Sharpeville is a township near Vereeniging, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. On the day passes were suspended (25 March 1960) Kgosana led another march of between 2000 and 5000 people from Langa to Caledon Square. Although the protests were anticipated, no one could have predicted the consequences and the repercussions this would have for South African and world politics. Some of them remain in prison", "Sharpeville Memorial, Theunis Kruger Street, Dicksonville, Sharpville ABLEWiki", Calls for inquiry into Israels Gaza killings, Storming of the Kempton Park World Trade Centre, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sharpeville_massacre&oldid=1140778365, Killings by law enforcement officers in South Africa, Short description is different from Wikidata, Use South African English from April 2016, All Wikipedia articles written in South African English, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2023, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 19:08. When it seemed the whole group would cross, police took action, with mounted officers and volunteers arriving at 1:12 pm. 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. Pretoria, South Africa, The blood we sacrificed was worth it - Sharpeville Massacre, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Welcome to the United Nations country team website of South Africa. What event happened on March 21 1960? Furthermore, a new police station was created, from which the police were energetic to check passes, deporting illegal residents, and raiding illegal shebeens. This set the UN on the path towards the recognition of all human rights for all and, eventually, the establishment of the Human Rights Council and the Universal Periodic Review of the human rights performance of all states. However, Foreign Consulates were flooded with requests for emigration, and fearful White South Africans armed themselves. Take a minute to check out all the enhancements! These two industries experienced rapid growth in the immediate aftermath of World War II and continued growing into the 1950s and 1960s. The officers asked the demonstrators to turn around; however, they did not budge. Another officer interpreted this as an order and opened fire, triggering a lethal fusillade as 168 police constables followed his example. 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. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. March 21 is a public holiday in South Africa in commemoration of the Sharpeville massacre. 1960 police killing of protesters in Transvaal (now Gauteng), South Africa. The logjam was only broken after the Sharpeville massacre as the UN decided to deal with the problem of apartheid South Africa. 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 . The world should remember the contingency and fragility of the international human rights law system that we so easily take for granted today. Improved homework resources designed to support a variety of curriculum subjects and standards. (1997) Focus: 'Prisoner 1', Sunday Life, 23 March. Another officer interpreted this as an order and opened fire, triggering a lethal fusillade as 168 police constables followed his example. In March 1960, Robert Sobukwe, a leader in the anti-apartheid Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) organized the towns first anti-apartheid protest. 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 event was an inspiration for painter Oliver Lee Jackson in his Sharpeville Series from the 1970s.[23]. Sobukwe was only released in 1969. The South African government then created the Unlawful Organizations Act of 1960 which banned anti-apartheid groups such as the Pan Africanist Congress and the African National Congress. The OHCHR Regional Office for Southern Africa also produced a series of digital stories on the Sharpeville massacre and young peoples concerns about their human rights. 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. All blacks were required to carry ``pass books ' ' containing fingerprints, photo and information on access to non-black areas. 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. On 1 April 1960, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 134. The movement in this period that revived the political opposition against the apartheid was the Black Consciousness Movement. Along with other PAC leaders he was charged with incitement, but while on bail he left the country and went into exile. In response, a police officer shouted in Afrikaans skiet or nskiet (exactly which is not clear), which translates either as shot or shoot. The call for a stay away on 28 March was highly successful and was the first ever national strike in the countrys history. The same safe and trusted content for explorers of all ages. Policemen in Cape Town were forcing Africans back to work with batons and sjamboks, and four people were shot and killed in Durban. The ratification of these laws may have made the separate but equal rhetoric illegal for the U.S. but the citizens inside it still battled for their beliefs. Nelson Mandela was a member of the banned African National Congress and led an underground armed movement that opposed the apartheid by attacking government buildings in South Africa during the early 1960s. But change can also be prompted by seemingly minor events in global affairs, such as the Sharpeville massacre the so-called butterfly effect. [10] Few of the policemen present had received public order training. Copyright 2023 United Nations in South Africa, Caption: Selinah Mnguni, a Sharpeville massacre survivor, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. As the protesters tried to flee the violent scene, police continued to shoot into the crowd. [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. The only Minister who showed any misgivings regarding government policy was Paul Sauer. The Sharpeville massacre, the name given to the murder of 69 unarmed civilians by armed South African police, took place on 21 March 1960. On the 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. In addition other small groups of PAC activists presented themselves at police stations in Durban and East London. By 1960, however, anti-apartheid activism reached the town. Do you find this information helpful? On March 21, 1960. The commission completed this task, under the chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt, when it finalised the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. 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. It also came to symbolize that struggle. "The aeroplanes were flying high and low. 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 affirmed that the elimination of racial discrimination was a global challenge that affronted the respect and dignity of all human beings. The Minister of Justice called for calm and the Minister of Finance encouraged immigration. . Unfortunately, police forces arrived and open fired on the protesters, killing ninety-six in what became known as the Sharpeville massacre. Lined up outside was a large contingent of armed police with some atop armoured 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. In the 1960s, many of the colonial nations of Africa were gaining independence. His protest was ignored, and the government turned a blind eye to the increasing protests from industrialists and leaders of commerce. The event also played a role in South Africa's departure from the Commonwealth of Nations in 1961. In the Black township of Sharpeville, near Johannesburg, South Africa, Afrikaner police open fire on a group of unarmed Black South African demonstrators, killing 69 people and wounding 180 in a hail of submachine-gun fire. Due to the illness, removals from Topville began in 1958. These laws restricted blacks movements within the country. On March 21, an estimated 7,000 South Africans gathered in front of the Sharpeville police station to protest against the restrictive pass laws. All the evidence points to the gathering being peaceful and good-humoured. A deranged White man, David Pratt, made an assassination attempt on Dr. Verwoerd, who was seriously injured. The, For one, African American leaders in the 90s to the 20s attempted to end the disenfranchisement of African Americans, done through poll taxes and literacy tests, by advocating their cause in the more sympathetic North. 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). 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. Now aged 84, Selinah says she is still proud of her efforts to end apartheid. The Apartheid was initiated as a ploy for Europeans to better control the exploited populations for economic gain, as maintaining tension between the different racial classifications diverted attention from the Europeans as it fed hatred between groups. 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. The Population Registration Act of 1950 enacted, requiring segregation of Europeans from Afrikaans . In the following days 77 Africans, many of whom were still in hospital, were arrested for questioning . 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. The quest for international support, mass mobilization, armed operations, and underground organization became the basis for the ANCs Four Pillars of Struggle. 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. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Non-compliance with the race laws were dealt with harshly. In her moving poem Our Sharpeville she reflects on the atrocity through the eyes of a child. For the next two and a half decades, the commission held to this position on the basis that the UN Charter only required states to promote, rather than protect, human rights. 351 Francis Baard Street,Metro Park Building ,10th Floor Across the street came 40 or so students who planned on joining the group en route to the Courthouse. On March 21, demonstrators disobeyed the pass laws by giving up or burning their pass books. In 1960, states had no binding international human rights obligations and there were no oversight mechanisms. 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). 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. This abuse towards people of colour in South Africa made people around the world want to protest against South Africa's government. As the number of UN members from Africa increased, the commission reversed its no power to act position and turned its attention to the human rights situation in South Africa. The Sharpeville massacre sparked hundreds of mass protests by black South Africans. [20], Sharpeville was the site selected by President Nelson Mandela for the signing into law of the Constitution of South Africa on 10 December 1996. 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. The ANC Vice-President, Oliver Tambo, was secretly driven across the border by Ronel Segal into the then British controlled territory of Bechunaland. There was no evidence that anyone in the gathering was armed with anything other than stones. Sharpeville was first built in 1943 to replace Topville, a nearby township that suffered overcrowding where illnesses like pneumonia were widespread. In my own research, I have looked to complexity theory a theory developed in the natural sciences to make sense of the ways that patterns of behaviour emerge and change to understand the way that international human rights law developed and evolved. The campaign slogan was "NO BAIL! Unlike elsewhere on the East Rand where police used baton when charging at resisters, the police at Sharpeville used live ammunition. Max Roach's 1960 Album We Insist! Reports of the incident helped focus international criticism on South Africas apartheid policy. 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. The police shot many in the back as they turned to flee, causing some to be paralyzed. Freedom Now Suite includes the composition Tears for Johannesburg in response to the massacre. [1], Victims were buried en masse in a ceremony performed by clergy. Under the country's National Party government, African residents in urban districts were subject to influx control measures. I hated what it did to people, As Israelis dedicated to peace, we oppose Trump's apartheid plan, UN human rights head in unprecedented action against Indian government, Anyone can become a climate refugee. By continuing to use this site, you consent to the terms of our cookie policy, which can be found in our. The incident resulted in the largest number of South African deaths (up to that point) in a protest against apartheid . Following shortly, the Group Areas Act of 1950 was enacted as a new form of legislation alongside the Population Registration Act. Many others were not so lucky: 69 unarmed and non-violent protesters were gunned down by theSouth Africanpolice and hundreds more were injured. That day about 20,000 people gathered near the Sharpeville police station. Crowds fleeing from bullets on the day of the Massacre. In particular, the African work force in the Cape went on strike for a period of two weeks and mass marches were staged in Durban. This detailed act separated tribes based on ethnics; consequently, further detailing segregation amongst the natives . 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. It include with civil right that violence verses non-violence that the government could or. It is likely that the police were quick to fire as two months before the massacre, nine constables had been assaulted and killed, some disembowelled, during a raid at Cato Manor. Sobukwe was only released in 1969. Accessible across all of today's devices: phones, tablets, and desktops. What happened on 21 March in Sharpeville? This day is now commemorated annually in South Africa as a public . In 1960 it was the site of one of the earliest and most violent demonstrations against apartheid. A policeman was accidently pushed over and the crowd began to move forward to see what was happening. Baileys African History. 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. UNESCO marks 21 March as the yearly International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in memory of the massacre. Corrections? By standing strong in the face of danger, the adults and children taking part in this demonstration were able to fight for their constitutional right to vote. 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. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. It also contributed the headline story at the Anti-Racism Live Global Digital Experience that marked March 21 internationally with acclaimed artists, actors and prominent speakers from South Africa including Thuli Madonsela, Zulaikha Patel and Zwai Bala. Many people need to know that indiviual have their own rights in laws and freedom . A posseman. "[18][19], Since 1994, 21 March has been commemorated as Human Rights Day in South Africa. Kgosana agreed to disperse the protestors in if a meeting with J B Vorster, then Minister of Justice, could be secured. The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng). One of the insights was that international law does not change, unless there is some trigger for countries to change their behaviour. At its inaugural session in 1947, the UN Commission on Human Rights had decided that it had no power to take any action in regard to any complaints concerning human rights. Without the Sharpeville massacre, we may not have the international human rights law system we have today. Pheko, M. (2000) Focus: 'Lest We Forget Sharpeville', The Sowetan, 20 March. [6]:p.534, By 10:00, a large crowd had gathered, and the atmosphere was initially peaceful and festive. But it was not until after Sharpeville that the UN made clear that the countrys system of racial segregation would no longer be tolerated. All that changed following the worlds moral outrage at the killings. To read more about the protests in Cape Town. After some demonstrators, according to police, began stoning police officers and their armoured cars, the officers opened fire on them with submachine guns. Sixty-nine protesters died, and the massacre became an iconic moment in the struggle against apartheid. On 21 March 1960, sixty-nine unarmed anti-pass protesters were shot dead by police and over 180 were injured. [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. The massacre was one of the catalysts for a shift from passive resistance to armed resistance by these organisations. Protestors asyoung as 12and13were killed. Courtesy BaileySeippel Gallery/BAHA Source. It was one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa. Black citizens began to resist this prejudice though and also used violence against the enforcers of Apartheid. Please note: Text within images is not translated, some features may not work properly after translation, and the translation may not accurately convey the intended meaning. [5], The official figure is that 69 people were killed, including 8 women and 10 children, and 180 injured, including 31 women and 19 children. On March 21, 1960, police in Sharpeville, South Africa, shot hundreds of people protesting laws that restricted the movement of blacks. 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. [7][8], On 21 March, 1960, a group of between 5,000 and 10,000 people converged on the local police station, offering themselves up for arrest for not carrying their passbooks.
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