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. The University had tried to ban the protest; they handed out 12,000 leaflets saying the event was cancelled. [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. 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. One way of accomplishing this was by instilling laws thatd force segregation, classification, educational requirements, and economic purposes. In November 1961, a military branch of the party was organized with Mandela as its head. After some demonstrators, according to police, began stoning police officers and their armoured cars, the officers opened fire on them with submachine guns. He was tricked into dispersing the crowd and was arrested by the police later that day. A protest that had been scheduled three days earlier was planned for noon on Monday, May 4. It also came to symbolize that struggle. 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. Weve been busy, working hard to bring you new features and an updated design. 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 angered the officers causing them to brutally attack and tear gas the demonstrators. On 24 March 1960, in protest of the . 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. 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. 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. Pass Laws and Sharpeville Massacre | South African History Online 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. That impact is best broken down into its short-term, medium-term, and long-term significance. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Its been 60 years since dozens of protesters were killed at a peaceful anti-apartheid rally in South Africa. The incident resulted in the largest number of South African deaths (up to that point) in a protest against apartheid . All the evidence points to the gathering being peaceful and good humoured. This was in direct defiance of the government's country-wide ban on public meetings and gatherings of more than ten persons. On 1 April 1960, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 134. By standing strong in the face of danger, the adults and children taking part in this demonstration were able to fight for their constitutional right to vote. The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. By 1960 the. 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 . On This Day in History: The Sharpeville Massacre At this conference, it was announced that the PAC would launch its own anti-pass campaign. Sharpeville Massacre Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays 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. The key developments were the adoption of Resolution 1235 in 1967, which allowed for the examination of complaints of gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, as exemplified by the policy of apartheid, and Resolution 1503 in 1970, which allowed the UN to examine complaints of a consistent pattern of gross and reliably attested violations of human rights. When police opened . The only Minister who showed any misgivings regarding government policy was Paul Sauer. Our work on the Sustainable Development Goals. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. (1997) Focus: 'Prisoner 1', Sunday Life, 23 March. They also perpetuated the segregation within, The increase in the segregationist laws in the 1950s was met with resistance in the form of the Defiance Campaign that started in 1952. 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. 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. 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 1960 Sharpeville Massacre was the result of a peaceful protest regarding racist South African policies of apartheid. In the aftermath of the events of 21 March, mass funerals were held for the victims. 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. [6]:p.163, The African National Congress (ANC) prepared to initiate a campaign of protests against pass laws. 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. What caused the Sharpeville massacre? - Federalprism.com Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the day that changed the course of South African history. On March 21, 1960. The ANC and PAC were forced underground, and both parties launched military wings of their organisations in 1961. The massacre was photographed by photographer Ian Berry, who initially thought the police were firing blanks. 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 logjam was only broken after the Sharpeville massacre, as the UN decided to deal with the problem of apartheid South Africa. Confrontation in the township of Sharpeville, Gauteng Province. 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. Expert Answers. 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. Baileys African History. Others were throwing rocks and shouting "Pigs off campus. The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. Other witnesses claimed there was no order to open fire, and the police did not fire a warning shot above the crowd. On the 21st of March 1960, black residents of Sharpeville took to the police station to protest against the use of the dompas in South Africa. It was one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa. As the protesters tried to flee the violent scene, police continued to shoot into the crowd. Throughout the 1950s, South African blacks intensified their resistance against the oppressive apartheid system. The protesters responded by hurling stones (striking three policemen) and rushing the police barricades. 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.