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. A protest that had been scheduled three days earlier was planned for noon on Monday, May 4. 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. This shows a significant similarity in that both time periods leaders attempted to achieve the goal of ending. It authorized the limited use of arms and sabotage against the government, which got the governments attentionand its anger! International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Committee Member - MNF Research Advisory Committee, PhD Scholarship - Uncle Isaac Brown Indigenous Scholarship. Lancaster University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK. To read more about the protests in Cape Town. 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. Just after 1pm, there was an altercation between the police officer in charge and the leaders of the demonstration. Many of the civilians present attended voluntarily to support the protest, but there is evidence that the PAC also used coercive means to draw the crowd there, including the cutting of telephone lines into Sharpeville, and preventing bus drivers from driving their routes. Lined up outside was a large contingent of armed police with some atop armoured cars. 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. Unlike elsewhere on the East Rand where police used baton when charging at resisters, the police at Sharpeville used live ammunition. 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. On 21 March 1960, sixty-nine unarmed anti-pass protesters were shot dead by police and over 180 were injured. 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. March 21, is celebrated as a public holiday in honor of human rights and to commemorate the . Participants were instructed to surrender their reference books (passes) and invite arrest. Unfortunately, police forces arrived and open fired on the protesters, killing ninety-six in what became known as the Sharpeville massacre. The United Nations Security Council and governments worldwide condemned the police action and the apartheid policies that prompted this violent assault. Knowing the democracy we have today was achieved in part because of the blood we sacrificed was worth it, she says. 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 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. Police were temporarily paralyzed with indecision. After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of about 7,000 protesters went to the police station. 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. With the election of Nelson Mandela as president of South Africa in 1994, the apartheid system ended. (1997) Focus: 'Prisoner 1', Sunday Life, 23 March. It also came to symbolize that struggle. In the following days 77 Africans, many of whom were still in hospital, were arrested for questioning . On the day passes were suspended (25 March 1960) Kgosana led another march of between 2000 and 5000 people from Langa to Caledon Square. 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 march was also led by Clarence Makwetu, the Secretary of the PACs New Flats branch. 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. It also came to symbolize that struggle. In the aftermath of the events of 21 March, mass funerals were held for the victims. The quest for international support, mass mobilization, armed operations, and underground organization became the basis for the ANCs Four Pillars of Struggle. 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. . Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the day that changed the course of South African history. Even so and estimated 2000 to 3000 people gathered on the Commons. 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". Individuals over sixteen were required to carry passbooks, which contained an identity card, employment and influx authorisation from a labour bureau, name of employer and address, and details of personal history. 351 Francis Baard Street,Metro Park Building ,10th Floor 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. After apartheid ended, President Nelson Mandela chose Sharpeville as the place to sign South Africas new constitution on December 10, 1996. The logjam was only broken after the Sharpeville massacre, as the UN decided to deal with the problem of apartheid South Africa. 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. All that changed following the worlds moral outrage at the killings. 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 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. 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. 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). "[18][19], Since 1994, 21 March has been commemorated as Human Rights Day in South Africa. Half a century has passed but memories of the Sharpeville massacre still run deep. Its similar to an article in south africa that people have with racial segregation between black and white . This article first appeared on The Conversation, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. [10] Few of the policemen present had received public order training. The Afrikaner poet Ingrid Jonker mentioned the Sharpeville Massacre in her verse. That date now marks the International Day for the. 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"). The Black Consciousness Movement sparked mass protests among Blacks and prompted other liberation movements to demonstrate against the apartheid. a photographer whose pictures of the killings caused an . 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. The 1960 Sharpeville Massacre was the result of a peaceful protest regarding racist South African policies of apartheid. In response, a police officer shouted in Afrikaans skiet or nskiet (exactly which is not clear). Many of the contemporary issues in South Africa can easily be associated with the apartheid laws which devastated the country. The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. 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 . All that changed following the worlds moral outrage at the killings. The Sharpeville massacre. We need the voices of young people to break through the silence that locks in discrimination and oppression. 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. 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). 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. The ANC Vice-President, Oliver Tambo, was secretly driven across the border by Ronel Segal into the then British controlled territory of Bechunaland. On March 30, the South African government declared a state of emergency which made any protest illegal. The police ordered the crowd to disperse within 3 minutes. The police assembled and used disproportionate responses to the protest. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Plaatjie, T. (1998) Focus: 'Sharpeville Heroes Neglected', The Sowetan, 20 March.|Reverend Ambrose Reeves (1966). Find out what the UN in South Africa is doing towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. His colleagues followed suit and opened fire. This was in direct defiance of the government's country-wide ban on public meetings and gatherings of more than ten persons. Across the street came 40 or so students who planned on joining the group en route to the Courthouse. [3], South African governments since the eighteenth century had enacted measures to restrict the flow of African South Africans into cities. The PAC and the African National Congress, another antiapartheid party, were banned. 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. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. At this point the National Guard chose to disperse the crowd, fearing that the situation might get out of hand and grow into another violent protest. There was no evidence that anyone in the gathering was armed with anything other than stones. This translates as shot or shoot. At least 180 were wounded. [1], Victims were buried en masse in a ceremony performed by clergy. A policeman was accidently pushed over and the crowd began to move forward to see what was happening. NO DEFENCE! Its been 60 years since the Sharpeville massacre, when 69 unarmed civilians were killed by armed South African police on March 21 1960. Both were tasked with mobilizing international financial and diplomatic support for sanctions against South Africa. The University had tried to ban the protest; they handed out 12,000 leaflets saying the event was cancelled. 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. 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 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 . On the same day, the government responded by declaring a state of emergency and banning all public meetings. In the aftermath of the events of 21 March, mass funerals were held for the victims. Non-compliance with the race laws were dealt with harshly. The campaign slogan was "NO BAIL! 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. By 1960, however, anti-apartheid activism reached the town. Crowds fleeing from bullets on the day of the Massacre. 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. Eyewitness accounts and evidence later led to an official inquiry which attested to the fact that large number of people were shot in the back as they were fleeing the scene. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Black citizens began to resist this prejudice though and also used violence against the enforcers of Apartheid. A week after the state of emergency was declared the ANC and the PAC were banned under the Unlawful Organisations Act of 8 April 1960. The call for a stay away on 28 March was highly successful and was the first ever national strike in the countrys history. 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. 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. The foundation of Poqo, the military wing of the PAC, and Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC, followed shortly afterwards. This angered the officers causing them to brutally attack and tear gas the demonstrators. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Baileys African History. 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. This movement sought to overcome the subjugation the racist South African government and apartheid laws imposed on Blacks. "[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]. 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. On March 21, 1960, police in Sharpeville, South Africa, shot hundreds of people protesting laws that restricted the movement of blacks. Under the country's National Party government, African residents in urban districts were subject to influx control measures. The massacre was photographed by photographer Ian Berry, who initially thought the police were firing blanks. [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. 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. Mandela went into hiding in 1964, he was captured, tried, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Sharpeville is a township near Vereeniging, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. In March 1960, South African police shot dead 69 black protestors, sparking worldwide outrage . The only Minister who showed any misgivings regarding government policy was Paul Sauer. [13], A storm of international protest followed the Sharpeville shootings, including sympathetic demonstrations in many countries[14][15] and condemnation by the United Nations. The Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), a splinter group of the African National Congress (ANC) created in 1959, organized a countrywide demonstration for March 21, 1960, for the abolition of South Africas pass laws. On 24 March 1960, in protest of the . The police and army arrested thousands of Africans, who were imprisoned with their leaders, but still the mass action raged. It was one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. [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. Selinah Mnguniwas 23 years old and already three months pregnant when she was injured in the Sharpeville massacre on 21 March 1960. The police were armed with firearms, including Sten submachine guns and LeeEnfield rifles. It can be considered the beginning of the international struggle to bring an end to apartheid in South . Protestors asyoung as 12and13were killed. Nearly 300 police officers arrived to put an end to the peaceful protest. 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. 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. 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. In 1960 it was the site of one of the earliest and most violent demonstrations against apartheid. About 69 Blacks were killed and more than 180 wounded, some 50 women and children being among the victims. The Sharpeville Massacre occurred on March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa. 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." . 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). In 1960, states had no binding international human rights obligations with oversight mechanisms. 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. [12], Many White South Africans were also horrified by the massacre. In 1946, the UN established the Commission on Human Rights, whose first job was to draft a declaration on human rights. Confrontation in the township of Sharpeville, Gauteng Province. "[1] He also denied giving any order to fire and stated that he would not have done so. Reports of the incident helped focus international criticism on South Africas apartheid policy. 1960 police killing of protesters in Transvaal (now Gauteng), South Africa. There were also youth problems because many children joined gangs and were affiliated with crimes instead of schools. [6]:p.163, The African National Congress (ANC) prepared to initiate a campaign of protests against pass laws. During the shooting about 69 black people were killed. The officers asked the demonstrators to turn around; however, they did not budge. The Sharpsville Massacre was a seminal moment in the history of South Africa. Dr. Verwoerd praised the police for their actions. But in the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, the UN adopted a more interventionist stance to the apartheid state. The enforcement of Pass Laws and the reissue of laws that restricted the. But even still, southern activists worked to defend the practice of segregation. On 21 March 1960, the police opened fire on a group of demonstrators who had gathered peacefully outside Sharpeville police station in response to a nationwide call by the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) to protest against the hated pass system; 67 people died and hundreds more were wounded. 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 significance of the date is reflected in the fact that it now marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. As a result of racial segregation, resistance from coloured people in both the United States and South Africa escalated. The Minister of Native Affairs declared that apartheid was a model for the world. 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. 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. Professor of International Law, Lancaster University. 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.