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Event of Apartheid: The Sharpeville massacre 

I. Apartheid context 

Firstly, Apartheid was a system of institutionalised racial segregation and discrimination that existed in South Africa from 1948 until the early 1990s, affecting populations according to racial or ethnic criteria in geographical areas. 

Nelson Mandela, is the leader of the African National Congress (ANC), symbol of the struggle against white segregationist power.

II. Sharpeville massacre

The Sharpeville massacre was an event which occurred on 21 March 1960. That day, the police opened fire and killed 69 people during a peaceful demonstration. People were participating to a political rally organized by the African National Congress (ANC)  in Sharpeville, South Africa, against a law that limited and controlled their movements. In this tragic event there were 69 deaths and among the 178 wounded, a very impressive number of gunshot wounds in the back, head or chest.

The Sharpeville massacre led to new forms of political organization and resistance. The African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan Afican Congress (PAC) were banned after this massacre. On March 18, 1960, Robert Sobukwe, president of the Pan-African Congress (PAC), called for nonviolent demonstrations across the country on March 21 to protest against the ''pass'' ( internal pass), demand its repeal and increase the basic remuneration of the working day. Also known as the natives law, pass laws severely limited the movements of not only black African citizens, but other people as well by requiring them to carry pass books when outside their homelands or designated areas.

III. Commemoration of Sharpeville massacre

In memory of the Sharpeville massacre, the ONU made March 21st the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.  This day commemorates the lives lost in fighting for democracy and equal rights in South Africa during the apartheid regime. In proclaming the International day in 1966, the ONU General Assembly calls on the international community to redouble its effort to eliminate all forms to racial discrimination. Every year on March 21st, Rethabile publishes a poem to recall the Sharpeville massacre.

It's a short video to explain why this event had marked.