Date: 3 September, 1984 Boipatong, Bophelong, Evaton, Sebokeng and Sharpeville, five Black townships in the area known as the Vaal Triangle explodes into what some have described as a smouldering human rage. The catalyst for the violence was rent increases proposed by the Black-run town councils. Three township councillors including the deputy mayor of the Vaal Triangle, Kuzwayo Jacob Dlamini were killed in mob violence on this day. In the weeks following the killings five men and one woman who become internationally known as the Sharpeville Six, were tried, convicted and sentenced to hang for the killings. The Deputy Mayor of Sharpeville, Sam Dlamini was hacked to death by a mob of youth, and doused in petrol and burned. The riots were in protest against rent increases and poor education facilities. In addition, the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act 110 of 1983 had been tabled and approved by parliament and was due to go into effect later in September. The new constitution made provision for the tri-cameral system of government that included White, Indian and Coloured representation but excluded African people from parliament. Against this backdrop, rioting and violence in the Vaal Triangle had resulted in the killing of Dlamini, and two local councillors who were accused of being puppets of the apartheid regime. The youth wanted all Black councillors and mayors to resign from their position as a sign of offering solidarity to their cause. Police arrested 2,300 people in the township of Sebokeng in the Vaal in what was believed to be the biggest raid against black people living in the townships and hostels. The arrest came at the height of unrest in the Vaal which broke out in September of the same year when the Vaal Civic Association organised a stay away, school boycott and protest marches. This led to clashes between police and township residents that left thirty people dead. By the end of the year almost 150 people had been killed in political violence, which increased to 600 by September 1985 as the revolts spread across the country and the government of P.W. Botha declared a State of Emergency. A stay-away by Black workers in the industrial areas of the Witwatersrand and the Vaal Triangle is called by Black unions and civic groups in protest over increases in rent and utility charges and over the unlawful arrests of Black leaders. The Association of Chambers of Commerce estimates that 75 to 100 percent heeded the call for a stay-away. Police respond by setting up roadblocks at the entrance of Sebokeng, Sharpeville, and Boipatong, and buses are sent under police escort to take people to work, who did not participate in the boycott. The following day police report that 15 Black protesters and one policeman were killed in the violence, while 31 people were arrested. However, the official death toll was given on 7 November 1984 as 23. The boycott in Black townships impacted heavily on other areas with 600 workers dismissed at the SASOL plant for supporting the boycott. The stay-away also resulted in the arrest of most of the leaders of the labour unions in and around Soweto.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 15:50:48 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015