Its been 60 years since dozens of protesters were killed at a peaceful anti-apartheid rally in South Africa. The only Minister who showed any misgivings regarding government policy was Paul Sauer. The South African government began arresting more nonconformists and banning resistance organizations, such as the African National Congress and the Pan African Congress. 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. Pheko, M. (2000) Focus: 'Lest We Forget Sharpeville', The Sowetan, 20 March. Its similar to an article in south africa that people have with racial segregation between black and white . After some demonstrators, according to police, began stoning police officers and their armoured cars, the officers opened fire on them with submachine guns. This year, UN and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) joined South Africans in commemorating the 61st anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, using the flagship campaign #FightRacism to promote awareness of these critical issues. As part of its response, the General Assembly tasked the UN Commission on Human Rights to prepare the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the first global human rights treaty. As they attempted to disperse the crowd, a police officer was knocked down and many in the crowd began to move forward to see what had happened. Half a century has passed but memories of the Sharpeville massacre still run deep. However, the police simply took down the protesters names and did not arrest anyone.

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