what caused the sharpeville massacre

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. Dr. Verwoerd praised the police for their actions. Omissions? Sharpeville: A Massacre and Its Consequences | Foreign Affairs 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. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. However, Foreign Consulates were flooded with requests for emigration, and fearful White South Africans armed themselves. Lancaster University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK. The South African government began arresting more nonconformists and banning resistance organizations, such as the African National Congress and the Pan African Congress. 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. 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. Dr. Verwoerd praised the police for their actions. 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. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? 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 PAC organised demonstration attracted between 5,000 and 7,000 protesters. The ANC Vice-President, Oliver Tambo, was secretly driven across the border by Ronel Segal into the then British controlled territory of Bechunaland. It was a sad day for black South Africa. Pogrund,B. 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. The Sharpeville Massacre is commemorated through Human Rights Day, a public holiday in South Africa, which honours those whose lives were sacrificed in the fight for democracy. What happened on 21 March in Sharpeville? Only the four Native Representatives and members of the new Progressive Party voted against the Bill. We need the voices of young people to break through the silence that locks in discrimination and oppression. The Sharpsville Massacre was a seminal moment in the history of South Africa. Confrontation in the township of Sharpeville, Gauteng Province. The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. Race, ethnicity and political groups, is an example of this. But it was not until after Sharpeville that the UN made clear that the countrys system of racial segregation would no longer be tolerated. On March 30, the South African government declared a state of emergency which made any protest illegal. Learn about employment opportunities across the UN in South Africa. In the aftermath of the events of 21 March, mass funerals were held for the victims. 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. . Throughout the 1950s, South African blacks intensified their resistance against the oppressive apartheid system. The Sharpeville Massacre awakened the international community to the horrors of apartheid. Amid confusion, two shots were fired into the air by somebody in the crowd. A protest that had been scheduled three days earlier was planned for noon on Monday, May 4. 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. and [proved to be] the only antidote against foreign rule and modern imperialism (Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom 2008, 156) . 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. [5] The police began shooting shortly thereafter. However, the governments method of controlling people who resisted the apartheid laws didnt have the same effect from the early 1970s and onward. This article first appeared on The Conversation, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. 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. In 1960 it was the site of one of the earliest and most violent demonstrations against apartheid . He was followed by Dr. Yusuf Dadoo, Chairperson of the South African Indian Congress and Chairperson of the underground South African Communist Party. p. 334- 336|Historical Papers Archive of the University of the Witwatersrand [online] Accessed at: wits.ac.za and SAHA archive [link no longer available]. 351 Francis Baard Street,Metro Park Building ,10th Floor 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). 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. 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. 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. The movement in this period that revived the political opposition against the apartheid was the Black Consciousness Movement. 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. 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. [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. UNESCO marks 21 March as the yearly International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in memory of the massacre. But it was not until after Sharpeville that the UN made clear that the countrys system of racial segregation would no longer be tolerated. 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. As the small crowd approached the station, most of the marchers, including Sobukwe, were arrested and charged with sedition. 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. All the evidence points to the gathering being peaceful and good humoured. However, the 1289 Words 6 Pages [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. 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. Now aged 84, Selinah says she is still proud of her efforts to end apartheid. 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. [5], F-86 Sabre jets and Harvard Trainers approached to within 30 metres (98ft) of the ground, flying low over the crowd in an attempt to scatter it. Sharpeville: An apartheid massacre and its consequences However, many people joined the procession quite willingly. Take a minute to check out all the enhancements! [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. The University had tried to ban the protest; they handed out 12,000 leaflets saying the event was cancelled. 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. Many others were not so lucky: 69 unarmed and non-violent protesters were gunned down by theSouth Africanpolice and hundreds more were injured. The significance of the date is reflected in the fact that it now marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Nearly 300 police officers arrived to put an end to the peaceful protest. By the end of the day, 69 people lay dead or dying, with hundreds more injured. The police shot many in the back as they turned to flee, causing some to be paralyzed. One way of accomplishing this was by instilling laws thatd force segregation, classification, educational requirements, and economic purposes. 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. 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. Max Roach's 1960 Album We Insist! Both were tasked with mobilizing international financial and diplomatic support for sanctions against South Africa. 1960 police killing of protesters in Transvaal (now Gauteng), South Africa. Knowing the democracy we have today was achieved in part because of the blood we sacrificed was worth it, she says. The massacre occurred at the police station in the South African township of Sharpeville, A child demonstrates in front of Johannesburgs city hall after the Sharpeville massacre (AFP/Getty), The aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, The BritishAnti-Apartheid Movement marks the tenth anniversary of the massacre with a re-enactmentin Trafalgar Square, A family member stands next to a memorial toone of the victims of the Sharpeville massacre ahead of Human Rights Day in 2016 (AFP/Getty), Its been 60 years since dozens of protesters were killed at a peaceful anti-apartheid rally in South Africa. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. A state of emergency was declared in South Africa, more than 11,000 people were detained, and the PAC and ANC were outlawed. What were the consequences of the Sharpeville Massacre? Sharpeville had a high rate of unemployment as well as high crime rates. A deranged White man, David Pratt, made an assassination attempt on Dr. Verwoerd, who was seriously injured. When the demonstrators began to throw stones at the police, the police started shooting into the crowd. 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. . The Black resistance began to gain more momentum and increasingly became more threatening. 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. [13], A storm of international protest followed the Sharpeville shootings, including sympathetic demonstrations in many countries[14][15] and condemnation by the United Nations. 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. These two industries experienced rapid growth in the immediate aftermath of World War II and continued growing into the 1950s and 1960s. Sharpeville was first built in 1943 to replace Topville, a nearby township that suffered overcrowding where illnesses like pneumonia were widespread. The targeted protest became infamous in the Civil Rights Movement, marked Bloody Sunday and was crucial to gaining favor of the public (civilrights.org). Sharpeville 50 years on: 'At some stage all hell will break loose' "The aeroplanes were flying high and low. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. But in the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, the UN adopted a more interventionist stance to the apartheid state. [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. Pheko, M. (2000) Focus: 'Lest We Forget Sharpeville', The Sowetan, 20 March. 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." . This march is seen by many as a turning point in South African history. 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. In 1994, Mandela signed the nations first post-apartheid constitution near the site of the 1960 massacre. The ban remained in effect until August 31, 1960. "[1] He also denied giving any order to fire and stated that he would not have done so. Time Magazine, (1960), The Sharpeville Massacre, A short history of pass laws in South Africa [online], from, Giliomee et al. All that changed following the worlds moral outrage at the killings. 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. Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the day that changed the course of South African history. In 1960, states had no binding international human rights obligations with oversight mechanisms. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. 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. After translating an article, all tools except font up/font down will be disabled. What were the causes of the Sharpeville Massacre? - eNotes Furthermore, the history of the African civil rights movement validated: Nationalism has been tested in the peoples struggles . Ingrid de Kok was a child living on a mining compound near Johannesburg where her father worked at the time of the Sharpeville massacre. 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,. The quest for international support, mass mobilization, armed operations, and underground organization became the basis for the ANCs Four Pillars of Struggle. Many of the contemporary issues in South Africa can easily be associated with the apartheid laws which devastated the country. Although the protests were anticipated, no one could have predicted the consequences and the repercussions this would have for South African and world politics. 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. 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. In response, a police officer shouted in Afrikaans skiet or nskiet (exactly which is not clear), which translates either as shot or shoot. 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. The Sharpeville massacre was reported worldwide, and received with horror from every quarter. Weve been busy, working hard to bring you new features and an updated design. A United Nations photograph by Kay Muldoon, Courtesy of the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa, SATIS (Southern Africa - the Imprisoned Society). Sharpeville massacre | Summary, Significance, & Facts Others were throwing rocks and shouting "Pigs off campus. The protesters offered themselves up for arrest for not carrying their passes. Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. 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. 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. The police and army arrested thousands of Africans, who were imprisoned with their leaders, but still the mass action raged. 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. The campaign slogan was "NO BAIL! Let's Take Action Towards the Sustainable Development Goals. 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. The Sharpeville Massacre occurred on March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa. The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. All blacks were required to carry ``pass books ' ' containing fingerprints, photo and information on access to non-black areas. Over five thousand individuals came to protest the cause in Sharpeville. [7][8], On 21 March, 1960, a group of between 5,000 and 10,000 people converged on the local police station, offering themselves up for arrest for not carrying their passbooks. Mandela and was given a life sentence in prison for treason against the South African government in 1964. 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. 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." [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. Following shortly, the Group Areas Act of 1950 was enacted as a new form of legislation alongside the Population Registration Act. These laws restricted blacks movements within the country. 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.

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