International Journal of Human Research and Social Science Studies

Racial discrimination in South Africa, used as a camouflage, constantly and ostensibly appeared and presented as a central focus while the primary contradictions were used under the canopy of secondary ones in the ownership, control and utilization of the benefits of the means and relations of production. These were used and manipulated under the umbrella of apartheid rhetoric in order to violate the dignity of Blackman. The Sharpeville massacre of 1960, as a by-product of agglomeration of protests against the corrosive apartheid regime, constituted a central event in the South Africa history that upturned and continued to weaken apartheid. When the peaceful protest turned violent, killing Africans who were demonstrating against racist policies, the tragic episode marked a watershed in the anti-apartheid movement. The Sharpeville massacre, therefore, marked a turning point and shifted from a non-violent resistance to an increased and intense militancy to armed struggle. This also galvanized global solidarity with anti-apartheid movement, provoked the process of the dismantling of apartheid and paving a path to a democratic politics in South Africa.

State, Apartheid, Sharpeville massacre, Anti-Apartheid movement, historiography

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