The government bans the ANC and PAC

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 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.

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.

In its first action on South Africa, the Security Council deplored the killings and called on the government to abandon apartheid and racial discrimination.

The act gave the government power to declare organizations unlawful. It created the legal mechanism used immediately against the main African liberation movements.

Acting on ANC instructions, Tambo left South Africa to build international support and an external mission after the state banned the organization.

The government ended emergency rule after months of detention and repression. The ANC and PAC nevertheless remained banned and many activists faced restrictions.

Bram Fischer completed the defence case for the remaining accused, bringing the long political prosecution closer to judgment.

Dag Hammarskjöld reported that talks with South Africa had failed to produce a mutually acceptable arrangement on racial policy, underscoring the government's refusal to change course.

Reeves, an outspoken critic who documented the Sharpeville killings, resigned as Anglican Bishop of Johannesburg after the government prevented his return.