Events leading up to the attack on Sharpeville Police Station in March, 1960
Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 5:09am
Afrikaner Broadcasting Corporation
The literary work by P.C. Swanepoel titled Really Inside BOSS, was used as a source of reference for the following article. During the terrorist attack on the Sharpeville Police Station, Mr. Swanepoel was an employee of the Bureau of State Security (BOSS) and describes in detail the causes which led up to the events at Sharpeville on 21 March, 1960.
The South African Government and Police were vilified following the Sharpeville attack. The most common criticism accused a lack of compromise and negotiation by the State when dealing with the terrorist element in question. The police were facing extremist terrorist leaders determined to undermine the State and the terrorists did not hesitate to sacrifice innocent lives in pursuit of their aims. The police were not trained as negotiators. Ordinary policemen were fulfilling their designated duty to uphold law & order helping to maintain the peace. The situation which transpired at Sharpeville spiralled out of control, the police reacted accordingly defending life and property.
The ANC embarked on a ‘potato boycott’ in May, 1959, after sensational reports in a journal aimed at black readers alleged a potato farmer in the Bethal district had mistreated his workers. A ‘stay-at-home’ was organised as a reinforcement of the boycott. Simultaneously a crowd of several thousand rioters had gathered at the Cator-Manor slum on the outskirts of Durban. The rioters initially attacked the municipal beer hall.
