The Sharpeville massacre occurred on 21 March 1960 at the police station in the township of Sharpeville in the then Transvaal Province of the then Union of South Africa. After demonstrating against anti-black pass laws, a crowd of about 7,000 black protesters went to the police station. Sources disagree as to the behaviour of the crowd: some state that the crowd was peaceful, while others state that the crowd had been hurling stones at the police and that the mood had turned "ugly". The South African Police (SAP) opened fire on the crowd when the crowd started advancing toward the fence around the police station; tear-gas had proved ineffectual. There were 249 victims in total, including 29 children, with 69 people killed and 180 injured. Some were shot in the back as they fled.
The row of graves of the 69 people killed by police at the Sharpeville Police Station on 21 March 1960.
Demonstrators discarding their passbooks to protest apartheid, 1960
Painting depicting victims of the massacre
Gauteng is one of the nine provinces of South Africa.
The Johannesburg City Hall, home of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature
The undulating hills that form part of the rural areas in the province just north of Johannesburg. Although Gauteng is a heavily urbanised province, much of its area is extensively cultivated for agriculture.
Sandton Gautrain Station in August 2010
University of Pretoria's Old Arts Building
