Sharpeville

Province

Sharpeville is a township in the province of Gauteng in South Africa, about 50 kilometers south of Johannesburg. In 2011 it had 37 599 inhabitants. Was founded in this city for blacks by the apartheid government of South Africa. It lies between the two industrial cities of Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging and was named after John Sharpe, a former mayor of Vereeniging. Internationally became the Township by the Sharpeville massacre in 1960 and the trial of the Sharpeville Six in 1985.

History

The Pan Africanist Congress (PAC, Pan-African Congress ), one from the African National Congress ( ANC) emerged organization of South African blacks, called in 1960 for non-violent protest against the discriminatory pass laws of the apartheid system on. This civil disobedience should be practiced in the style of Mahatma Gandhi and demonstrates without a passport. On March 21, 1960 moved to Sharpeville 5000-7000 Black without a passport at a police station in order to can be jailed by the authorities. The demonstration ended in the " Sharpeville Massacre ", in which police shot and killed 69 blacks mostly from behind and another 180 injured. Trigger is according to the police throwing rocks have been on police cars, but numerous photographs of the peaceful demonstration could not prove this.

As a result of this collision between police and demonstrators from the African National Congress ( ANC ) and the PAC were banned in 1960. The massacre led to nationwide strikes, riots and massive international protests. As an exclusion from the Commonwealth of Nations threatened South Africa unilaterally declared his resignation and proclaimed the Republic of South Africa ( " South Africa ").

21 March 1966 declared by the United Nations as the International Day against Racism. Since 1979, the International Weeks Against Racism held annually at this time. Since 1995, March 21 as " Human Rights Day " (Human Rights Day ) is a national day of remembrance in South Africa.