This was in direct defiance of the governments countrywide ban on public meetings and gatherings of more than ten persons. Significance of sharpeville massacre sharpeville massacre. Sharpeville massacre essay example topics and well. Seven out of ten shot in the back at sharpeville archive. Sharpeville was much more than a single tragic event. The sharpeville massacre sparked protests, riots and violence across south africa. It can be considered the beginning of the international struggle to bring an end to apartheid in south africa. Download mayibuye or read online books in pdf, epub, tuebl, and mobi format. The sharpeville massacre was when a crowd of between 5,0007,000 black people protested at the police station in sharpeville, south africa on march 21, 1960.
All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Pdf over the past two centuries, the police have perpetrated massacres in response. In similar demonstrations at the police station in vanderbijlpark, another person was shot. Download file to see previous pages 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. The south african police opened fire on the crowd, killing 69 people and injuring 180 others. Seven out of ten shot in the back at sharpeville archive, 1960 4 may 1960. On march 21, 1960, a group of over one hundred policemen in sharpeville fired on a large group of black south african protesters. Brian martin, justice ignited, chapter 2 authors prepublication version 2 sharpeville on 21 march 1960, white police in the town of sharpeville, south africa, opened fire on a large crowd of peaceful black protesters, killing perhaps a hundred of them and injuring many more. Sharpeville massacre, 21 march 1960 south african history online. When the news of the sharpeville massacre reached cape town a group of between to 5000 protestors gathered at the langa flats bus terminus around 17h00 on 21 march 1960. It had wide ramifications and a significant impact. The sharpeville massacre, 1960 exhibit divestment for.
For a century and a half, blacks in the union of south africa have had to carry passbooks. South africa by three months, and came to have similar symbolic impor tance for. The events at sharpeville deeply affected the attitudes of both black and white in south africa and provided a major stimulus to the development of an. The events at sharpeville deeply affected the attitudes of both. The sharpeville massacre was a tragic event but it will always be remembered as one the significant events in the apartheid struggle. The sharpeville massacre of 20 march 1960 signalled the start of armed resistance in south africa, and prompted worldwide condemnation of south africas apartheid policies. The sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 march 1960, at the police station in the south african. Media in category sharpeville massacre the following 4 files are in this category, out of 4 total. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. This antipathy, hatred, bitterness, resentment, frustration and loss of self. This protest was to be led by the anc protest group on the 31st of march but a rival protest group called the panafricanist congress pac, which as stated by brian smith 2010 were a more hardline protest group, held the protest on the 21st of march 1960. Use the following documents to help you explore the events of the sharpeville massacre.
The sharpeville massacre was an event which occurred on 21 march 1960, at the police station in the south african township of sharpeville in transvaal today part of gauteng after a day of demonstrations against pass laws, a crowd of about 5,000 to 7,000 protesters went to the police station. South africans mark 55 years since one of the worst apartheidera mass killings, but other atrocities still forgotten. The sharpeville massacre, as the event has become known, marked the start of armed resistance in south africa, and prompted worldwide condemnation of south africas apartheid policies. That notorious episode, bequeathed to history as the sharpeville massacre, is the subject of tom lodges compelling account of what happened in the early 1960s and what the convulsive. On 21 march 1960, the police opened fire on a group of demonstrators who had gathered peacefully outside sharpeville police station in response to a nationwide call by the panafricanist congress pac to protest against the hated pass system. The sharpeville massacre occurred in unique circumstances, and proved to be a tragic event that would shape the future of the apartheid struggle. Dozens killed in sharpeville originally published on 22 march 1960 mon 22 mar 2010.
On march 21, 1960, a line of 150 white policemen fired 44 rounds into a crow. You should also consider what the cause and effects of this event were. The sharpeville massacre, as the event has become known, signalled the start of armed resistance in south africa, and prompted worldwide condemnation of south africas apartheid policies. The sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 march 1960, at the police station in the south african township of sharpeville in transvaal today part of gauteng after a day of demonstrations against pass laws, a crowd of about 7,000 protesters went to the police station. Sharpeville is much more than the site of a massacre article kwanele sosibo 19 mar 2020 tsepo gumbis photographs bring a more complex view of a place that has been so singularly defined as to.
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. It was one of the first and most violent demonstrations against apartheid in south africa. The peaceful protest at sharpeville against the pass laws was organised by the pan africanist congress pac and met by. In the black township of sharpeville, near johannesburg, south africa, afrikaner police open fire on a group of unarmed black south african demonstrators, killing 69 people and wounding 180 in. In many accounts, the sharpeville emergency of 1960 was a key turning point for modern south african history. Sharpeville massacre simple english wikipedia, the free. Before the massacre, white officials considered sharpeville a small, insignificant, and even a. The confrontation occurred in the township of sharpeville, in what is now gauteng province. It persuaded the liberation movements that there was no point in civil rightsstyle activism and served as the catalyst for the formation of the african national congresss armed wing, umkhonto we sizwe. Sharpeville marked unquestionably a turning point in the struggle for liberation in azania. The windhoek massacre, as it came to be called, preceded sharpeville in. Relying on fascinating archival testimonies of demonstrators but little from the police lodge explains that the protests had been organized by the pan.
In south africa today, this day is a public holiday in. From the south african governments perspective, the events at sharpeville. For the resistance movements it marked the change from nonviolent to violent protest. A total of 69 people were killed including 8 women and 10 children, and 180 people were injured, including 31 women and 19 children. The sharpeville massacre aroused outrage against the south african government and worldwide support, awareness and sympathy for the antiapartheid activism in south africa increased. Sixtynine protesters died, and the massacre became an iconic moment in the struggle against apartheid.
During the morning news spread through a township that a very important person would make a statement. But it is only in recent years, under the boer regime of stubborn, stiffnecked prime minister hendrik verwoerd, that the passbook has become almost a physical shackle. That notorious episode, bequeathed to history as the sharpeville massacre, is the subject of. An apartheid massacre and its consequences african. Sharpeville, home to 26,000 blacks within the larger town of vereeniging, located south of johannesburg, seemed an unlikely setting for a watershed moment in the history of apartheid resistance.
In sharpeville, tom lodge explains how and why the massacre occurred, looking at the social and political background to the events of march 1960 as well as the. What were the consequences of the sharpeville massacre. Dismayed by the actions of the south african government, many countries boycotted the importation of south african goods and labour organisations refused to. In the black township of sharpeville, near johannesburg, south africa, afrikaner police open fire on a group of unarmed black south african demonstrators, killing 69 people and wounding 180 in a.
Sharpeville has become a seminal part of south african history and has captured the minds and memories of many, both nationally and globally. On 21 march 1960 at least 180 black africans were injured there are claims of as many as 300 and 69 killed when south african police opened fire on approximately 300 demonstrators, who were protesting against the pass laws, at the township of sharpeville, near vereeniging in the transvaal. The immediate result of this action was the deaths of 69. Find highquality sharpeville stock photos and editorial news pictures from getty images. Sharpeville massacre, incident in the black township of sharpeville, near vereeniging, south africa, on march 21 1960, in which police fired on a crowd of black people, killing or wounding some 250 of them. The terms of reference allowed the possibility of including highranking intellectual authors of. This account of the sharpeville massacre is an important and timely. Reconciliation and revenge in postapartheid south africa core. The sharpeville massacre started when the black south african protesters rallied outside the police station without their passbooks. I will argue that the massacre created a major shortterm crisis for the apartheid state, a crisis which appeared to. Download premium images you cant get anywhere else.
The massacre attracted international attention and eventually, with the change of government the apartheid was repealed. The savage massacre of african patriots at sharpeville and other places in south africa on 21 march 1960 is of paramount significance in the struggle against apartheid and needs to be understood in its historical scope. On march 21, 1960, police in sharpeville, south africa, shot hundreds of people protesting laws that restricted the movement of blacks. A surgeon gave evidence at a judicial inquiry following the fatal shooting of protestors by police in a south african. The sharpeville massacre in the 1960s was a turning point in south african history. The sharpeville massacre, as the event has become known, signalled the. It marked the start of armed resistance, rather than peaceful resistance, towards the apartheid government on the part of the anc, which was banned shortly after the massacre.
The year 2010 marked the fiftieth anniversary of one of apartheid south africas most infamous atrocities. This page was last edited on 30 december 2018, at 02. An apartheid massacre and its consequences 9780192801852. As both the pac and the anc struggled with the limitations of peaceful protests and police became increasingly nervous with greater responsibilities, a political boiling pot had begun to simmer. The south african police opened fire on the crowd, killing 69 people.
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