JOHANNESBURG – The townships Soweto and Sharpeville stand as pillars and reminders of overcoming apartheid and the loss that was endured in the process.
The Soweto Uprising and Sharpeville massacre resulted in the deaths of 71 Black South Africans, two of them being children. However, the aftermath of these incidents were the catalysts for the 30-year movement that led to the eventual end of apartheid when President F.W. de Klerk repealed apartheid legislation such as the Population Registration Act. Additionally, he exonerated Nelson Mandela, who would later become South Africa’s first Black president, from his 27-year sentence at Robben Island.
On Dec. 10, 1996, President Mandela signed the South African Constitution in Sharpeville, the place where the fight began and ended. Each year, March 21 is celebrated as International Human Right’s Day in honor of the Sharpeville massacre in 1960.
Phil Molefe, a resident born and raised in Sharpeville, spoke about how his church congregation pays their respects at the memorial each year to remember those who died. He detailed the historical significance of the massacre.
“Sharpeville marked a turning point in the history of politics in South Africa,” Molefe said.
During the time of apartheid, townships were designated areas in which Black South Africans were forced to live outside of the cities.
Molefe described the starkness of how discriminatory practices were implemented against Black South Africans.
“Racism was institutionalized,” he said. “It was a part of the statutes, the laws.”
He recalled the pass laws that required Black South Africans to carry identification books with them wherever they went. If the police found them without the ID books, the punishment would typically result in a night’s stay in the police station.
Before the 1960s, the African National Congress (ANC) organized many of the peaceful protests in South Africa against the apartheid system. Emerging leaders in the organization around this time included Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo.
At the time of the protest in Sharpeville, the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), a breakout branch of the ANC, emerged as a new political party determined to take a stand. Led by Robert Sobukwe, the party went out to organize a march of about 5,000 citizens to the Sharpeville police station to protest by bending their pass books.
According to Molefe, the marchers were singing and waving signs that read, “Away with the passes.” He spoke about the horror that followed the peaceful protest. The police were ordered to open fire indiscriminately on the crowd and killed hundreds of people in the ensuing chaos.
After the massacre, the South African government banned the ANC and PAC, forcing many members into exile. However, these exiled leaders mobilized and developed strategies to combat the apartheid government.
While the ANC was underground, the organization developed a militant branch called uMkhonto weSizwe, which translates to Spear of Nation, in 1961.
“The weapon was not a gun,” Molefe said in summarizing the group’s approach to opposing the government. “Our weapon was a spear.”
Molefe explained that the strategies of uMkhonto weSizwe, also known as the MK Party, were on a struggle on four fronts:
- Firstly, a military arms strike – an overthrow of the government by violence.
- Secondly, mass mobilization.
- Thirdly, international solidarity. He spoke about the continued support of organizations like the Americans Voices Against Apartheid (AVAA) in Washington, D.C.
- Lastly, economic isolation was the fourth pillar.
During the 1960s, Black Americans played their part in supporting Black South Africans in completing this goal. For example, the Rev. Leon Sullivan mobilized American companies to pull out of South Africa. Additionally, the Congressional Black Caucus helped to provide funding for anti-apartheid strikes.
South African students became heavily involved in the fight against apartheid in the 1970s. Notably in 1976, students in Soweto protested the mandatory teaching of the Afrikaans language in schools. This language is primarily spoken by Afrikaners, the descendants of Dutch settlers who came to South Africa.
“We have regarded that language as the language of the oppressors,” Molefe said.
In June of that same year, thousands of Black South African students took to the street and marched against this compulsory teaching. In response, the Soweto police opened fire into the crowd, which caused the murder of three students including 12-year-old Hector Pieterson. This began the Soweto Uprising that spread across the entire country.
Donovan McNeal, a reporter for HUNewsService.com, recently traveled to South Africa.
