However, the 1289 Words 6 Pages All the evidence points to the gathering being peaceful and good humoured. Sharpeville Massacre - BlackPast.org the Sharpeville Massacre 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. What event happened on March 21 1960? This shows a significant similarity in that both time periods leaders attempted to achieve the goal of ending. This march is seen by many as a turning point in South African history. 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. There were 249 victims in total, including 29 children, with 69 people killed and 180 injured. The commission completed this task, under the chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt, when it finalised the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. We need the voices of young people to break through the silence that locks in discrimination and oppression. 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. The Sharpeville Massacre occurred on March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa. When it seemed the whole group would cross, police took action, with mounted officers and volunteers arriving at 1:12 pm. 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. 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. Within hours the news of the killing at Sharpeville was flashed around the world. 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. [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. Professor of International Law, Lancaster University. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Sharpeville Massacre - South Africa: Overcoming Apartheid After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of about 7,000 protesters went to the police station. It also came to symbolize that struggle. [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. According to his "Testimony about the Launch of the Campaign," Sobukwe declared: 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). These laws restricted blacks movements within the country. Eyewitness accounts attest to the fact that the people were given no warning to disperse. 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. "[6]:p.537, On 21 March 2002, the 42nd anniversary of the massacre, a memorial was opened by former President Nelson Mandela as part of the Sharpeville Human Rights Precinct.[22]. On the same day, the government responded by declaring a state of emergency and banning all public meetings. Baileys African History. This was in direct defiance of the government's country-wide ban on public meetings and gatherings of more than ten persons. 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. But attempts to transform this non-binding moral declaration into a binding legal code were immediately bogged down in Cold War disputes. Sharpeville Massacre Newzroom Afrika 229K subscribers Subscribe 178 Share 19K views 2 years ago As South Africa commemorates Human Rights Day, victims and families of those who died at the. A lot of Afrikaners felt a sense of guilt for the behavior they allowed to happen from their race towards another. [5] The police began shooting shortly thereafter. Dr. Verwoerd praised the police for their actions. The South African government began arresting more nonconformists and banning resistance organizations, such as the African National Congress and the Pan African Congress. Reddy. The Sharpeville Massacre occurred on March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa. 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. The ANC was encouraged and campaigned for democracy in South Africa. The significance of the date is reflected in the fact that. Perseverance and determination are also needed to build on the lessons learnedfrom the Sharpeville tragedy and repair the injustices of the past. 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. All blacks were required to carry ``pass books ' ' containing fingerprints, photo and information on access to non-black areas. The policemen were apparently jittery after a recent event in Durban where nine policemen were shot. As the protesters tried to flee the violent scene, police continued to shoot into the crowd. These two industries experienced rapid growth in the immediate aftermath of World War II and continued growing into the 1950s and 1960s. The Sharpeville Massacre is commemorated through Human Rights Day, a public holiday in South Africa, which honours those whose lives were sacrificed in the fight for democracy. 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. 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. African Americans demonstrated their frustration with lack of progress on the issue through non-violent means and campaigns led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (Bourne, In a march against segregation and barriers for African-American voting rights, peaceful marchers were exposed to harsh treatment by the police, 50 being hospitalized by the terrorism inflicted on them (civilrights.org). And then there are those who feel deeply involved and moved, but also powerless to deal with the enormity of the situation (Krog 221). 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 PAC and the African National Congress, another antiapartheid party, were banned. 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 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. People often associate their behavior and actions from the groups they belong to. The foundation of Poqo, the military wing of the PAC, and Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC, followed shortly afterwards. 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. 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. Sharpeville 50 years on: 'At some stage all hell will break loose' This movement sought to overcome the subjugation the racist South African government and apartheid laws imposed on Blacks. In 1946, the UN established the Commission on Human Rights, whose first job was to draft a declaration on human rights. Three people were killed and 26 others were injured. Lined up outside was a large contingent of armed police with some atop armoured cars. Expert Answers. It was a sad day for black South Africa. Matthews called on all South Africans to mark a national day of mourning for the victims on the 28 March. Many thousands of individuals applied for the amnesty program and a couple thousand testified through the course of 2 years. 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. Under this system there was an extended period of gruesome violence against individuals of colored skin in South Africa. In 1994, Mandela signed the nations first post-apartheid constitution near the site of the 1960 massacre. Take a minute to check out all the enhancements! Dr. Verwoerd praised the police for their actions. This article first appeared on The Conversation, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Sharpeville, a black suburb outside of Vereeniging (about fifty miles south of Johannesburg), was untouched by anti-apartheid demonstrations that occurred in surrounding towns throughout the 1950s. Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}264118S 275219E / 26.68833S 27.87194E / -26.68833; 27.87194. He was tricked into dispersing the crowd and was arrested by the police later that day. Time Magazine, (1960), The Sharpeville Massacre, A short history of pass laws in South Africa [online], from, Giliomee et al. Police reports in 1960 claimed that young and inexperienced police officers panicked and opened fire spontaneously, setting off a chain reaction that lasted about forty seconds. 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. The South African governments repressive measures in response to the Sharpeville Massacre, however, intensified and expended the opposition to apartheid, ushering in three decades of resistance and protest in the country and increasing condemnation by world leaders. In her moving poem Our Sharpeville she reflects on the atrocity through the eyes of a child. The quest for international support, mass mobilization, armed operations, and underground organization became the basis for the ANCs Four Pillars of Struggle. But in the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, the UN adopted a more interventionist stance towards the apartheid state. A deranged White man, David Pratt, made an assassination attempt on Dr. Verwoerd, who was seriously injured. 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 event was an inspiration for painter Oliver Lee Jackson in his Sharpeville Series from the 1970s.[23]. This abuse towards people of colour in South Africa made people around the world want to protest against South Africa's government. The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. 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. There was no evidence that anyone in the gathering was armed with anything other than stones. The Sharpeville Massacre On the morning of March 21, 1960, several thousand residents of Sharpeville marched to the township's police station. The ban remained in effect until August 31, 1960. The rally began peacefully, the iron bell was rung (usually it was rung to signal victories in football games) and one speaker started to speak. The enforcement of Pass Laws and the reissue of laws that restricted the. 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 ). The people were throwing their hats to the aeroplanes. It's been 60 years since the Sharpeville massacre, when 69 unarmed civilians were killed by armed South African police on March 21 1960. Massacre in Sharpeville. The Sharpeville massacre was a turning point in South African history. 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. It was one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa. 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. 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. Over five thousand individuals came to protest the cause in Sharpeville. The victims included about 50 women and children. After some demonstrators, according to police, began stoning police officers and their armoured cars, the officers opened fire on them with submachine guns. Others were throwing rocks and shouting "Pigs off campus. 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. Furthermore, the history of the African civil rights movement validated: Nationalism has been tested in the peoples struggles . Furthermore, a new police station was created, from which the police were energetic to check passes, deporting illegal residents, and raiding illegal shebeens. As segregation and civil rights become national topics, their. One way of accomplishing this was by instilling laws thatd force segregation, classification, educational requirements, and economic purposes. The United Nations Security Council and governments worldwide condemned the police action and the apartheid policies that prompted this violent assault. 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. What happened on 21 March in Sharpeville? On 24 March 1960, in protest of the . The people of South Africa struggle day by day to reverse the most cruel, yet well-crafted, horrific tactic of social engineering. The concept behind apartheid emerged in 1948 when the nationalist party took over government, and the all-white government enforced racial segregation under a system of legislation . 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. NO DEFENCE! The Black resistance began to gain more momentum and increasingly became more threatening. 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. 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. [16], The Sharpeville massacre contributed to the banning of the PAC and ANC as illegal organisations. Tafelberg Publishers: Cape Town. 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. Sobukwe was only released in 1969. About 69 Blacks were killed and more than 180 wounded, some 50 women and children being among the victims. On 30 March 1960, the government declared a state of emergency, detaining more than 18,000 people, including prominent anti-apartheid activists who were known as members of the Congress Alliance including Nelson Mandela and some still enmeshed in the Treason Trial. The officers asked the demonstrators to turn around; however, they did not budge. Sixty-nine protesters died, and the massacre became an iconic moment in the struggle against apartheid. 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. 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. The row of graves of the 69 people killed by police at the Sharpeville Police Station on 21 March 1960. International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, "Outside South Africa there were widespread reactions to Sharpeville in many countries which in many cases led to positive action against South Africa"., E.g., "[I]mmediately following the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa, over 1000 students demonstrated in Sydney against the apartheid system"., United Nations Security Council Resolution 610, United Nations Security Council Resolution 615, "The Sharpeville Massacre A watershed in South Africa", "The photos that changed history Ian Berry; Sharpeville Massacre", "Sharpeville Massacre, The Origin of South Africa's Human Rights Day", "Influential religious leader with 70-years in ministry to be laid to rest", "The Sharpeville Massacre - A watershed in South Africa", "Macmillan, Verwoerd and the 1960 'Wind of Change' Speech", "Naming history's forgotten fighters: South Africa's government is setting out to forget some of the alliance who fought against apartheid. Accessible across all of today's devices: phones, tablets, and desktops. By 1960 the. To share with more than one person, separate addresses with a comma. As the campaign went on, the apartheid government started imposing strict punishments on people who violated the segregationist laws. Many others were not so lucky: 69 unarmed and non-violent protesters were gunned down by theSouth Africanpolice and hundreds more were injured. 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. For them to gather means violence. Sharpeville Massacre - The Presidential Years - Nelson Mandela Amid confusion, two shots were fired into the air by somebody in the crowd. Non-compliance with the race laws were dealt with harshly. I will argue that the massacre created a major short-term crisis for the apartheid state, a crisis which appeared to Now aged 84, Selinah says she is still proud of her efforts to end apartheid. Find out what the UN in South Africa is doing towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. 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. In November 1961, a military branch of the party was organized with Mandela as its head. 351 Francis Baard Street,Metro Park Building ,10th Floor A week later, a breakaway group from the ANC, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) held its first conference in Johannesburg. In the 1960s, many of the colonial nations of Africa were gaining independence. Some 20,000 Blacks gathered near a police station at Sharpeville, located about 30 miles (50 km) south of Johannesburg. 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. The PAC argued that if thousands of people were arrested, then the jails would be filled and the economy would come to a standstill. Tear gas was again fired into the crowd but because of wind the gas had little effect on dispersing the students, some of the protesters picked up the tear gas canisters and threw them back at the Guard. [6]:p.163, The African National Congress (ANC) prepared to initiate a campaign of protests against pass laws. 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. Improved homework resources designed to support a variety of curriculum subjects and standards. Later, in the fifties and the sixties, these same goals, enlign poll taxes and literacy tests, were once again fought for by African American leaders, through advocacy and agitation. The same safe and trusted content for explorers of all ages. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. March 21 is a public holiday in South Africa in commemoration of the Sharpeville massacre. All that changed following the worlds moral outrage at the killings. The Black Consciousness Movement sparked mass protests among Blacks and prompted other liberation movements to demonstrate against the apartheid. Protestors asyoung as 12and13were killed. Kgosana agreed to disperse the protestors in if a meeting with J B Vorster, then Minister of Justice, could be secured. Police officers attempted to use tear gas to repel these advances, but it proved ineffectual, and the police fell back on the use of their batons. Aftermath: Sharpeville Massacre 1960 | South African History Online However, the governments method of controlling people who resisted the apartheid laws didnt have the same effect from the early 1970s and onward. 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. [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. In 1946, the UN established the Commission on Human Rights, whose first job was to draft a declaration on human rights. 26 Black policemen and 365 Black civilians were injured no White police men were killed and only 60 were injured. But it was not until after Sharpeville that the UN made clear that the countrys system of racial segregation would no longer be tolerated. On 1 April 1960, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 134. On March 21, an estimated 7,000 South Africans gathered in front of the Sharpeville police station to protest against the restrictive pass laws. It is also a day to reflect on the progress that has been made in ensuring basic human rights for all South Africans, as enshrined in our Constitution. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. The logjam was only broken after the Sharpeville massacre, as the UN decided to deal with the problem of apartheid South Africa. Krog was one of these Afrikaners. Updates? 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. Fewer than 20 police officers were present in the station at the start of the protest. 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. When protesters reconvened in defiance, the police charged at them with batons, tear gas and guns. Learn about employment opportunities across the UN in South Africa. 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 convention: Nazism and antisemitism were not included. As an act of rebellion the passes were set alight, as seen in a picture by Ranjith Kally. Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the day that changed the course of South African history. On March 21, 1960. 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. By continuing to use this site, you consent to the terms of our cookie policy, which can be found in our. There were also youth problems because many children joined gangs and were affiliated with crimes instead of schools. Our work on the Sustainable Development Goals. To re-enable the tools or to convert back to English, click "view original" on the Google Translate toolbar. The Sharpeville massacre was reported worldwide, and received with horror from every quarter. (2007), New History of South Africa. The ANC Vice-President, Oliver Tambo, was secretly driven across the border by Ronel Segal into the then British controlled territory of Bechunaland. The impact of the events in Cape Town were felt in other neighbouring towns such as Paarl, Stellenbosch, Somerset West and Hermanus as anti-pass demonstrations spread. [21], In 1998, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) found that the police actions constituted "gross human rights violations in that excessive force was unnecessarily used to stop a gathering of unarmed people.