In 1960 it was the site of one of the earliest and most violent demonstrations against apartheid. The ANC Vice-President, Oliver Tambo, was secretly driven across the border by Ronel Segal into the then British controlled territory of Bechunaland. Find out what the UN in South Africa is doing towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Lancaster University provides funding as a founding partner of The Conversation UK. Max Roach's 1960 Album We Insist! 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. Pass laws intended to control and direct their movement and employment were updated in the 1950s. Both organisations were deemed a serious threat to the safety of the public and the vote stood at 128 to 16 in favour of the banning. On the morning of 21 March Robert Sobukwe left his house in Mofolo, a suburb of Soweto, and began walking to the Orlando police station. Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the day that changed the course of South African history. 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 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. On March 21, 1960, police in Sharpeville, South Africa, shot hundreds of people protesting laws that restricted the movement of blacks. The PAC organised demonstration attracted between 5,000 and 7,000 protesters. There was no evidence that anyone in the gathering was armed with anything other than stones. Police witnesses claimed that stones were thrown, and in a panicked and rash reaction, the officers opened fire on the crowd. Sixty-nine protesters died, and the massacre became an iconic moment in the struggle against apartheid. We need the voices of young people to break through the silence that locks in discrimination and oppression. The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. This detailed act separated tribes based on ethnics; consequently, further detailing segregation amongst the natives . Police arrested more than 11,000 people and kept them in jail. In response, a police officer shouted in Afrikaans skiet or nskiet (exactly which is not clear), which translates either as shot or shoot. The ANC was encouraged and campaigned for democracy in South Africa. 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 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. At this point the National Guard chose to disperse the crowd, fearing that the situation might get out of hand and grow into another violent protest. Under this system there was an extended period of gruesome violence against individuals of colored skin in South Africa. But attempts to transform this non-binding moral declaration into a binding legal code were immediately bogged down in cold war disputes. On March 30, the South African government declared a state of emergency which made any protest illegal. [10] At about 13:00 the police tried to arrest a protester, and the crowd surged forward. The enforcement of Pass Laws and the reissue of laws that restricted the. 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. 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. The event was an inspiration for painter Oliver Lee Jackson in his Sharpeville Series from the 1970s.[23]. Some estimates put the size of the crowd at 20,000. He was tricked into dispersing the crowd and was arrested by the police later that day. Baileys African History Archive (BAHA)Crowds fleeing from bullets on the day of the Massacre. Mandela and was given a life sentence in prison for treason against the South African government in 1964. 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. Dr. Verwoerd praised the police for their actions. The Sharpeville Massacre occurred on March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa. The campaign slogan was "NO BAIL! The police ordered the crowd to disperse within 3 minutes. Massacre in Sharpeville. Updates? 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. In 1960 it was the site of one of the earliest and most violent demonstrations against apartheid . Improved homework resources designed to support a variety of curriculum subjects and standards. 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). By the end of the day, 69 people lay dead or dying, with hundreds more injured. 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. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. This riot was planned to be a peaceful riot for a strike on an 8-hour day, ended up turning into a battle between protesters and the police. Take a minute to check out all the enhancements! Its been 60 years since the Sharpeville massacre, when 69 unarmed civilians were killed by armed South African police on March 21 1960. In the aftermath of the events of 21 March, mass funerals were held for the victims. Later, in the fifties and the sixties, these same goals, enlign poll taxes and literacy tests, were once again fought for by African American leaders, through advocacy and agitation. 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. When police opened . Weve been busy, working hard to bring you new features and an updated design. [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. [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. This affirmed that the elimination of racial discrimination was a global challenge that affronted the respect and dignity of all human beings. 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. [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. The police assembled and used disproportionate responses to the protest. Freedom Now Suite includes the composition Tears for Johannesburg in response to the massacre. The South African government then created the Unlawful Organizations Act of 1960 which banned anti-apartheid groups such as the Pan Africanist Congress and the African National Congress. The call for a stay away on 28 March was highly successful and was the first ever national strike in the countrys history. The Sharpsville Massacre was a seminal moment in the history of South Africa. 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 policemen were apparently jittery after a recent event in Durban where nine policemen were shot. In 1994, Mandela signed the nations first post-apartheid constitution near the site of the 1960 massacre. 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." . Now aged 84, Selinah says she is still proud of her efforts to end apartheid. 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. 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. In Pretoria a small group of six people presented themselves at the Hercules police station. Race, ethnicity and political groups, is an example of this. 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). One way of accomplishing this was by instilling laws thatd force segregation, classification, educational requirements, and economic purposes. The police also have said that the crowd was armed with 'ferocious weapons', which littered the compound after they fled. The ratification of these laws may have made the separate but equal rhetoric illegal for the U.S. but the citizens inside it still battled for their beliefs. 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. Selinah was shot in her leg but survived the massacre. 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. On 20 March Nana Mahomo and Peter Molotsi has crossed the border into Bechuanaland to mobilize support for the PAC. But change can also be prompted by seemingly minor events in global affairs, such as the Sharpeville massacre the so-called butterfly effect. 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. 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. All blacks were required to carry ``pass books ' ' containing fingerprints, photo and information on access to non-black areas. 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. Sharpeville was much more than a single tragic event. [3], South African governments since the eighteenth century had enacted measures to restrict the flow of African South Africans into cities. After demonstrating against pass laws, a crowd of about 7,000 protesters went to the police station. Choose a language from the menu above to view a computer-translated version of this page. After translating an article, all tools except font up/font down will be disabled. The Black resistance began to gain more momentum and increasingly became more threatening. 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. This march is seen by many as a turning point in South African history. Sources disagree as to the behaviour of the crowd: some state that the crowd was peaceful, while others state that the crowd had been hurling stones at the police and that the mood had turned "ugly". Police were temporarily paralyzed with indecision. 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. They were mild campaigns at first, but as the government became more hostile, so did ANC protests. 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. . It was a system of segregation put in place by the National Party, which governed in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. "[18][19], Since 1994, 21 March has been commemorated as Human Rights Day in South Africa. 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. [1], Victims were buried en masse in a ceremony performed by clergy. [16], The Sharpeville massacre contributed to the banning of the PAC and ANC as illegal organisations. As part of its response, the General Assembly tasked the UN Commission on Human Rights to prepare the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the first global human rights treaty. Sharpeville Massacre, The Origin of South Africa's Human Rights Day [online], available at: africanhistory.about.com [accessed 10 March 2009]|Thloloe, J. 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. At 13h15 a small scuffle began near the entrance of the police station. The laws said that blacks could not enter white areas unless they carried documents known as pass books. In addition other small groups of PAC activists presented themselves at police stations in Durban and East London. Let's Take Action Towards the Sustainable Development Goals. I will argue that the massacre created a major short-term crisis for the apartheid state, a crisis which appeared to 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). Eyewitness accounts and evidence later led to an official inquiry which attested to the fact that large number of people were shot in the back as they were fleeing the scene. Throughout the 1950s, South African blacks intensified their resistance against the oppressive apartheid system. The march leaders were detained, but released on the same day with threats from the commanding officer of Caledon Square, Terry Tereblanche, that once the tense political situation improved people would be forced to carry passes again in Cape Town. 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 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. Corrections? 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. Stephen Wheatley explores how this tragedy paved the way for the modern United Nations, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. At least 180 were wounded. March 21, is celebrated as a public holiday in honor of human rights and to commemorate the . 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. However, Foreign Consulates were flooded with requests for emigration, and fearful White South Africans armed themselves. Some 20,000 Blacks gathered near a police station at Sharpeville, located about 30 miles (50 km) south of Johannesburg. Policemen in Cape Town were forcing Africans back to work with batons and sjamboks, and four people were shot and killed in Durban. Pheko, M. (2000) Focus: 'Lest We Forget Sharpeville', The Sowetan, 20 March. This movement sought to overcome the subjugation the racist South African government and apartheid laws imposed on Blacks. 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. Sixty-nine Africans were killed and 186 were wounded, with most shot in the back. Unlike elsewhere on the East Rand where police used baton when charging at resisters, the police at Sharpeville used live ammunition. 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 . As an act of rebellion the passes were set alight, as seen in a picture by Ranjith Kally. . Amid confusion, two shots were fired into the air by somebody in the crowd. This year, UN and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) joined South Africans in commemorating the 61st anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre, using the flagship campaign #FightRacism to promote awareness of these critical issues. 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"). A week later, a breakaway group from the ANC, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) held its first conference in Johannesburg. The Minister of Justice called for calm and the Minister of Finance encouraged immigration. This article first appeared on The Conversation, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. Tafelberg Publishers: Cape Town. Furthermore, during the nineties to the twenties, leaders of African Americans sought to end segregation in the South, as caused by Plessy v. Ferguson. The commission completed this task, under the chairmanship of Eleanor Roosevelt, when it finalised the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. It also came to symbolize that struggle. But in the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, the UN adopted a more interventionist stance to the apartheid state. The 1960 Sharpeville Massacre was the result of a peaceful protest regarding racist South African policies of apartheid. Migration is a human right, How the Sharpeville massacre changed the United Nations, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, $6 off a $50+ order with this AliExpress discount code, 10% off selected orders over 100 - eBay discount code, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. It was a sad day for black South Africa. Knowing the democracy we have today was achieved in part because of the blood we sacrificed was worth it, she says. Black citizens began to resist this prejudice though and also used violence against the enforcers of Apartheid. On March 21, 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. What event happened on March 21 1960? But change can also be prompted by seemingly minor events in global affairs such as the Sharpeville massacre the so-called butterfly effect. When it seemed the whole group would cross, police took action, with mounted officers and volunteers arriving at 1:12 pm. On 21 March 1960, sixty-nine unarmed anti-pass protesters were shot dead by police and over 180 were injured. Do you find this information helpful? (2007), New History of South Africa. Over five thousand individuals came to protest the cause in Sharpeville. Courtesy BaileySeippel Gallery/BAHA Source. 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. The ban remained in effect until August 31, 1960. Following the Brown decision, grassroots African American activists began challenging segregation through protests continuing into the 1960s (Aiken et al., 2013). 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. 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). 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. 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 Sharpeville Massacre 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. The Sharpeville Massacre took place in a south african police station of Sharpeville. The Sharpeville massacre was a turning point in South African history. The adoption of the convention was quickly followed by two 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. 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. Eyewitness accounts attest to the fact that the people were given no warning to disperse. There were 249 victims in total, including 29 children, with 69 people killed and 180 injured. 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. Others were throwing rocks and shouting "Pigs off campus. 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. 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. 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. A state of emergency was announced in South Africa. 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. 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 Sharpeville Massacre occurred on March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa. . 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. African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. Everyone should have an equal rights and better community . During the Eisenhower administration, Congress passed two measures that proved to be ineffective: the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and the Civil Rights Act of 1960. Pogrund,B. It had wide ramifications and a significant impact. This, said Mr Subukwe, would cause prisons to become overcrowded, labour to dry up and the economy to grind to a halt. [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. However, the 1289 Words 6 Pages In the 1960s, many of the colonial nations of Africa were gaining independence. [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. Crowds fleeing from bullets on the day of the Massacre. News reports about the massacre spread across the world. [13], A storm of international protest followed the Sharpeville shootings, including sympathetic demonstrations in many countries[14][15] and condemnation by the United Nations. About 69 Blacks were killed and more than 180 wounded, some 50 women and children being among the victims. 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. People often associate their behavior and actions from the groups they belong to. There were also youth problems because many children joined gangs and were affiliated with crimes instead of schools.