However, the nations mentality needed work - though the popularity of Civil Rights was rising, many riots and racial hate crimes continued to occur throughout the country, with many casualties resulting from them (infoplease.com). The incident resulted in the largest number of South African deaths (up to that point) in a protest against apartheid . The commission completed this task, under the chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt, when it finalised the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. Later the crowd grew to about 20,000,[5] and the mood was described as "ugly",[5] prompting about 130 police reinforcements, supported by four Saracen armoured personnel carriers, to be rushed in. 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. 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). The Sharpeville massacre. The Sharpsville Massacre was a seminal moment in the history of South Africa. On 20 March Nana Mahomo and Peter Molotsi has crossed the border into Bechuanaland to mobilize support for the PAC. It was a sad day for black South Africa. Tafelberg Publishers: Cape Town. Significant reshaping of international law is often the result of momentous occurrences, most notably the first and second world wars. Nearly 300 police officers arrived to put an end to the peaceful protest. The PAC and the African National Congress, another antiapartheid party, were banned. 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. Just after 1pm, there was an altercation between the police officer in charge and the leaders of the demonstration. All Rights Reserved. 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. In response, a police officer shouted in Afrikaans skiet or nskiet (exactly which is not clear), which translates either as shot or shoot. By mid-day approximately 300 armed policemen faced a crowd of approximately 5000 people. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. 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"). [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. Max Roach's 1960 Album We Insist! [5] The police began shooting shortly thereafter. Under this system there was an extended period of gruesome violence against individuals of colored skin in South Africa. Sharpeville is a township near Vereeniging, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. The reactions of white South Africans to the revelations of the Truth Commission can be divided into two main groups There are those who refuse point-blank to take any responsibility and are always advancing reasons why the commission should be rejected and regarded as a costly waste of money. Along with other PAC leaders he was charged with incitement, but while on bail he left the country and went into exile. 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. Freedom Now Suite includes the composition Tears for Johannesburg in response to the massacre. Robert Sobukwe and other leaders were arrested and detained after the Sharpeville massacre, some for nearly three years after the incident. The movement in this period that revived the political opposition against the apartheid was the Black Consciousness Movement. Although the protests were anticipated, no one could have predicted the consequences and the repercussions this would have for South African and world politics. 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. Sharpeville marked a turning point in South Africa's history; the country found itself increasingly isolated in the international community. The protesters offered themselves up for arrest for not carrying their passes. 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. 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. At 13h15 a small scuffle began near the entrance of the police station. Find out what the UN in South Africa is doing towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. 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. This, said Mr Subukwe, would cause prisons to become overcrowded, labour to dry up and the economy to grind to a halt. 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 event was an inspiration for painter Oliver Lee Jackson in his Sharpeville Series from the 1970s.[23]. As an act of rebellion the passes were set alight, as seen in a picture by Ranjith Kally. 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. 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. Sharpeville Massacre, The Origin of South Africa's Human Rights Day [online], available at: africanhistory.about.com [accessed 10 March 2009]|Thloloe, J. Many of the contemporary issues in South Africa can easily be associated with the apartheid laws which devastated the country. A new, third level of content, designed specially to meet the advanced needs of the sophisticated scholar. Updates? The police were armed with firearms, including Sten submachine guns and LeeEnfield rifles. Due to the illness, removals from Topville began in 1958. In Pretoria a small group of six people presented themselves at the Hercules police station. It was one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa. He was tricked into dispersing the crowd and was arrested by the police later that day. 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. [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. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. 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. [4] Leading up to the Sharpeville massacre, the National Party administration under the leadership of Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd used these laws to enforce greater racial segregation[5] and, in 19591960, extended them to include women. Dr. Verwoerd praised the police for their actions. On 24 March 1960, in protest of the . 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 Sharpeville Massacre occurred on March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa. 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. On the same day, the government responded by declaring a state of emergency and banning all public meetings. 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. These laws restricted blacks movements within the country. 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. In 1960 it was the site of one of the earliest and most violent demonstrations against apartheid. They were mild campaigns at first, but as the government became more hostile, so did ANC protests. The University had tried to ban the protest; they handed out 12,000 leaflets saying the event was cancelled. "[18][19], Since 1994, 21 March has been commemorated as Human Rights Day in South Africa. In Cape Town, an estimated 95% of the African population and a substantial number of the Coloured community joined the stay away. Early on that March morning, demonstrations against the pass laws, which restricted the rights of apartheid South Africas majority black population, had begun in Sharpeville, a township in Transvaal. When an estimated group of 5000 marchers reached Sharpeville police station, the police opened fire killing 69 people and injuring 180 others in what became known as the Sharpeville Massacre. Witness History. 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. It was adopted on 21 December 1965. 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. Improved homework resources designed to support a variety of curriculum subjects and standards. March 21, is celebrated as a public holiday in honor of human rights and to commemorate the . 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. Other protests around the country on 21 March 1960. "The aeroplanes were flying high and low. This detailed act separated tribes based on ethnics; consequently, further detailing segregation amongst the natives . NO FINE!" By lunchtime, the crowd outside the police station had grown to an estimated 20,000 people. The Minister of Justice called for calm and the Minister of Finance encouraged immigration. It had wide ramifications and a significant impact. UNESCO marks 21 March as the yearly International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in memory of the massacre. 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). Some estimates put the size of the crowd at 20,000. A protest that had been scheduled three days earlier was planned for noon on Monday, May 4. After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of about 7,000 protesters went to the police station. Throughout the 1950s, South African blacks intensified their resistance against the oppressive apartheid system. [3], South African governments since the eighteenth century had enacted measures to restrict the flow of African South Africans into cities. The Sharpeville Massacre awakened the international community to the horrors of apartheid. Another officer interpreted this as an order and opened fire, triggering a lethal fusillade as 168 police constables followed his example. International sympathy lay with the African people, leading to an economic slump as international investors withdrew from South Africa and share prices on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange plummeted. 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). BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. The Sharpeville massacre was a turning point in South African history. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. 26 Black policemen and 365 Black civilians were injured no White police men were killed and only 60 were injured. When police opened . 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. Ingrid de Kok was a child living on a mining compound near Johannesburg where her father worked at the time of the Sharpeville massacre. A policeman was accidently pushed over and the crowd began to move forward to see what was happening. The South African Police (SAP) opened fire on the crowd when the crowd started advancing toward the fence around the police station; tear-gas had proved ineffectual. March 21 Massacre in Sharpeville In the Black township of Sharpeville, near Johannesburg, South Africa, Afrikaner police open fire on a group of unarmed Black South African demonstrators,. The protesters offered themselves up for arrest for not carrying their passes. The march was also led by Clarence Makwetu, the Secretary of the PACs New Flats branch. 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. Unlike elsewhere on the East Rand where police used baton when charging at resisters, the police at Sharpeville used live ammunition. a photographer whose pictures of the killings caused an . One of the insights was that international law does not change, unless there is some trigger for countries to change their behaviour. The PAC organised demonstration attracted between 5,000 and 7,000 protesters. There were 249 victims in total, including 29 children, with 69 people killed and 180 injured. Omissions? Some were shot in the back as they fled.[1]. 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. To read more witness accounts of the Sharpeville Massacre, click on the 'Witness accounts' tab above. A United Nations photograph by Kay Muldoon, Courtesy of the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa, SATIS (Southern Africa - the Imprisoned Society). 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. [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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. It can be considered the beginning of the international struggle to bring an end to apartheid in South . Sixty-nine protesters died, and the massacre became an iconic moment in the struggle against apartheid. But in the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, the UN adopted a more interventionist stance towards the apartheid state. Lined up outside was a large contingent of armed police with some atop armoured cars. 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. The apartheid system forcefully suppressed any resistance, such as at Sharpeville on March 21 1960, when 69 blacks were killed, and the Soweto Riots 1976-77, when 576 people died. 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. The victims included about 50 women and children. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Courtesy BaileySeippel Gallery/BAHA Source. In March 1960 the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), an antiapartheid party, organized nationwide protests against South Africas pass laws. The same safe and trusted content for explorers of all ages. This riot was planned to be a peaceful riot for a strike on an 8-hour day, ended up turning into a battle between protesters and the police. 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