The Causes and Consequences of the Sharpville Riots

1543 Words7 Pages
Causes and Consequences of the Sharpeville riots of the 1960’s The savage massacre of South African patriots at Sharpeville and other places in South Africa on March 21, 1960, is of paramount significance in the struggle against apartheid and needs to be understood in its historical scope. Black resistance and violence began the anti-law demonstrations with both the ANC (African National Congress) and PAC (Pan African Congress) deciding after the protest- further peaceful protest was pointless and formed underground terrorist sections, as quoted by Nelson Mandela, “The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices: submit or fight. That time has come to South Africa. We should not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means within our power in defense of our people, our future and our freedom...”- Long Walk to Freedom, 1994. With Afrikaans having to be taught in black classrooms without any clear reason, black unemployment was rising and the cost of running townships increasing. The people of Sharpeville took to the streets; however they were not prepared for the reaction from the police. Sharpeville marked unquestionably a turning point in the struggle for liberation in South Africa. The massacre was caused by several factors mainly relating to the way in which blacks were treated by whites and the government in South Africa. This sudden feeling of regaining confidence by blacks was driven by the pass laws set in place. Pass laws in South Africa were designed to segregate the population into same race areas, it also limited blacks severely and the movement of non-whites. The pass laws also included other- laws including, the prohibition of mixed marriages (1949), the native laws amendment act (1952). These legislation made up the main part of what apartheid stood for. The Black and coloured population were required to
Open Document