what caused the sharpeville massacre
Find out more about our work towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Massacre in Sharpeville. [10] Few of the policemen present had received public order training. Significant reshaping of international law is often the result of momentous occurrences, most notably the first and second world wars. The massacre also sparked hundreds of mass protests by black South Africans, many of which were ruthlessly and violently crushed by the South African police and military. The central issues stem from 50 years of apartheid include poverty, income inequality, land ownership rates and many other long term affects that still plague the brunt of the South African population while the small white minority still enjoy much of the wealth, most of the land and opportunities, Oppression is at the root of many of the most serious, enduring conflicts in the world today. Early on the 21st the local PAC leaders first gathered in a field not far from the Sharpeville police station, when a sizable crowd of people had joined them they proceeded to the police station - chanting freedom songs and calling out the campaign slogans "Izwe lethu" (Our land); "Awaphele amapasti" (Down with passes); "Sobukwe Sikhokhele" (Lead us Sobukwe); "Forward to Independence,Tomorrow the United States of Africa.". Another officer interpreted this as an order and opened fire, triggering a lethal fusillade as 168 police constables followed his example. 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]. This article first appeared on The Conversation, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. The Sharpeville massacre, the name given to the murder of 69 unarmed civilians by armed South African police, took place on 21 March 1960. These two industries experienced rapid growth in the immediate aftermath of World War II and continued growing into the 1950s and 1960s. 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. Sharpeville is a township near Vereeniging, in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Under this system there was an extended period of gruesome violence against individuals of colored skin in South Africa. Eventually a few of the demonstrators dared to cross the street, led by James Forman who had organized the march. Fewer than 20 police officers were present in the station at the start of the protest. . The significance of the date is reflected in the fact that it now marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. This shows a significant similarity in that both time periods leaders attempted to achieve the goal of ending. Unlike elsewhere on the East Rand where police used baton when charging at resisters, the police at Sharpeville used live ammunition. He became South Africa's . 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." . 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. Accounting & Finance; Business, Companies and Organisation, Activity; Case Studies; Economy & Economics; Marketing and Markets; People in Business 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. 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. 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. "[6]:p.538, The uproar among South Africa's black population was immediate, and the following week saw demonstrations, protest marches, strikes, and riots around the country. Accessible across all of today's devices: phones, tablets, and desktops. In the following days 77 Africans, many of whom were still in hospital, were arrested for questioning . Yet only three policemen were reported to have been hit by stones - and more than 200 Africans were shot down. This assisted in minimizing unity between the exploited to rally against European control as it backhandedly induced submission for survival. [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. Amid confusion, two shots were fired into the air by somebody in the crowd. Dr. Verwoerd praised the police for their actions. The ANC Vice-President, Oliver Tambo, was secretly driven across the border by Ronel Segal into the then British controlled territory of Bechunaland. But in the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, the UN adopted a more interventionist stance towards the apartheid state. 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. Non-compliance with the race laws were dealt with harshly. Other PAC members tried to stop bus drivers from going on duty and this resulted in a lack transport for Sharpeville residents who worked in Vereeniging. 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). The United Nations Security Council and governments worldwide condemned the police action and the apartheid policies that prompted this violent assault. In response, a police officer shouted in Afrikaans skiet or nskiet (exactly which is not clear). The ANC and PAC were forced underground, and both parties launched military wings of their organisations in 1961. 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). 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 events also prompted theInternational Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discriminationwhich took effect on 4 January 1969. On 20 March Nana Mahomo and Peter Molotsi has crossed the border into Bechuanaland to mobilize support for the PAC. Across the street came 40 or so students who planned on joining the group en route to the Courthouse. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. Take a minute to check out all the enhancements! This caused many other countries to criticize South Africas apartheid policy. 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. The call for a stay away on 28 March was highly successful and was the first ever national strike in the countrys history. Reports of the incident helped focus international criticism on South Africas apartheid policy. This abuse towards people of colour in South Africa made people around the world want to protest against South Africa's government. Along the way small groups of people joined him. 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. Witness History. "The aeroplanes were flying high and low. The movement in this period that revived the political opposition against the apartheid was the Black Consciousness Movement. 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. Following shortly, the Group Areas Act of 1950 was enacted as a new form of legislation alongside the Population Registration Act. By 1960 the. The term human rights was first used in the UN Charter in 1945. Journalists who rushed there from other areas, after receiving word that the campaign was a runaway success confirmed "that for all their singing and shouting the crowd's mood was more festive than belligerent" (David M. Sibeko, 1976). 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. A United Nations photograph by Kay Muldoon, Courtesy of the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa, SATIS (Southern Africa - the Imprisoned Society). In 1946, the UN established the Commission on Human Rights, whose first job was to draft a declaration on human rights. Expert Answers. . The same safe and trusted content for explorers of all ages. 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. Confrontation in the township of Sharpeville, Gauteng Province. Choose a language from the menu above to view a computer-translated version of this page. By continuing to use this site, you consent to the terms of our cookie policy, which can be found in our. Throughout the 1950s, South African blacks intensified their resistance against the oppressive apartheid system. But attempts to transform this non-binding moral declaration into a binding legal code were immediately bogged down in cold war disputes. Courtesy BaileySeippel Gallery/BAHA Source. When the demonstrators began to throw stones at the police, the police started shooting into the crowd. 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. 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. [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. The police also have said that the crowd was armed with 'ferocious weapons', which littered the compound after they fled. The Sharpeville Massacre awakened the international community to the horrors of apartheid. Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the day that changed the course of South African history. 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). Other witnesses claimed there was no order to open fire, and the police did not fire a warning shot above the crowd. Just after 1pm, there was an altercation between the police officer in charge and the leaders of the demonstration. This was in direct defiance of the government's country-wide ban on public meetings and gatherings of more than ten persons. One of the insights has been that international law does not change unless there is some trigger for countries to change their behaviour. 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. It was a system of segregation put in place by the National Party, which governed in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). As an act of rebellion the passes were set alight, as seen in a picture by Ranjith Kally. On the day passes were suspended (25 March 1960) Kgosana led another march of between 2000 and 5000 people from Langa to Caledon Square. The Black Consciousness Movement sparked mass protests among Blacks and prompted other liberation movements to demonstrate against the apartheid. Pogrund,B. Race, ethnicity and political groups, is an example of this. It was one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid in South Africa. 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. [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 Department of Home Affairs (a government bureau) was responsible for the classification of the citizenry. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? However, the police simply took down the protesters names and did not arrest anyone. Crowds fleeing from bullets on the day of the Massacre. 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.
what caused the sharpeville massacre