Remembering the Langa March
African people from Langa township in Cape Town heeded the PAC’s call to action on 21 March
1960. Their leader was a university student, Philip Kgosana. Meanwhile, word of the shootings
at Sharpeville began to reach Cape Town. Extra police were sent to the Langa police station, as
well as additional guns and armoured cars.
Police open fire
By 5.30 pm six thousand people had gathered in Langa. The police arrived and told the crowd
to disperse. They refused. The police charged the crowd with batons. Some people in the crowd
began to throw stones and bricks. The police opened fire, this time above the heads of the
crowd, killing two people and injuring 28 people. That night riots broke out in Langa and many
buildings were burnt down. Protests continued for several weeks.
On 28 March the funeral of those killed at Langa was held. It was attended by 50 000 people.
Thousands more stayed away from work.
30 000 march to Cape Town
Even more dramatic events took place on 30 March. In the morning, large numbers of police
arrived in Langa and Nyanga. 30 000 people gathered and spontaneously began to march
peacefully to the centre of Cape Town. Kgosana, initially taken by surprise, made his way to the
front. The marchers proceeded along De Waal Drive, a large road running through Cape Town’s
suburbs. It was one of the most extraordinary sights ever seen in the city.
In Cape Town the marchers were met by police leaders . They asked Kgosana and the other
leaders what the crowd demanded. Kgosana replied that they wanted to meet the Minister of
Justice to put their demands to him. After a long negotiation the police agreed to arrange the
meeting, and also to stop their violent attacks on Langa and Nyanga.
Kgosana, mindful of events in Sharpeville decided it was best not to confront the police. He
returned to the crowd, and told them that the police had agreed to their demands. He asked
them to return to the township to prevent further killings. The crowd turned back and quietly
returned while Kgosana waited for the meeting with the Minister.
Kgosana’s arrest
But the government had other ideas. When Kgosana arrived for the meeting a few hours later,
he was quickly arrested. The next day the army and police entered Langa and Nyanga in
numbers. Townships residents refused to go to work for weeks and conflicts took place all over
these townships. But the movement had been broken. 1500 people were arrested and within
weeks the townships were under police control. The dramatic events which started on 21 March
1960 had been brought to a close.
What happened to Philip Kgosana?
Kgosana was held by the police until the end of 1960. By then the entire protest movement had
been crushed. In December he was allowed out on bail to visit his family for Christmas. He used
the opportunity to escape to Lesotho. He later lived in Tanzania and Uganda, and worked for
the United Nations. He returned to South Africa in the early 1990s and in 2004 he received an
award from the Western Cape government, for his “courageous leadership and negotiating skills
in preventing a bloodbath on 30 March 1960”.
Short-term consequences of the Sharpeville massacre and Langa march
In the weeks after the Sharpeville massacre, protests continued in some parts of the country,
but the government acted swiftly to crack down on all forms of opposition. It would take 15 years
before mass protests would start up again.
Other protest action around the country
In the ten days following the Sharpeville massacre:
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Protests in Cape Town continued for several days until they were brought to an end on
30 March.
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Other protests took place in Durban on 31 March and 1 April when thousands of Africans
tried to march to town from Cato Manor.
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Some protests took place in Pondoland in the Eastern Cape, and in some smaller towns.
Government crackdown
The government acted more brutally against opposition than it had in the previous ten years:
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On 21 March the police arrested hundreds of people in Sharpeville. The police even
went as far as to raid the hospitals to arrest the wounded.
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On the 30 March a State of Emergency was declared, giving the police and army powers
to arrest anyone they wanted to.
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Around the country 10 000 activists were arrested during April and May.
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Another 20 000 Africans were arrested for pass law offences during April and May.
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On the 8 April 1960 the government banned the ANC and the PAC, making it a criminal
offence to be a member of either organisation.
The Sharpeville Massacre and the Langa March marked a turning point in South African history.
Before Sharpeville there was almost constant opposition to the apartheid laws. Anti-apartheid
activists could expect to make sacrifices, but they were generally not placing their lives at risk.
After Sharpeville, those who wanted to fight apartheid had to do so at the risk of spending their
lives in jail, or of losing their lives altogether.
Ordinary South Africans, many of whom supported the protests of the ANC and the PAC in
previous years, now withdrew into a terrified silence, not daring to take on the might of the
apartheid government.