Representatives of 29 African and Asian countries asked the Security Council to address the crisis in South Africa, helping move apartheid repression onto the international agenda.
Organizations in this Event
No images or videos for this event yet.
Related Events
Robert Sobukwe announces the PAC anti-pass campaign 16 March 1960
Sobukwe informed the police that the Pan Africanist Congress would begin a disciplined, nonviolent campaign against pass laws on 21 March.
Police carry out the Sharpeville Massacre 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...
Police shoot anti-pass protesters in Langa 21 March 1960
Police violence also struck the anti-pass protest at Langa near Cape Town. Two people were killed and dozens wounded, placing Langa within the same national wave of resistance and repression as...
The government defends police action after Sharpeville 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.
PAC leaders are charged after the anti-pass campaign 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.
👉 African and Asian states request an urgent UN Security Council meeting Current 25 March 1960
Representatives of 29 African and Asian countries asked the Security Council to address the crisis in South Africa, helping move apartheid repression onto the international agenda.
Police temporarily suspend enforcement of pass laws 27 March 1960
Overcrowded jails and mass defiance forced the police commissioner to suspend pass-law enforcement temporarily. The announcement revealed the practical power of collective resistance.
The ANC called a national strike and day of mourning. Albert Luthuli and Nelson Mandela publicly burned their passbooks as communities protested police killings and pass laws.
The apartheid government declares a state of emergency 30 March 1960
The government imposed emergency rule across major urban areas and detained more than 2,000 people, using exceptional powers to suppress the expanding anti-pass movement.
Philip Kgosana leads a mass march into Cape Town 30 March 1960
An estimated 30,000 to 50,000 people marched from surrounding townships into central Cape Town. Kgosana negotiated their peaceful dispersal, after which the state intensified repression.
The UN Security Council adopts Resolution 134 1 April 1960
In its first action on South Africa, the Security Council deplored the killings and called on the government to abandon apartheid and racial discrimination.