what caused the sharpeville massacre

Dr. Verwoerd praised the police for their actions. 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. Massacre in Sharpeville. Updates? In March 1960, South African police shot dead 69 black protestors, sparking worldwide outrage . All Rights Reserved. Along the way small groups of people joined him. We need the voices of young people to break through the silence that locks in discrimination and oppression. Furthermore, during the nineties to the twenties, leaders of African Americans sought to end segregation in the South, as caused by Plessy v. Ferguson. Non-compliance with the race laws were dealt with harshly. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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). In November 1961, a military branch of the party was organized with Mandela as its head. 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. These resolutions established two important principles: that the human rights provisions in the UN Charter created binding obligations for member states, and that the UN could intervene directly in situations involving serious violations of human rights. 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. The massacre was photographed by photographer Ian Berry, who initially thought the police were firing blanks. When protesters reconvened in defiance, the police charged at them with batons, tear gas and guns. Attending a protest in peaceful defiance of the apartheid regime, Selinah and many other young people were demonstrating against pass laws designed to restrict and control the movement and employment of millions of Black South Africans. Find out more about our work towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The targeted protest became infamous in the Civil Rights Movement, marked Bloody Sunday and was crucial to gaining favor of the public (civilrights.org). 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. And with the 24th Amendment, Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Voting Rights Act of 1965 being ratified, the civil rights movement and the fight to end segregation reached its legal goal (infoplease.com). Although this event in itself acted as a turning point in the struggle of black South Africans towards restoring dignity, but there were certain events which happened before Sharpeville massacre that caused widespread frustration and resentment in the black African community. The events also prompted theInternational Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discriminationwhich took effect on 4 January 1969. Due to the illness, removals from Topville began in 1958. UNESCO marks 21 March as the yearly International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in memory of the massacre. 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 . Now aged 84, Selinah says she is still proud of her efforts to end apartheid. Amid confusion, two shots were fired into the air by somebody in the crowd. At the annual conference of the African National Congress (ANC) held in Durban on 16 December 1959, the President General of the ANC, Chief Albert Luthuli, announced that 1960 was going to be the "Year of the Pass." Even so and estimated 2000 to 3000 people gathered on the Commons. The Minister of Native Affairs declared that apartheid was a model for the world. Selinah Mnguniwas 23 years old and already three months pregnant when she was injured in the Sharpeville massacre on 21 March 1960. In 1946, the UN established the Commission on Human Rights, whose first job was to draft a declaration on human rights. 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 aeroplanes were flying high and low. Unfortunately, police forces arrived and open fired on the protesters, killing ninety-six in what became known as the Sharpeville massacre. Business Studies. 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. When the demonstrators began to throw stones at the police, the police started shooting into the crowd. Others were throwing rocks and shouting "Pigs off campus. The call for a stay away on 28 March was highly successful and was the first ever national strike in the countrys history. Protestors asyoung as 12and13were killed. 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. Max Roach's 1960 Album We Insist! To re-enable the tools or to convert back to English, click "view original" on the Google Translate toolbar. Another officer interpreted this as an order and opened fire, triggering a lethal fusillade as 168 police constables followed his example. Accounting & Finance; Business, Companies and Organisation, Activity; Case Studies; Economy & Economics; Marketing and Markets; People in Business 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. As a result of racial segregation, resistance from coloured people in both the United States and South Africa escalated. This day is now commemorated annually in South Africa as a public . It also came to symbolize that struggle. 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. Some 20,000 Blacks gathered near a police station at Sharpeville, located about 30 miles (50 km) south of Johannesburg. The ANC was encouraged and campaigned for democracy in South Africa. Within hours the news of the killing at Sharpeville was flashed around the world. The moral outrage surrounding these events led the United Nations General Assembly to pronounce 21 March as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which recognized racism as a gross human rights violation. Britannica does not review the converted text. Reddy. The victims included about 50 women and children. The massacre was one of the catalysts for a shift from passive resistance to armed resistance by these organisations. Stephen Wheatley explores how this tragedypaved the way for themodern United Nations, Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, Jennifer Davis: Exiled hero of South Africas anti-apartheid movement, Ralph Ziman: I hated apartheid. The Sharpeville Massacre occurred on March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa. But change can also be prompted by seemingly minor events in global affairs, such as the Sharpeville massacre the so-called butterfly effect. In Pretoria a small group of six people presented themselves at the Hercules police station. [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. It authorized the limited use of arms and sabotage against the government, which got the governments attentionand its anger! Over five thousand individuals came to protest the cause in Sharpeville. Under the country's National Party government, African residents in urban districts were subject to influx control measures. Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the day that changed the course of South African history. Sharpeville was much more than a single tragic event. 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). [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. 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. But attempts to transform this non-binding moral declaration into a binding legal code were immediately bogged down in cold war disputes. The foundation of Poqo, the military wing of the PAC, and Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing of the ANC, followed shortly afterwards. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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. 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. On that day, demonstrations against the pass laws, which restricted the rights of the majority black population in apartheid South Africa, began in the early morning in Sharpeville, a township in Transvaal. On 21 March 1960, sixty-nine unarmed anti-pass protesters were shot dead by police and over 180 were injured. In 1994, Mandela signed the nations first post-apartheid constitution near the site of the 1960 massacre. Learn about employment opportunities across the UN in South Africa. 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. 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. the Sharpeville Massacre 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. A protest that had been scheduled three days earlier was planned for noon on Monday, May 4. 26 Black policemen and 365 Black civilians were injured no White police men were killed and only 60 were injured. 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. 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,. As the small crowd approached the station, most of the marchers, including Sobukwe, were arrested and charged with sedition. It had wide ramifications and a significant impact. [2] In present-day South Africa, 21 March is celebrated as a public holiday in honour of human rights and to commemorate the Sharpeville massacre. Participants were instructed to surrender their reference books (passes) and invite arrest. Witness History. The event has been seen by some as a turning point in South African history. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. By the 25 March, the Minister of Justice suspended passes throughout the country and Chief Albert Luthuli and Professor Z.K. It was one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa. I will argue that the massacre created a major short-term crisis for the apartheid state, a crisis which appeared to [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. Similarly, African American leaders from the fifties to the sixties also fought for the end of segregation, in cases such as Brown v. Board of Education. By 1960, however, anti-apartheid activism reached the town. Weve been busy, working hard to bring you new features and an updated design. On the same day, the government responded by declaring a state of emergency and banning all public meetings. 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. In addition other small groups of PAC activists presented themselves at police stations in Durban and East London. 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. This march is seen by many as a turning point in South African history. News reports about the massacre spread across the world. 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. A black person would be of or accepted as a member of an African tribe or race, and a colored person is one that is not black or white. The police shot many in the back as they turned to flee, causing some to be paralyzed. As an act of rebellion the passes were set alight, as seen in a picture by Ranjith Kally. Sharpeville Massacre. The only Minister who showed any misgivings regarding government policy was Paul Sauer. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. The logjam was only broken after the Sharpeville massacre as the UN decided to deal with the problem of apartheid South Africa. 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 significance of the date is reflected in the fact that. 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. A week later, a breakaway group from the ANC, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) held its first conference in Johannesburg. 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. As they attempted to disperse the crowd, a police officer was knocked down and many in the crowd began to move forward to see what had happened. By 9 April the death toll had risen to 83 non-White civilians and three non-White police officers. 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 . Mandela and was given a life sentence in prison for treason against the South African government in 1964. Dr. Verwoerd praised the police for their actions. 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. 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. The Sharpeville massacre. South Africa had already been harshly criticised for its apartheid policies, and this incident fuelled anti-apartheid sentiments as the international conscience was deeply stirred. March 21, is celebrated as a public holiday in honor of human rights and to commemorate the . Sharpeville had a high rate of unemployment as well as high crime rates. [6]:p.534, By 10:00, a large crowd had gathered, and the atmosphere was initially peaceful and festive. The Sharpeville massacre also touched off three decades of protest in South Africa, ultimately leading to freedom for Nelson Mandela, who had spent 27 years in prison. Eventually a few of the demonstrators dared to cross the street, led by James Forman who had organized the march. Just after 1pm, there was an altercation between the police officer in charge and the leaders of the demonstration. The argument against apartheid was now framed as a specific manifestation of a wider battle for human rights and it was the only political system mentioned in the 1965 Race Convention: nazism and antisemitism were not included. In 1960, states had no binding international human rights obligations and there were no oversight mechanisms. To read more witness accounts of the Sharpeville Massacre, click on the 'Witness accounts' tab above. 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. (2000) Focus: 'Lest We Forget', Sunday World, 19 March. When police opened . We hope you and your family enjoy the NEW Britannica Kids. 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. One of the insights has been that international law does not change unless there is some trigger for countries to change their behaviour. As the protesters tried to flee the violent scene, police continued to shoot into the crowd. Plaatjie, T. (1998) Focus: 'Sharpeville Heroes Neglected', The Sowetan, 20 March.|Reverend Ambrose Reeves (1966). 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. Improved homework resources designed to support a variety of curriculum subjects and standards. 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. He was tricked into dispersing the crowd and was arrested by the police later that day. In the following days 77 Africans, many of whom were still in hospital, were arrested for questioning . Perseverance and determination are also needed to build on the lessons learnedfrom the Sharpeville tragedy and repair the injustices of the past. ISCOR and SASOL, the state's metal and fuel companies, were and continue to be the two key role players in the provision of employment in the Sharpeville region. Lined up outside was a large contingent of armed police with some atop armoured cars. There was no evidence that anyone in the gathering was armed with anything other than stones. 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). The 1960 Sharpeville Massacre was the result of a peaceful protest regarding racist South African policies of apartheid. This was in direct defiance of the government's country-wide ban on public meetings and gatherings of more than ten persons. 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. Throughout the 1950s, South African blacks intensified their resistance against the oppressive apartheid system. This assisted in minimizing unity between the exploited to rally against European control as it backhandedly induced submission for survival. Other protests around the country on 21 March 1960. The Sharpeville Massacre awakened the international community to the horrors of apartheid. 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. Race, ethnicity and political groups, is an example of this. It was a sad day for black South Africa. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The protesters offered themselves up for arrest for not carrying their passes. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. During this event 5,000 to 7,000 protesters went to the police station after a day of demonstrations, offering themselves for arrest for not carrying passbooks. The Black Consciousness Movement sparked mass protests among Blacks and prompted other liberation movements to demonstrate against the apartheid. Tafelberg Publishers: Cape Town. The enforcement of Pass Laws and the reissue of laws that restricted the. Without the Sharpeville massacre, we may not have the international human rights law system we have today. The movement in this period that revived the political opposition against the apartheid was the Black Consciousness Movement. 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. 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. On March 30, the South African government declared a state of emergency which made any protest illegal. Stephen Wheatley is a professor of international law at Lancaster University. But it was not until after Sharpeville that the UN made clear that the countrys system of racial segregation would no longer be tolerated. The United Nations Security Council and governments worldwide condemned the police action and the apartheid policies that prompted this violent assault. In 1960 it was the site of one of the earliest and most violent demonstrations against apartheid. What happened on 21 March in Sharpeville? One of the insights was that international law does not change, unless there is some trigger for countries to change their behaviour.

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