The Sharpeville Massacre

21st March 1960

Photo in bianco e nero della repressione violente della polizia nel Sharpeville Massacre in Sud Africa.

On this day, police opened fire on a crowd of people who had assembled outside the police station in the township of Sharpeville in South Africa in a peaceful protest against the recent pass laws. Police records indicate that 69 people were killed, including 10 children, and 180 injured, including 19 children, but new research has shown that at least 91 people were killed and more than 238 people wounded. Many protestors were shot in the back as they turned to flee, causing some to be paralysed. It was this savage massacre that incited Nelson Mandela to resort to the use of arms in his fight against apartheid and quickly led to his arrest and imprisonment. Finally released 27 years later, Mandela put an end to apartheid as the first black president of South Africa.

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Author: Tony

Born and raised in Malaysia between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Educated at Wycliffe College in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire, England. Living in the foothills of Mount Etna since 1982 and teaching English at Catania University since 1987.

6 thoughts on “The Sharpeville Massacre”

    1. Ha ha! I don’t think anybody outside the Ingliando Chatroom would understand the pun there, Paolo!

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