Violent protests

 The Sharpeville Massacre (1960)  

The Sharpeville massacre took place on March 21 1960. White policemen opened fire on a crowd of demonstrators outside a police station at a township on the outside of Vereeniging. A total of 69 people died and 186 injured. This caused reactions from around the world and also changed the path of the liberation movement. The most significant effect of the Sharpeville Massacre was the ANC’s decision to abandon their non-violent strategy and adopt the armed struggle strategy instead.

The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) was formed in early 1959 as a group of ANC Africanists who had failed to break up a provincial conference and decided to break away the PAC from the ANC. The PAC wanted to hijack some of the ANC’s campaigns. When the ANC announced that they were planning a series of mass protests agains the pass laws, with pass bonfires, the PAC then decided to also do a anti-pass protest on March 21. They were to show up at police stations across the country without their pass books presenting themselves for arrest. Authorities responded with putting all police stations on armed alert but the PAC emphasised that their protest was to be non-violent and Sobukwe (the PAC ’s leader) clearly informed protestors not to provoke police in any way.

On the day of the massacre around 5000 protesters was gathered up in a field outside the main police station in Sharpeville. The crowd was cheerful and sang freedom songs and chanted political slogans. A large number of people then approached the police station, demanding to be permitted to enter and surrender themselves for arrest. What happened next is a bit uncertain but the police claims that there was an armed protestor and a situation occurred between said protestor and a police officer. Crowds surged forward to get a better look and the police say they started throwing stones at them. Eyewitnesses, however, say that there was no provocation from the protestors. A policeman then allegedly opened fire in the fear of the situation. This caused a chain reaction and the gunfire didn't cease until after 2 minutes.

Prime Minister Verwoerd responded to the massacre with reassuring a crowd of nationalist supporters that most Africans supported him and his plans for separate development. He also stated that most of the protestors had been forced to protest. On March 30th a state of emergency was declared and on April 8th the Unlawful Organisations Act and the government officially banned the ANC and the PAC.

An effect of the movements being banned was that the ANC in 1961 went underground and  thanks to Nelson Mandela formed the armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) which immediately began sabotaging operations against the apartheid system.

The most significant consequences of the Sharpeville massacre was that it changed the global opinion of South Africa and it sparked the international campaign against apartheid. Economic sanctions were made, despite of the U.S and Britain’s refusal to agree to a global trade embargo. As a result of strong pressure of newly independent states South Africa was forced to leave the British Commonwealth and became a republic in 1961.

 The decision to adopt armed struggle