Sharpeville massacre
The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa (today part of Gauteng). After fighting against anti-black pass laws, a crowd of about 7,000 black protesters went to the police station. Sources disagree as to the behavior of the crowd: some state that the crowd was peaceful, while others state that the crowd had been throwing and tossing stones at the police and that the mood had turned "ugly". 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. There were 249 victims in total, including 29 children, with 69 people killed and 180 injured. Some were shot in the back as they fled.[1]
Sharpeville massacre
The massacre was photographed by photographer Ian Berry, who initially thought the police were firing blanks.[2] In present-day South Africa, 21 March is commemorated as a public holiday in honour of human rights and to commemorate the Sharpeville massacre.
Life in Sharpeville before the massacre[edit]
Sharpeville was first built in 1943 to replace Topville, a nearby township that suffered overcrowding where illnesses like pneumonia were widespread. Due to the illness, removals from Topville began in 1958. Approximately 10,000 Africans were forcibly removed to Sharpeville. Sharpeville had a high rate of unemployment as well as high crime rates. There were also youth problems because many children joined gangs and were affiliated with crimes instead of schools. Furthermore, a new police station was created, from which the police were energetic to check passes, deporting illegal residents, and raiding illegal shebeens.[3]
Commemoration[edit]
Since 1994, 21 March has been commemorated as Human Rights Day in South Africa.[18]
Sharpeville was the site selected by President Nelson Mandela for the signing into law of the Constitution of South Africa on 10 December 1996.[19]
In 1998, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) found that the police actions constituted "gross human rights violations in that excessive force was unnecessarily used to stop a gathering of unarmed people."[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.[20]
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination[edit]
UNESCO marks 21 March as the yearly International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in memory of the massacre.
References in art and literature[edit]
The Afrikaner poet Ingrid Jonker mentioned the Sharpeville Massacre in her verse.
The event was an inspiration for painter Oliver Lee Jackson in his Sharpeville Series from the 1970s.[21]
Ingrid de Kok was a child living on a mining compound near Johannesburg where her father worked at the time of the Sharpeville massacre. In her poem "Our Sharpeville" she reflects on the atrocity through the eyes of a child.
Max Roach's 1960 album We Insist! Freedom Now Suite includes the composition "Tears for Johannesburg" in response to the massacre.
South African artist Gavin Jantjes dedicated several prints in his series A South African Colouring Book (1974-75) to the Sharpeville Massacre. Iconic reportage photographs of scattering protesters are arranged alongside stenciled and handwritten captions pulled from news reporting of the unfolding event.