📅 6 April 1959
Africanists who had broken from the ANC formed the PAC at Orlando Community Hall. Robert Sobukwe became president and emphasized African leadership and anti-colonial liberation.
📅 16 March 1960
Sobukwe informed the police that the Pan Africanist Congress would begin a disciplined, nonviolent campaign against pass laws on 21 March.
📅 21 March 1960
Police opened fire on an unarmed anti-pass gathering at Sharpeville, killing 69 people and wounding about 180. The massacre transformed resistance inside South Africa and international opposition to...
📅 22 March 1960
Prime Minister Verwoerd praised the police and denied that the violence reflected opposition to apartheid. Authorities also detained PAC leaders and prepared sedition charges.
📅 23 March 1960
Robert Sobukwe, P. K. Leballo and eleven others were charged with incitement following the protests. The prosecutions formed part of a rapid state crackdown.
📅 8 April 1960
The African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress were outlawed. Their members were forced underground or into exile, reshaping the liberation struggle.
