Following the Sharpeville massacre, as it came to be known, the death toll rose to 69 and the number of injuries to 180. 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). Choose a language from the menu above to view a computer-translated version of this page. 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. 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. Another officer interpreted this as an order and opened fire, triggering a lethal fusillade as 168 police constables followed his example. The ban remained in effect until August 31, 1960. In her moving poem Our Sharpeville she reflects on the atrocity through the eyes of a child. 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 South African government began arresting more nonconformists and banning resistance organizations, such as the African National Congress and the Pan African Congress. After apartheid ended, President Nelson Mandela chose Sharpeville as the place to sign South Africas new constitution on December 10, 1996. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. 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. Amid confusion, two shots were fired into the air by somebody in the crowd. [20], Sharpeville was the site selected by President Nelson Mandela for the signing into law of the Constitution of South Africa on 10 December 1996. On March 21, demonstrators disobeyed the pass laws by giving up or burning their pass books. On the 60th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, the world should remember the contingency and fragility of the international human rights law system that we so easily take for granted today. To re-enable the tools or to convert back to English, click "view original" on the Google Translate toolbar. An article entitled "PAC Campaign will be test," published in the 19 March 1960 issue of Contact,the Liberal Party newspaper, described the build up to the campaign: At a press conference held on Saturday 19th March 1960, PAC President Robert Sobukwe announced that the PAC was going to embark on an anti-pass campaign on Monday the 21st. 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. But it was not until after Sharpeville that the UN made clear that the countrys system of racial segregation would no longer be tolerated. 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. He was followed by Dr. Yusuf Dadoo, Chairperson of the South African Indian Congress and Chairperson of the underground South African Communist Party. Weve been busy, working hard to bring you new features and an updated design. 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. 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. Baileys African History. 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. Black citizens began to resist this prejudice though and also used violence against the enforcers of Apartheid. As part of its response, the General Assembly tasked the UN Commission on Human Rights to prepare the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the first global human rights treaty. Sharpeville is a township near Vereeniging, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. [10] Few of the policemen present had received public order training. In 1960 it was the site of one of the earliest and most violent demonstrations against apartheid. On March 21, 1960. 20072023 Blackpast.org. 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"). Over five thousand individuals came to protest the cause in Sharpeville. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. To share with more than one person, separate addresses with a comma. The Population Registration Act of 1950 enacted, requiring segregation of Europeans from Afrikaans . 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. In 1946, the UN established the Commission on Human Rights, whose first job was to draft a declaration on human rights. After some demonstrators, according to police, began stoning police officers and their armoured cars, the officers opened fire on them with submachine guns. Furthermore, during the nineties to the twenties, leaders of African Americans sought to end segregation in the South, as caused by Plessy v. Ferguson. Expert Answers. As the campaign went on, the apartheid government started imposing strict punishments on people who violated the segregationist laws. the Sharpeville Massacre 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. This was in direct defiance of the government's country-wide ban on public meetings and gatherings of more than ten persons. [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. The victims included about 50 women and children. Unfortunately, police forces arrived and open fired on the protesters, killing ninety-six in what became known as the Sharpeville massacre. Kgosana agreed to disperse the protestors in if a meeting with J B Vorster, then Minister of Justice, could be secured. However, many people joined the procession quite willingly. The 1960 Sharpeville Massacre was the result of a peaceful protest regarding racist South African policies of apartheid. The Sharpeville Massacre awakened the international community to the horrors of apartheid. The significance of the date is reflected in the fact that it now marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. The Sharpeville massacre sparked hundreds of mass protests by black South Africans. Max Roach's 1960 Album We Insist! It authorized the limited use of arms and sabotage against the government, which got the governments attentionand its anger! Reports of the incident helped focus international criticism on South Africas apartheid policy. As the small crowd approached the station, most of the marchers, including Sobukwe, were arrested and charged with sedition. In March 1960, Robert Sobukwe, a leader in the anti-apartheid Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) organized the towns first anti-apartheid protest. 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). When police opened . Police were temporarily paralyzed with indecision. Due to the illness, removals from Topville began in 1958. As an act of rebellion the passes were set alight, as seen in a picture by Ranjith Kally. Under this system there was an extended period of gruesome violence against individuals of colored skin in South Africa. Our work on the Sustainable Development Goals. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. March 21 is a public holiday in South Africa in commemoration of the Sharpeville massacre. Other evidence given to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission "the evidence of Commission deponents reveals a degree of deliberation in the decision to open fire at Sharpeville and indicates that the shooting was more than the result of inexperienced and frightened police officers losing their nerve. It is likely that the police were quick to fire as two months before the massacre, nine constables had been assaulted and killed, some disembowelled, during a raid at Cato Manor. 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. The Department of Home Affairs (a government bureau) was responsible for the classification of the citizenry. Some of them had been on duty for over twenty-four hours without respite. Massacre in Sharpeville. "[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 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. Amid confusion, two shots were fired into the air by somebody in the crowd. Through a series of mass actions, the ANC planned to launch a nationwide anti-pass campaign on 31 March - the anniversary of the 1919 anti-pass campaign. 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. 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. 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. There were also youth problems because many children joined gangs and were affiliated with crimes instead of schools. By mid-day approximately 300 armed policemen faced a crowd of approximately 5000 people. Lancaster University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK. 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. [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. But attempts to transform this non-binding moral declaration into a binding legal code were immediately bogged down in Cold War disputes. By the 25 March, the Minister of Justice suspended passes throughout the country and Chief Albert Luthuli and Professor Z.K. [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 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 police shot many in the back as they turned to flee, causing some to be paralyzed. At 13h15 a small scuffle began near the entrance of the police station. It was adopted on 21 December 1965. Half a century has passed but memories of the Sharpeville massacre still run deep. Sharpeville marked a turning point in South Africa's history; the country found itself increasingly isolated in the international community. Everyone should have an equal rights and better community . Dr. Verwoerd praised the police for their actions. Under the country's National Party government, African residents in urban districts were subject to influx control measures. Baileys African History Archive (BAHA)Crowds fleeing from bullets on the day of the Massacre. The call for a stay away on 28 March was highly successful and was the first ever national strike in the countrys history. Copyright 2023 United Nations in South Africa, Caption: Selinah Mnguni, a Sharpeville massacre survivor, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. The enforcement of Pass Laws and the reissue of laws that restricted the. NO DEFENCE! Sixty-nine Africans were killed and 186 were wounded, with most shot in the back. "[1] He also denied giving any order to fire and stated that he would not have done so. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. On March 30, the South African government declared a state of emergency which made any protest illegal. Some were shot in the back as they fled.[1]. 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. 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. During those five months roughly 25,000 people were arrested throughout the nation. Following the Brown decision, grassroots African American activists began challenging segregation through protests continuing into the 1960s (Aiken et al., 2013). This shows a significant similarity in that both time periods leaders attempted to achieve the goal of ending. This translates as shot or shoot. This, said Mr Subukwe, would cause prisons to become overcrowded, labour to dry up and the economy to grind to a halt. The incident resulted in the largest number of South African deaths (up to that point) in a protest against apartheid . Sobukwe was only released in 1969. The police also have said that the crowd was armed with 'ferocious weapons', which littered the compound after they fled. 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. March 21, is celebrated as a public holiday in honor of human rights and to commemorate the . [6]:p.163, The African National Congress (ANC) prepared to initiate a campaign of protests against pass laws. 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. By lunchtime, the crowd outside the police station had grown to an estimated 20,000 people. 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. A state of emergency was declared in South Africa, more than 11,000 people were detained, and the PAC and ANC were outlawed. Sixty-nine protesters died, and the massacre became an iconic moment in the struggle against apartheid. 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. 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. On March 21, 1960, police in Sharpeville, South Africa, shot hundreds of people protesting laws that restricted the movement of blacks. [4] Leading up to the Sharpeville massacre, the National Party administration under the leadership of Dr. Hendrik Verwoerd used these laws to enforce greater racial segregation[5] and, in 19591960, extended them to include women. What event happened on March 21 1960? In conclusion; Sharpeville, the imposition of a state of emergency, the arrest of thousands of Black people and the banning of the ANC and PAC convinced the anti-apartheid leadership that non-violent action was not going to bring about change without armed action. The Minister of Justice called for calm and the Minister of Finance encouraged immigration. There were 249 victims in total, including 29 children, with 69 people killed and 180 injured. Its been 60 years since the Sharpeville massacre, when 69 unarmed civilians were killed by armed South African police on March 21 1960. The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. 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. The commission completed this task, under the chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt, when it finalised the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. This angered the officers causing them to brutally attack and tear gas the demonstrators. By 1960, however, anti-apartheid activism reached the town. . Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. After translating an article, all tools except font up/font down will be disabled. Philip Finkie Molefe, responsible for establishing the first Assemblies of God church in the Vaal, was among the clergy that conducted the service.[11]. The movement in this period that revived the political opposition against the apartheid was the Black Consciousness Movement. 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. But attempts to transform this non-binding moral declaration into a binding legal code were immediately bogged down in cold war disputes. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. In Pretoria a small group of six people presented themselves at the Hercules police station. The mood of the protest had started out as peaceful and festive when there were . 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. The Sharpeville massacre was reported worldwide, and received with horror from every quarter. The presence of armoured vehicles and air force fighter jets overhead also pointed to unnecessary provocation, especially as the crowd was unarmed and determined to stage a non-violent protest. Without the Sharpeville massacre, we may not have the international human rights law system we have today. 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. Do you find this information helpful? 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. 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. However, the governments method of controlling people who resisted the apartheid laws didnt have the same effect from the early 1970s and onward. Selinah was shot in her leg but survived the massacre. A United Nations photograph by Kay Muldoon, Courtesy of the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa, SATIS (Southern Africa - the Imprisoned Society). 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. On 24 March 1960, in protest of the massacre, Regional Secretary General of the PAC, Philip Kgosana, led a march of 101 people from Langa to the police headquarters in Caledon Square, Cape Town. In response, a police officer shouted in Afrikaans skiet or nskiet (exactly which is not clear). 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. Confrontation in the township of Sharpeville, Gauteng Province. Krog was one of these Afrikaners. To read more witness accounts of the Sharpeville Massacre, click on the 'Witness accounts' tab above. The apartheid in South Africa which was in effect from 1948 until 1994 was not only a racist policy which greatly affected the quality of life of minorities in the country for the worse but was a outright crime against humanity. But change can also be prompted by seemingly minor events in global affairs, such as the Sharpeville massacre the so-called butterfly effect. The firing lasted for approximately two minutes, leaving 69 people dead and, according to the official inquest, 180 people seriously wounded. A deranged White man, David Pratt, made an assassination attempt on Dr. Verwoerd, who was seriously injured. 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. Within hours the news of the killing at Sharpeville was flashed around the world. Both were tasked with mobilizing international financial and diplomatic support for sanctions against South Africa. As segregation and civil rights become national topics, their. Find out more about our work towards the Sustainable Development Goals. His protest was ignored, and the government turned a blind eye to the increasing protests from industrialists and leaders of commerce. Following the dismantling of apartheid, South African President Nelson Mandela chose Sharpeville as the site at which, on December 10, 1996, he signed into law the countrys new constitution. It also came to symbolize that struggle. One of the insights has been that international law does not change unless there is some trigger for countries to change their behaviour. What happened on 21 March in Sharpeville? It include with civil right that violence verses non-violence that the government could or. The event was an inspiration for painter Oliver Lee Jackson in his Sharpeville Series from the 1970s.[23]. 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. A state of emergency was announced in South Africa. The Sharpeville Massacre occurred on March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa. The ANC was encouraged and campaigned for democracy in South Africa. Many people set out for work on bicycles or on foot, but some were intimidated by PAC members who threatened to burn their passes or "lay hands on them"if they went to work (Reverend Ambrose Reeves, 1966). 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. But change can also be prompted by seemingly minor events in global affairs such as the Sharpeville massacre the so-called butterfly effect. This abuse towards people of colour in South Africa made people around the world want to protest against South Africa's government. . It had wide ramifications and a significant impact. 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. 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. Omissions? But it was not until after Sharpeville that the UN made clear that the countrys system of racial segregation would no longer be tolerated. That date now marks the International Day for the. 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. 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. 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. It was a sad day for black South Africa. Time Magazine, (1960), The Sharpeville Massacre, A short history of pass laws in South Africa [online], from, Giliomee et al. The Sharpeville massacre was a turning point in South African history. [10] Some insight into the mindset of those on the police force was provided by Lieutenant Colonel Pienaar, the commanding officer of the police reinforcements at Sharpeville, who said in his statement that "the native mentality does not allow them to gather for a peaceful demonstration. Plaatjie, T. (1998) Focus: 'Sharpeville Heroes Neglected', The Sowetan, 20 March.|Reverend Ambrose Reeves (1966). Perseverance and determination are also needed to build on the lessons learnedfrom the Sharpeville tragedy and repair the injustices of the past. When protesters reconvened in defiance, the police charged at them with batons, tear gas and guns. In the aftermath of the events of 21 March, mass funerals were held for the victims. 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 1960, states had no binding international human rights obligations and there were no oversight mechanisms. All blacks were required to carry ``pass books ' ' containing fingerprints, photo and information on access to non-black areas. 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. The only Minister who showed any misgivings regarding government policy was Paul Sauer. These protestors included a large number of northern college students. The ANC Vice-President, Oliver Tambo, was secretly driven across the border by Ronel Segal into the then British controlled territory of Bechunaland. 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." Along with other PAC leaders he was charged with incitement, but while on bail he left the country and went into exile. The police and army arrested thousands of Africans, who were imprisoned with their leaders, but still the mass action raged. The police response to the protest became the primary cause of the massacre. Sharpeville was much more than a single tragic event. 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. The two causes went hand in hand in this, rocketing in support and becoming the main goal of the country - the end of segregation was the most dire problem that the Civil Rights Movement needed to solve.