South Africa Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Sharpeville Massacre Amid Continued Economic Inequalities

South Africa marks 50th anniversary of Sharpeville massacre in which 69 black South Africans killed after protest.

South Africa marks the 50th anniversary of the Sharpeville massacre that drew global outrage. Family members of the victims reportedly raised flowers to the sky and place them on gravestones, as mourners sang songs from the anti-apartheid struggle. Still, others used the anniversary to highlight the inequalities that are still evident in South Africa, specifically the poor delivery of electricity and running water.

Police killed 69 black South Africans in Sharpeville on March 21, 1960, after a protest against laws forcing blacks to carry pass books or identity documents, at all times. The massacre was seen as a turning point in the struggle by many, as the African National Congress changed its methods of fighting against the white-minority government, and launched an armed struggle. The pass books were a physical shackle. According to Time magazine, if an African travels from the countryside to the city, or just across the street for cigarettes, South Africa's ubiquitous, hard-fisted police check his pass. The article further states, if he stands outside his front door without his pass, the police will not let him walk five feet to get it. He is taken to jail, without notice to his employer or family, and fined or imprisoned. Other cases involving murders and other violent crimes, went unsolved because the court system was chock full of pass offender cases.

Twenty police, nervously eying a growing mob of 20,000 Africans demanding to be arrested, barricaded themselves behind a 4-ft. wire-mesh fence surrounding the police station. The crowd's mood was ugly, and 130 police reinforcements, supported by four Saracen armored cars, were rushed in. Sabre jets and Harvard Trainers zoomed within a hundred feet of the ground, buzzing the crowd in an attempt to scatter it. The Africans responded by hurling stones, which rattled harmlessly off the armored cars and into the police compound, striking three policemen.

Chain Reaction. At i: 20 p.m. the blowup came. When police tried to seize an African at the gate to the compound, there was a scuffle and the crowd advanced toward the fence. Police Commander G. D. Pienaar rapped out an order to his men to load. Within minutes, almost in a chain reaction, the police began firing with revolvers, rifles, Sten guns. A woman shopper patronizing a fruit stand at the edge of the crowd was shot dead. A ten-year-old boy toppled. Crazily, the unarmed crowd stampeded to safety as more shots rang out, leaving behind hundreds lying dead or wounded—many of them shot in the back. It was all over in two awful minutes. Source: Time

The massacre highlighted the ruthless treatment of blacks in South Africa at the hands of a small group of whites in positions of power. The massacre led to the apartheid government to outlawing the African National Congress party. The country's first all-race elections were held in 1994 and the ANC has governed the country ever since. There are still many problems in South Africa, among them high murder rates and high unemployment rates. There is growing unrest in Sharpeville once again. In recent weeks, residents have set tires on fire in the streets to protest the lack of basic city services. There are still people living in shacks with bare earth floors and corrugated iron walls, with gaping holes where rain and bitter winter winds come through. The reality is that many in these areas, have not benefited from the economic growth that has made some in the ANC wealthy.

Photo credit: Time magazine