Eventually a few of the demonstrators dared to cross the street, led by James Forman who had organized the march. 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. [9] The Sharpeville police were not completely unprepared for the demonstration, as they had already driven smaller groups of more militant activists away the previous night. The Sharpsville Massacre was a seminal moment in the history of South Africa. Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the day that changed the course of South African history. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. In 1994, Mandela signed the nations first post-apartheid constitution near the site of the 1960 massacre. This march is seen by many as a turning point in South African history. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. Some were shot in the back as they fled.[1]. The South African government began arresting more nonconformists and banning resistance organizations, such as the African National Congress and the Pan African Congress. On the same day, the government responded by declaring a state of emergency and banning all public meetings. Professor of International Law, Lancaster University. The only Minister who showed any misgivings regarding government policy was Paul Sauer. 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 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). Tafelberg Publishers: Cape Town. The logjam was only broken after the Sharpeville massacre, as the UN decided to deal with the problem of apartheid 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. 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 to the apartheid state. 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 protesters responded by hurling stones (striking three policemen) and rushing the police barricades. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. March 21 is a public holiday in South Africa in commemoration of the Sharpeville massacre. Expert Answers. Police witnesses claimed that stones were thrown, and in a panicked and rash reaction, the officers opened fire on the crowd. This was in direct defiance of the government's country-wide ban on public meetings and gatherings of more than ten persons. This shows a significant similarity in that both time periods leaders attempted to achieve the goal of ending. 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). However, the 1289 Words 6 Pages 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. Many others were not so lucky: 69 unarmed and non-violent protesters were gunned down by theSouth Africanpolice and hundreds more were injured. 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. The 1960 Sharpeville Massacre was the result of a peaceful protest regarding racist South African policies of apartheid. These laws restricted blacks movements within the country. A deranged White man, David Pratt, made an assassination attempt on Dr. Verwoerd, who was seriously injured. We need the voices of young people to break through the silence that locks in discrimination and oppression. The Afrikaner poet Ingrid Jonker mentioned the Sharpeville Massacre in her verse. By lunchtime, the crowd outside the police station had grown to an estimated 20,000 people. Furthermore, during the nineties to the twenties, leaders of African Americans sought to end segregation in the South, as caused by Plessy v. Ferguson. By mid-day approximately 300 armed policemen faced a crowd of approximately 5000 people. On 1 April 1960, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 134. 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. A state of emergency was declared in South Africa, more than 11,000 people were detained, and the PAC and ANC were outlawed. The commission completed this task, under the chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt, when it finalised the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. What happened on 21 March in Sharpeville? In my own research on international human rights law, I 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 had developed and evolved. I will argue that the massacre created a major short-term crisis for the apartheid state, a crisis which appeared to The quest for international support, mass mobilization, armed operations, and underground organization became the basis for the ANCs Four Pillars of Struggle. Massacre in Sharpeville. When police opened . It also came to symbolize that struggle. 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. To read more about the protests in Cape Town. As the small crowd approached the station, most of the marchers, including Sobukwe, were arrested and charged with sedition. Participants were instructed to surrender their reference books (passes) and invite arrest. 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. This movement sought to overcome the subjugation the racist South African government and apartheid laws imposed on Blacks. 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. It can be considered the beginning of the international struggle to bring an end to apartheid in South . This abuse towards people of colour in South Africa made people around the world want to protest against South Africa's government. It authorized the limited use of arms and sabotage against the government, which got the governments attentionand its anger! Racial and religious conflicts; conflicts between dictatorial governments and their citizens; the battle between the sexes; conflicts between management and labor; and conflicts between heterosexuals and homosexuals all stem, in whole or in part, to oppression. Baileys African History. Time Magazine, (1960), The Sharpeville Massacre, A short history of pass laws in South Africa [online], from, Giliomee et al. Mandela went into hiding in 1964, he was captured, tried, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Unfortunately, police forces arrived and open fired on the protesters, killing ninety-six in what became known as the Sharpeville massacre. 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). 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. Its been 60 years since the Sharpeville massacre, when 69 unarmed civilians were killed by armed South African police on March 21 1960. 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. Lancaster University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK. The ANC was encouraged and campaigned for democracy in South Africa. 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. 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. Our work on the Sustainable Development Goals. The ANC Vice-President, Oliver Tambo, was secretly driven across the border by Ronel Segal into the then British controlled territory of Bechunaland. 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 ). Just after 1pm, there was an altercation between the police officer in charge and the leaders of the demonstration. In March 1960, South African police shot dead 69 black protestors, sparking worldwide outrage . News reports about the massacre spread across the world. 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. By the end of the day, 69 people lay dead or dying, with hundreds more injured. He was followed by Dr. Yusuf Dadoo, Chairperson of the South African Indian Congress and Chairperson of the underground South African Communist Party. In Pretoria a small group of six people presented themselves at the Hercules police station. The PAC organised demonstration attracted between 5,000 and 7,000 protesters. However, the police simply took down the protesters names and did not arrest anyone.
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