An Ordinary Atrocity: Sharpeville and Its Massacre [Hardcover]

Philip Frankel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001

On March 21st, 1960, police opened fire on members of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) protesting peacefully in the Vaal Triangle township of Sharpeville against apartheid's iniquitous "pass laws". Sixty-nine people died. The shots fired that day in an obscure corner of South Africa reverberated around the world, and Sharpeville became the symbol of the evil of the apartheid system. For a variety of reasons this seminal event has never been systematically documented. The Wessels Commission of Inquiry established to investigate the matter never published a formal and final report that was satisfactory to all the parties, and in the four decades since the shooting, the massacre has been so mythologised and contorted to serve various political interests, that it precluded a thorough investigation. Philip Frankel's book goes a long way toward correcting that deficiency. Drawing on a wide range of sources, from policemen to survivors and families of victims, he tells the exciting and hitherto invisible story of this watershed moment in South Africa's experience. In doing so he reveals the dubious behaviour of the South African police, new findings on the role of the PAC, the extent and nature of casualties, and the parts played by a number of individuals whose behaviour in the vortex was critical to its tragic outcome. The book ends, fittingly, with the signing by the then-President Mandela, of South Africa's first democratic constitution at the site of the massacre.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A well-written and carefully considered account of [an] iconic moments in the struggle for liberation in South Africa." -- Saul Dubow, University of Sussex

About the Author

Philip Frankel is senior lecturer in the political studies department of the University of the Witwatersrand.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 263 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; 1ST edition (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300091788
• ISBN-13: 978-0300091786
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,296,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars The massacre that started the struggle for majority rule., August 20, 2007

By 

Kevin M Quigg (Gettysburg, Pennsylvania United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: An Ordinary Atrocity: Sharpeville and Its Massacre (Hardcover)

This date is well known to me-March 21, 1960 because it is my birthday. On this day also, officially 69, but probably 200 people lost their lives in South Africa because the South African Police sent several volleys of rifle and machine gun fire into a crowd surrounding the Sharpeville Police Station. Frankel explores this massacre and tells us how it happened. The police were frightened, and the demonstrators thought they were legally protesting the just imposed pass laws. Because of poor leadership, the SAP killed hundreds of people because they lost control of the situation. The PAC lost control of the demonstration. Frankel also states that the SAP used dum-dum bullets to kill some of the demonstrators. Because of this event, the world soon knew of the ugly side of South Africa and apartheid.

After this event, nations started questioning their relations with South Africa. The ANC, PAC, and SACP became stronger due to the apartheid policies of the South African regime. This was the beginning of the end for white ruled South Africa. A good read on an interesting historical event.