Contents
- 1 What caused the massacre in Sharpeville?
- 2 How did the Sharpeville protest turn into a massacre?
- 3 What changed after the Sharpeville massacre?
- 4 Who named Sharpeville?
- 5 What happened on the 21 March?
- 6 Why 21 March is a holiday?
- 7 Why did the police open fire in Sharpeville?
- 8 How many people died in the Sharpeville riots?
What caused the massacre in Sharpeville?
The 1960 Sharpeville Massacre was the result of a peaceful protest regarding racist South African policies of apartheid. The police response to the protest became the primary cause of the massacre. The police assembled and used disproportionate responses to the protest.
How did the Sharpeville protest turn into a massacre?
Some 20,000 Blacks gathered near a police station at Sharpeville, located about 30 miles (50 km) south of Johannesburg. After some demonstrators, according to police, began stoning police officers and their armoured cars, the officers opened fire on them with submachine guns.
What event happened on March 21 1960?
the Sharpeville Massacre
However, the police simply took down the protesters names and did not arrest anyone. 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.
How did people react to the Sharpeville Massacre?
International responses The Sharpeville massacre was reported worldwide, and received with horror from every quarter. South Africa had already been harshly criticised for its apartheid policies, and this incident fuelled anti-apartheid sentiments as the international conscience was deeply stirred.
What changed after the Sharpeville massacre?
The demonstrators were protesting against the South African government’s restriction of nonwhite travel. In the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre, protests broke out in Cape Town, and more than 10,000 people were arrested before government troops restored order.
Who named Sharpeville?
John Lillie Sharpe
Sharpeville is one of the oldest of six townships in the Vaal Triangle. It was named after John Lillie Sharpe who came to South Africa from Glasgow, Scotland, as secretary of Stewarts & Lloyds. Sharpe was elected to the Vereeniging Town Council in 1932 and held the position of mayor from 1934 to 1937.
What was the result of the Sharpeville protest?
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 hail of submachine-gun fire.
How did the police react to the high school learners that were demonstrating?
When high-school students in Soweto started protesting for better education on 16 June 1976, police responded with teargas and live bullets. In the 1980s very little education at all took place in the Bantu Education system, which was the target of almost continuous protest.
What happened on the 21 March?
On March 21, 1960, police officers in a black township in South Africa opened fire on a group of people peacefully protesting oppressive pass laws, killing 69. The anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre is remembered the world over every March 21 on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Why 21 March is a holiday?
Human Rights Day is observed annually on 21 March. It commemorates the 1960 Sharpeville massacre, where 69 people were killed while protesting apartheid pass laws. Today the Bill of Rights is enshrined in our constitution, protecting South Africans from human rights infringements.
What was the significance of the Sharpeville massacre?
Sharpeville Massacre. The Sharpeville Massacre, which occurred on March 21, 1960, in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa, was the incident that to that point resulted in the deaths of the largest number of South Africans in a protest against apartheid. It also came to symbolize that struggle.
What was the crowd at Sharpeville in 1960?
In 1960, the day before the actual shooting, an initial crowd of 7,000 – 10,000 hostile protesters began to advance on the Sharpeville police station protesting the carrying of ‘pass books,’ [I.D. documents,] which non-white people had to produce on request – just as everyone is now compelled to do in the new South Africa.
Why did the police open fire in Sharpeville?
Other witnesses claimed there was no order to open fire, and the police did not fire a warning shot above the crowd. As the thousands of Africans tried to flee the violent scene, police continued to shoot into the crowd.
How many people died in the Sharpeville riots?
It was recorded that 171 students died that day, while some wildly allege that 700 were massacred. However, real statistics say there were 23 deaths that first day, and as the extremely violent riots escalated countrywide, the death toll escalated to 176.