A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES BY JOSEPH. M. NGOAKETSI (STUDENT NUMBER: 777744) orcid.org 0000-00001-7424-5762 IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN HISTORY University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg Supervised by: Professor S.P. Lekgoathi 2023 i SOLEMN DECLARATION I declare that the thesis titled Shifts, Changes and Continuities in Heritage Commemoration and Memorialisation of the 21 March 1960 Sharpeville Massacre: 1960-2010 is my own work, and that all the resources used or quoted have been duly acknowledged by means of footnotes and complete references, and that I have not previously submitted the thesis for any degree at any other university; neither is it a joint or collaborative work. Joseph Mairomola Ngoaketsi Date: 25/02/2024 ii DEDICATION This doctoral thesis is dedicated to the Sharpeville martyrs who on 21 March 1960 besieged the Sharpeville police station and became victims of colonial apartheid brutality. It is also dedicated to the Sharpeville survivors who still carry with them the physiological and physical wounds of this tragedy, as well as those whose traumatic experiences of the massacre are forgotten or have gone unacknowledged for far too long. Your action of ripping off the humiliating badge of slavery indeed inspired this work. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” Matthew 10:32 Working on the Sharpeville memory, at least for me, needed a long hard think and it really took the best part of my life to get my head around memorialisation and commemoration of the 21 March 1960 Sharpeville Massacre. The journey has been a lengthy, arduous, and at times, lonely process. For this reason, this study would not have been completed without the assistance, support, and encouragement of several people and institutions. My heartfelt gratitude goes to Professor Sekibakiba Peter Lekgoathi, for his unfailing support and infinite patience. In the course of the research journey, he read through long and copious amounts of rough drafts and embarrassing sentences, including those that never made it into this final thesis. Bra Peter believed in me even when I did not think that I would pull through this research. Thank you, Bra Peter, for being a part of this journey. You indeed provided me with unwavering guidance, knowledge, support, friendship and encouragement throughout. I, therefore, declare that without your infinite patience, completing this work would have been even more difficult. The completion of this thesis is indeed a culmination of your efforts which propelled me above my ordinary abilities. Although Bra Peter contributed immensely to the completion of this thesis, the ideas and shortcomings of this work are entirely mine. Special thanks to Ms. Lucia Geyer for investing so much of her time and energy in making this possible by proofreading and editing this work from its proposal phase through to the initial drafts of the thesis, as well as for her continued keen interest in my progress. Special thanks to Ms. Bibi Agnes Assagba; your meticulous processing and editing of draft after draft is a priceless contribution to the completion and submission of this thesis. Those long hours you spent copy- editing and providing editorial assistance are priceless. Special acknowledgment to Prof Mpho Ngoepe who always emphasized to me, “You are swimming with sharks”. Dr. Vusi Tsabedze, Dr. Collence Takaingenhamo Chisita, Dr. Oluwole Durodolu, Dr. Rexwhite Tega Enakrire, Dr. Scholastica Ukwoma, and Prof Adeyinka Telle, Dr. Patrick Rankhumise, Dr. Dalifa Ngobese, and ngoanamme, Prof Thabo Makhalemele, you have been my anchors, and your love and support are highly appreciated. I am thankful to have shared iv this journey with you all. Special acknowledgment to Dr. Samuel Lebese, Dr. France Nkokomane Ntloedibe, Dr. Butholezwe Mtombeni, and Dr. Wendell Moore for always making out time to share their ideas, knowledge, experience, and laughter. I also wish to extend my gratitude and appreciation to the following librarians and archivists: At the Wits University William Cullen Library and Historical Papers, Ms. Gabriele Mohale, Ms. Elizabeth Marima and Ms. Margaret Atsango assisted in identifying obscure archives and books relevant to my theme of study. I am grateful as well to Mrs. Rene Carstens who assisted me greatly, especially in navigating the administrative side of studying at this university. I would like to specially acknowledge Mme Refilwe Matatiele and Sonto Morudu at the Unisa Library’s Research Commons special, for providing a friendly atmosphere; Mme Anri van der Westhuizen and Lufuno Kgamedi, for their friendly assistance in locating and presenting archives; Mme Mankwe Mphuthi and Mapuleng Motsei, librarians at Lindley community libraries where I took my retreats; Ntate Roy Oliphant at the Vanderbijlpark library, for allowing me access to local newspapers when it was not only difficult to do so but also risky due to raging Covid-19 pandemic. Many thanks to Professor Noor Nieftagodien of the Wits History Workshop who provided valuable assistance in the early stages of the process and, most importantly, helped convince me to undertake this project and went on to give constructive guidance and direction along the way. Many thanks to Dr. Andrew MacDonald, Professor. Clive Glaser, Professor Maria Suriano, and Dr. Ali Khangela Hlongwane for their constructive guidance, motivation and unwavering support during the proposal stage of this study. The following colleagues from the Department of Information Science at the University of South Africa are hereby acknowledged for their moral support throughout this journey: Professors Madeline Fombad and Charles Fombad for their constant friendship; Prof Ike Hlongwane, my mentor who reminded me that if I spent four years here at UNISA without getting a doctorate, it would be harder afterward. I am also indebted to my family and friends, too many to mention here, for their care, support, and encouragement throughout the period of this study. I want to acknowledge Dr. George Samiselo (RIP), Dr. Emmanuel Kasongo (RIP), Professor Olusegun Oladipupo Dipeolu (RIP), and Professor Theophilus Mukhuba, who first convinced me that I needed to pursue a doctorate and publish. I thank you all for your keen interest in my academic development which has culminated in the completion of my thesis. I especially want to thank my v mother and brother for their sacrifices in order for me to follow my dreams, and for providing me with the financial support to have the kind of opportunity that they were deprived of. I am grateful to all those who have created time to meet and deliberate on my work with me, including Bra Nicho Ntema, Mme “Gogo” Nhlapo, Ziswe Makaba, and Thami Ka Plaatje who provided a willing ear, listening to my ideas and discussing my thesis with me with such interest, calmness and unparalleled patience. My utmost and sincere gratitude goes to the National Director of the Khulumani Support Group, Dr. Majorie Jobson, for facilitating the data collection process by signing my clearance and being generous with her time and wealth of knowledge on issues advocated by her organisation. I owe a huge and unpayable debt to veteran Sharpeville activists and members of the Khulumani Support Group who spoke to me about their past, especially the focus group members, including Ma Selloane Phetane, Mary Mantsho, and Ntate Nteso and all members of Sharpeville I cannot thank you enough for allowing me into your space even at the “risk” of re-traumatizing you by posing difficult questions. I would like to acknowledge my family and neighbours for their enduring support of me during this doctoral journey and for making its completion possible. Special thanks to Mme Nonkie Mooi, Mmusana, Abu Mokwena, Suzan, Gladys, and Mable Liebenberg and my son Thabiso. I will never be able to repay you or thank you enough for the sacrifice and support you showed me by looking after and closing my mother’s eyes while I was away working on this thesis. I especially would like to thank my wife Asothie Acharrie for accepting the fact that she was seemingly abandoned for the last few years while I sat at the table every night and weekends completing this work and her countless sacrifices to help me get to this point. The financial assistance of the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS), in collaboration with the South African Humanities Deans Association (SAHUDA), towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NIHSS and SAHUDA. vi PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS Aspects of this research project have been published and presented at various conferences and seminars in slightly different forms and focuses including but not limited to the following: Weaving the historical threads in Sharpeville: Memory institutions as a citadel of cultural heritage. International Conference. National Institute of Technology. Rourkela. Odisha. India.(2019).Next Generation Libraries: Emerging Technologies, Community Engagement & future Librarianship.(2000).Ess Ess Publications. New Delhi. Shifts, Changes and Continuities in Heritage Commemoration and Memorialisation of the 21 March 1960 Sharpeville Massacre: 1960-2010. Paper presented to the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS) Virtual Annual National Doctoral Conference. 3-5 November 2020. Changes, shifts, and continuity in the commemoration and memorialisation of Sharpeville massacre in the context of historical amnesia and political distortion. Paper presented to the 5th Social Science and Humanities Scholars in Africa and Centre for African Studies. Summer School. Dakar. Senegal. 15th to 19th August.2002. Dlomo dam-leeuwkuilpan: A revered site of the 21 March 1960 Sharpeville Massacre Environmental Narratives: History, Memory, Trauma. University of Turku. International Symposium. Finland. Turku.(2023). International Symposium, University of Turku, Finland organized by SELMA: Centre for the Study of Storytelling, University of Turku. 21–22 April 2023. Human Rights Day: Grassroots Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic Restrictions in South Africa. In Fridman.O. & S. Gensburger. S (eds.), The COVID-19 Pandemic and Memory. Remembrance, commemoration, and archiving in crisis provide the name of the city where this book was published: Palgrave Macmillan.London.2023. vii ABSTRACT The Sharpeville Massacre was a key turning point in modern South African history. The massacre ended the non-violent civil rights-style political activism and flickered three decades of armed confrontation with the colonial apartheid regime. Most importantly, it became the catalyst for the declaration of apartheid as a crime against humanity by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1966. However, most of the studies on the massacre focus mainly on documenting the events of that day, and very little has been written about the historical re-presentations of the shooting beyond this. This study, therefore, aims to fill the lacuna in the re-presentation and observance of this event. It does so by not only complementing the existing literature but also looking at an area that has been grossly neglected, namely the diverse ways in which the killing has been observed over a period of five decades, starting from the 1960s to 2010. The study employs discourse analysis as well as critical and in-depth analyses of published secondary, historical and archival sources, including newspaper reports and commentaries on the 21 March Sharpeville Day commemorations. These sources are complemented by a large spread, and wide range of biographical sources, unstructured interviews, testimonials, informal discussions, and conversations with key local heritage activist respondents. The focus group consists of members of the Khulumani Support Group at the Sharpeville branch. The findings and conclusions of this study derive from observations of the anniversary commemorations of the massacre by ethnographic participants. The study utilises several theoretical frameworks, while the Life Narrative Interpretative theory of oral history lays the basis for this research venture. As the findings of this thesis bear out, the application of this theory converges oral history and collective memory studies. Other theories used in this study include Maurice Halbwachs’ theory of collective memory, which is located in nostalgia, individual testimony, oral history, tradition, myth, style, language, art, popular culture, and physical landscape. Émile Durkheim’s performance or ritual theory postulates that the past is represented and relived through rituals, and the relationship between the past and the present takes the form of a dramatic (re)presentation. The study observes that cultural rites conducted during memorialisation processes and annual observances of the Sharpeville massacre are marked by human arrangements of performances or viii ritual remembrances. The transitional justice theoretical discourse is applied in the study’s analysis of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission - a socio-political initiative devoted to fact-finding, reconciliation and memory culture. It concludes that memorialisation processes and rituals are communal reflexes for survivors of the Sharpeville Massacre and families of the victims. Contrary to assertions by notable Sharpeville Massacre historians, this day was not observed between 1964 and 1984, despite an international commemorative tradition that developed beginning from 1966. The study observes that during the 1960s, the Human Rights Society, an affiliate of the National Union of South African Students (NUSAS), commemorated Sharpeville Day even at the height of state repression. It demonstrates that it was the Black Consciousness Movement family of organisations that popularised the commemoration of Sharpeville Day, calling it Heroes Day during the 1970s. The observance of this day took the form of church services, cemetery visitations and political rallies. The study notes that with the formation of the Congress Movement-aligned civic structure in the form of the United Democratic Front, Sharpeville Day was used as a platform to openly defy the apartheid government and undermine its institutions. The 1990s was a period of political transition in South Africa, and the study analyses commemorations of the Sharpeville Massacre during this decade. In the context of the unbanning of liberation movements, observances of this day took place in a more politically tolerable landscape. During the first half of this decade, commemorations of Sharpeville Massacre revealed the deep-seated political and ideological differences between the African National Congress and Pan Africanist Congress former liberation movements turned political parties in the early 1990s after their unbanning. The study observes that this day was used during this period to garner support for the upcoming elections in 1994. Following the establishment of the Government of National Unity, the hegemonic impulses of the African National Congress overrode long-held traditions of how Sharpeville Day was observed. The study highlights that from the year 1995, 21 March started to be observed as an official public holiday, later transforming into Human Rights Day, instead of being a solemn commemoration, as was the case before the democratic dispensation. The study further observes that during this decade, court-like restorative justice bodies, such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, created a theatrical environment for victims of gross human rights violations. The ritualistic oral testimonies of those who appeared constituted a ix memorialisation process. Lastly, the study reveals that post-1994, Sharpeville commemorations possess distinct characteristics at the core of which are distortions of history, the watering down of other narratives and contributions, selective amnesia and the silencing of other voices on the part of the governing party. There are further contestations, grand narratives, commemorations, counter- commemorations and counter-narratives regarding the memory of Sharpeville by both the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress. In terms of material culture, the study highlights how this tangible feature of Sharpeville’s memory is characterised by official memorials and counter-memorials. x TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGES SOLEMN DECLARATION ........................................................................................................... i DEDICATION................................................................................................................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. iii ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... vii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... xiv ABBREVIATIONS ..................................................................................................................... xvii CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 1 SHIFTS, CHANGES, CONTINUITIES, AND/OR RAPTURES OF MEMORIALISATION AND COMMEMORATION OF 21ST MARCH 1960 SHARPEVILLE MASSACRE: 1960-2016 ................................................................................... 1 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 A Case for the Observance of the Sharpeville Massacre ....................................................... 6 1.2 Key Research Questions ...................................................................................................... 12 1.3 Research Statement .............................................................................................................. 13 1.4 Theoretical Framework Upon Which the Research is Constructed ..................................... 15 1.5 Review of Related Literature ............................................................................................... 18 1.5.1 South African Literature/Perspectives on The Sharpeville Massacre 18 1.5.2 Memorialisation and Commemorations: A Global Context .................................................. 25 1.5.3 The Holocaust Commemorations .......................................................................................... 26 1.5.4 Memorialisation and Commemorations: African and South African Contexts ................... 28 1.5.5 The South African Heritage Experience ................................................................................ 30 1.5.6 Post-Apartheid Heritage Commemorative Architecture ........................................................ 33 1.5.7 Heritagisation and Commodification of the Sharpeville Memory ......................................... 36 1.6 Research Methodology ........................................................................................................ 40 1.7 Limitations and Positionality ............................................................................................... 49 1.8 Ethics and Ethical Considerations ....................................................................................... 52 1.9 Structure of the Study ............................................................................................................... 54 CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................................... 57 SHARPEVILLE MASSACRE: MEMORIALISATION AND COMMEMORATION 1960-1969 ....................................................................................................................................... 57 xi 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 57 2.2 Sharpeville in Context............................................................................................................... 60 2.3 Pass Laws and African Resistance: An Overview .................................................................... 71 2.4 The Sharpeville Massacre and tts Aftermath ............................................................................ 74 2.5 Memorialisation and Commemorations In The 1960s .............................................................. 96 2.6 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 116 CHAPTER THREE .................................................................................................................... 119 COMMEMORATIONS AND OTHER OBSERVANCES BY THE NATIONAL UNION OF SOUTH AFRICAN STUDENTS AND THE BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS MOVEMENT: 1970-1979 .......................................................................................................... 119 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 119 3.2 Observance Of The Sharpeville Memory by Nusas in The 1970s ..................................... 122 3.3 Sharpeville Massacre Commemoration and Censorship ................................................... 162 3.4 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 166 CHAPTER FOUR ....................................................................................................................... 168 SHARPEVILLE DAY COMMEMORATIONS BY BLACK CONSCIOUSNESS- ALIGNED ORGANISATIONS AND CONGRESS MOVEMENT-ALIGNED FORMATIONS: 1980-1989 ....................................................................................................... 168 4.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 168 4.2 Commemorations by Students In The 1980s ..................................................................... 172 4.3 Commemorations by the Black Consciousness Movement ............................................... 187 4.4 Commemorations by the Congress-Aligned Movement.................................................... 212 4.5 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 223 CHAPTER FIVE ........................................................................................................................ 225 COMMEMORATIONS AND MEMORIALISATION DURING THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD: 1990–1994 ................................................................................................................... 225 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 225 5.2 Commemorating the Sharpeville Massacre in the Early 1990s: Workers' Unions, Student Movements and Political Organisations .......................................................................... 229 5.3 Commemorations by the Pan Africanist Congress ............................................................ 243 5.4 Commemorations by the African National Congress, the State and Aligned Movements .................................................................................................................................... 253 5.5 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 270 xii CHAPTER SIX ........................................................................................................................... 272 CONTESTATIONS, COMMEMORATIONS AND COUNTER- COMMEMORATIONS: 1995 to 1999...................................................................................... 272 6.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 272 6.2 Non-Political and Grassroots Forms of the Sharpeville Day Commemoration ................. 282 6.3 The Anc and State-Led Commemorations ......................................................................... 289 6.4 The Pac’s Sharpeville-Langa Day Counter-Commemorations: 1995 To 1999 ................. 297 6.5 Other Parties and Observance of the Sharpeville Memory ..................................................... 304 6.6 The Khulumani Support Group and the Sharpeville Memory ........................................... 308 6.7 Truth And Reconciliation Commission and the Sharpeville Memory............................... 311 6.8 South Africa’s New Constitution and the Memory of the Sharpeville Massacre .............. 326 6.9 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 336 CHAPTER SEVEN ..................................................................................................................... 338 COMMEMORATIONS AND COUNTER-COMMEMORATIONS, MEMORY SITES AND MATERIAL CULTURE: 2000-2010 ............................................................................... 338 7.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 338 7.2 Sharpeville Memory and State-Led Commemorations ...................................................... 339 7.3 Commemorations And Counter-Memorials by the Pac, Bcm-Aligned Organisations and Other Political Parties ............................................................................................................ 356 7.4 Sharpeville Memory and Material Culture ............................................................................. 375 7.5. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 391 CHAPTER EIGHT ..................................................................................................................... 394 8.1 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 394 8.2 Areas for Further Study ..................................................................................................... 401 BIBLIOGRAPHY ....................................................................................................................... 403 Primary Sources ............................................................................................................................ 403 Archival Sources ........................................................................................................................... 403 National Archives and Records Services of South Africa ........................................................ 403 Historical Papers - Wits University ........................................................................................... 403 Oral Interviews and Informal Conversations ................................................................................ 408 Secondary Sources ........................................................................................................................ 409 Published Books ........................................................................................................................ 409 xiii Book Chapters ........................................................................................................................... 418 Unpublished Thesis and Dissertations ...................................................................................... 420 Journal Articles ......................................................................................................................... 427 APPENDICES ............................................................................................................................. 461 xiv LIST OF FIGURES MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1. Map of Africa showing Johannesburg and Sharpeville 2.1. Some of the demolished houses at the Top Location. 2.2. Part of Dlomo Dam at Putswastene section. 2.3. The tombstone of Nyakane Tsolo at Vuka Cemetery 2.4. Burial ceremony of the 1992 Boipatong Massacre victims. 2.5. Burial rites of Covid-19 dead at Phelindaba cemetery in 2020. 2.6. Robert Sobukwe and PAC members at the Orlando Police Station. 2.7. Job Mahlomola Tsolo (PAC branch chairman). 2.8. Nyakane Tsolo (PAC branch secretary). 2.9. Protestors at Sharpeville police station before the shooting on 21 March 1960. 2.10. Weapons, mainly walking sticks collected by police after the shooting. 2.11. Scene of defiance: demonstrators burning passes. 2.12. An open field where coffins were brought for funerary rites. The school nearby is Sediba Primary School, where Nyakane Tsolo attended his elementary and primary classes and where the first commemoration was held in 1973. 2.14 & 2.15. “Hlala kwabafileyo”- Graves believed to be of some of the victims of 21 March 1960 who could not be buried at Phelindaba cemetery. 2.16. Mass burial service of 34 victims of the Sharpeville massacre 2.17. The lonesome PAC flag at the burial of the Sharpeville Massacre. 3.1. A makeshift memorial commemorating the Sharpeville Massacre at the library lawns of the University of Witwatersrand in 1972. 3.2. Nkutseou Matsau.[1953-2019] affectionately known as “Skaap ”by Sharpeville residents and his BCM comrades. 3.3. Sediba Primary School in Sharpeville. 3.4. Police arresting Jairus Kgokong at Johannesburg Park Sation in 1976. 3.5. Memorial grave of Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe in Graaff- Reinet 4.1. Wits University students at the library lawn in commemoration of Sharpeville Day 4.2 University of the Witwatersrand students chasing a suspected police informer. 4.3 Derek Hadley was assaulted by students commemorating Sharpeville Day. xv 4.4. Makeshift cross memorials symbolising the Sharpeville Massacre. 4.5. University of Witwatersrand students commemorating the Sharpeville Massacre at the university Campus in 1987 4.6. University of the Witwatersrand students commemorating Sharpeville Day (1988). 4.7. University of the Witwatersrand students staged a demonstration on 21 March 1988 to commemorate the 28th anniversary of Sharpeville Day. 4.8. Witwatersrand University student demonstrating to commemorate the 28th anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre at Jan Smuts Avenue. 4.9.Witwatersrand University students demonstration during the 1989 Sharpeville Day anniversary. 4.10. Members of Azanyu cleaning graves of the Sharpeville Massacre victims. 4.11. The billboard announcing the coming of a new green identity document for all South Africans. 4.12. President P.W. Botha receiving the freedom of Sebokeng and Sharpeville. 4.13. President P.W. Botha and Lekoa Mayor, Esau Mahlatsi. 4.14 Three under-18 Katlehong youths showing bruises inflicted by South African Security forces during the Katlehong stay-away to commemorate the Sharpeville Day in 1988. 5.1. Nelson Mandela wearing the Isithwalandwe. 6.1. Nelson Mandela laying a wreath. 6.2. President Nelson Mandela proclaiming the new South African Constitution. 6.3. Cyril Ramaphosa raising a signed copy of the Constitution. 6.4. A signed copy of the New Constitution. 6.5. The cartoon by Zapiro depicts Jacob Zuma violating the justice system and the spirit of the Constitution. 7.1. Duma Khumalo standing at the first illegal memorial dedicated to the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre victims and the Vaal Uprising of 1984 victims following his release from jail in 1991. 7.2. The commemorative plaque of the constitution at the Constitution Square in Vereeniging. 7.3. PAC-installed memorial at Phelindaba Cemetery in Sharpeville 7.4. The graves of 69 Sharpeville Massacre victims. 7.5. Directional street post. 7.6. A memorial stone unveiled by Nelson Mandela in 1996. 7.7. The front entrance of the Sharpeville Memorial also the Sharpeville Human Rights Precinct xvi 7.8. A line in the pathway links the site of confrontation with a memorial wall at the far end of the garden and 69 pillars to represent inaccurate and distorted number of the dead, each inscribed with a victim’s name. 7.9. Memorial wall at the far end of the Garden of Remembrance. 7.10 The boulder at the entrance to the Sharpeville Human Rights Precinct 7.11. Old lady attending a special service for six Sharpeville on death row 7.12. Sharpeville Exhibition Centre. 7.13. A steel plaque “I Remember Sharpeville” by Sipho Sydney Sempala. 7.14. Vandalised memorial at the Sharpeville Human Rights precinct. xvii ABBREVIATIONS AAM Anti-Apartheid Movement ACDP African Christian Democratic Party AIDS Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome ANC African National Congress ANCYL African National Congress Youth League APC African People's Convention APF Anti-Privatisation Forum APLA Azanian People's Liberation Army AZANYU Azanian National Youth Unity AZAPO Azanian People's Organisation AZASO Azanian Students' Organisation AZAYO Azanian Youth Organisation BC Black Consciousness BCM Black Consciousness Movement BEE Black Economic Empowerment BLA Black Lawyers Association BPC Black People's Convention BSO Black Students Organisation BSS Black Students Society BWL Bantu Women’s League CODESA Convention for a Democratic South Africa COP ` Congress of the People COSAS Congress of South African Students COSATU Congress of South African Trade Unions CUSA Council of Unions of South Africa DA Democratic Alliance DISA ` Digital Innovation South Africa DPSC Detainees Parents’ Support Committee DSAC Department of Sport, Arts and Culture ELM Emfuleni Local Municipality xviii FEDSAW Federation of South Africa Women FTW Federation of Transvaal Women GEAR Growth Employment and Redistribution GPG ` Gauteng Provincial Government HIV Human Immunodeficiency Virus HRC Human Rights Commission HRV Human Rights Violation HSRC Human Sciences Research Council IBA Independent Broadcasting Authority ID Independent Democrats IFP Inkatha Freedom Party KSG Khulumani Support Group KZN KwaZulu Natal MDM Mass Democratic Movement MEC Member of Executive Committee MEDUNSA Medical University of South Africa MIRA Middleburg Residents Association MISCO Middleburg Students Council MIWO Middleburg Women Organisation MIYCO Middleburg Youth Congress MSM Moderate Students Movement MWASA Media Workers Association NF National Forum NNP New National Party NPSL National Professional Soccer League NUMSA National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa NUSAS National Union of South African Students PAC Pan African Congress PASMA Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania PAYCO Pan Africanist Youth Congress of Azania PEBCO Port Elizabeth Black Civic Organisation PWV Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vaal RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme RMC Release Mandela Campaign xix SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation SACC South African Council of Churches SACP South African Communist Party SADET South African Democracy Education Trust SAHA South African History Archives SAHRA South African Heritage Resources Agency SANDF South African Defense Force SANFA South African National Football Association SAPA South African Press Association SAPS South African Police Services SASO South African Students' Organization SCR Sharpeville Concerned Residents SDM Sedibeng District Municipality SDU Self Defense Unit SHRP Sharpeville Human Rights Precinct SOPA Socialist Party of Azania SRC Students' Representative Council SRDA Sedibeng Reconstruction and Development Agency SYC Sharpeville Youth Club TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission UDF United Democratic Front UDM United Democratic Movement UN United Nations UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization UWC University of Western Cape UYCO Uitenhage Youth Congress VCA Vaal Civic Association WCSO Western Cape Students Congress 1 CHAPTER ONE SHIFTS, CHANGES, CONTINUITIES, AND/OR RAPTURES OF MEMORIALISATION AND COMMEMORATION OF 21ST MARCH 1960 SHARPEVILLE MASSACRE: 1960- 2016 Sharpeville: A new era of struggle - “… We are fully aware of the nature and size of our task….” Robert Sobukwe1 1.0 INTRODUCTION The Business Day of 26th March 2013, published an article by Palesa Morudu titled “Sharpeville’s history, not the PAC’s sole heritage”. Morudu wrote the piece after reading a “tweet”2 by Zwelinzima Vavi, stating that “the laying of wreaths by the DA was a very clever electioneering” strategy and political tactic. Neil Coleman followed suit by writing that “it is utter insincerity for the DA to try to steal struggle heritage when it still preserves apartheid socio-economic foundations”.3 Morudu, Vavi, and Coleman expressed these sentiments upon observing the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) leaders – among them Helen Zille, Lindiwe Mazibuko, Mmusi Maimane, and John Moodey – laying wreaths for the victims of the “Positive Action Campaign”, led by the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), which resulted in what became known as the Sharpeville Massacre of 21st March 1960 (Sharpeville Massacre hereinafter) at the Sharpeville Human Rights Precinct (SHRP hereinafter).4 In her article, Morudu is of the view that the notion that opposition leaders and supporters cannot lay claim to South Africa’s history of struggle is flawed and goes 1 South African History Online, Speeches of Sobukwe. 26-Apr-2012. https://aplapoqo.wordpress.com/. (Accessed on the 20.01.2022). 2 A “tweet” is a post made on the social media application called Twitter. 3 P. Morudu, Sharpeville’s history not the PAC’s sole heritage. Perspective. Rhodes University. 26 March 2013. https://www.ru.ac.za/perspective/2013archive/sharpevilleshistorynotthepacssoleheritage.html. (Accessed on the 28.07.2021). Zwelinzima Vavi and Neil Coleman were senior members of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) during the 2013 Sharpeville massacre. For more see, J. Seekings and H. Matisonn, The continuing politics of basic income in South Africa. The Centre for Social Science Research (CSSR). Working paper No. 286. 2010.p.1-30. 4 In this thesis, “Sharpeville Human Rights Precinct” memorial complex, referred to as “Monumenteng” by Sharpeville residents, is one of six heritage sites in Sharpeville dedicated to the victims of the 21st March 1960 Sharpeville Massacre. It was constructed between 2001 and 2002 and inaugurated on the 21st of March 2002. It consists of a Garden of Remembrance, a South African Heritage Resource Agency (SAHRA) memorial boulder, a museum structure, known as the Sharpeville Exhibition Centre, a library, and the original memorial stones built before its erection. Besides the 21st March memorial, the complex hosts two other commemorative events: i.e. the 1984 Vaal Uprising and the signing of the 1996 Constitution. https://aplapoqo.wordpress.com/ https://www.ru.ac.za/perspective/2013archive/sharpevilleshistorynotthepacssoleheritage.html.%20%20(Accessed 2 against the Freedom Charter.5 She further stated that the notion that one’s political opponents are “thieves of our history” could easily lead to unintended consequences, like the creation of “no-go areas”.6 However, Morudu's statement is disingenuous as the PAC and BCM family of organisations were not signatories to the Freedom Charter in 1955 and should thus not be expected to abide by its principles. The above introductory excerpt points to public debates surrounding the Sharpeville Massacre observance; its meaning, significance, place in the contradictory historical narrative, divisive identity politics, contested historical heritage and the direction of the continuing liberation process in post-1994 South Africa.7 Despite the repressive measures of the apartheid government prior to 1994, the Sharpeville Massacre has historically been observed as Sharpeville-Langa Day. Since 1995, 21 March has been hallowed as “Human Rights” Day and a public holiday. This day, since then has somehow been devalued as little focus is given to commemorating the 21 March 1960 massacre, but celebration of human rights. Unathi Sonwabile Henama and Lwazi Apleni observes that observance of this day in Sharpeville is always an embarrassment for the ANC- government because there are sections of the political opponents of the ANC that feel that the Sharpeville Massacre commemoration and its associated material culture presents a skewed reflection of history about what happened at Sharpeville.8 5 According to R. Isaacs, & B. van Der Merwe, Celebrating 60 years of the Freedom Charter: The identification of two signed copies of the Freedom Charter that forms part of the national estate, South African Museums Association Bulletin. Vol.38.(2016).p.16. Freedom Charter is a document of monumental historical and political significance in South Africa, as it was a statement of core principles as a founding document of the South African Congress Alliance, which was adopted in Kliptown, Soweto, on 26 June 1955. For more on the Freedom Charter, see G. Marcus, The Freedom Charter: A blueprint for a democratic South Africa. the paper was published by the Centre for Applied Legal Studies as an occasional paper no. 9 June. 1985. University of Witwaterand.file:///C:/Users/ngoakmj/Downloads/Working%20Paper%20Number%208.pdf (Accessed on the 10.08.2021). 6 P. Morudu, Sharpeville’s history not the PAC’s sole heritage. Perspective. Rhodes University. 26 March 2013. https://www.ru.ac.za/perspective/2013archive/sharpevilleshistorynotthepacssoleheritage.html (Accessed on the 13.08.2021). 7 See, A.K. Hlongwane, The Commemoration of Sharpeville. http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/commemoration- sharpeville-extract-paper-ali-hlongwane.(Accessed on the 26.07.2021). 8 U.S.Henama, & L. Apleni, “Heritage Preservation for Tourism Consumption in The Global South: The Case of South Africa and St. Helena in The Atlantic Ocean." Culture, People and Technology: The Driving Forces for Tourism Cities Proceedings of 8th ITSA Biennial Conference. (2020).p.315-316. file:///C:/Users/ngoakmj/Downloads/Working%20Paper%20Number%208.pdf https://www.ru.ac.za/perspective/2013archive/sharpevilleshistorynotthepacssoleheritage.html http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/commemoration-sharpeville-extract-paper-ali-hlongwane http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/commemoration-sharpeville-extract-paper-ali-hlongwane 3 The contestation over the sanitising of this day and the way it is being observed post 1994 has, according to Khangela Ali Hlongwane and Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu, given rise to rich memorial debate surrounding political and heritage ownership of Sharpeville memory.9 Therefore, the primary aim of this thesis is to explore the complex, multifaceted nature of historical memories, (re)presentation, re-construction and issues of identity formation through various forms of memorialisation of the Sharpeville Massacre. The study further deals with living partakers and witnesses who carry subjective hurts, anger, political perceptions and anguish. The memorialisation process is described in this thesis as a search for meaning and an expression of grieving where individuals come together to undertake the ritual of mourning.10 It is explicitly for survivors and relatives of victims still traumatised not only by an inability to integrate their experience, but also the lack of will to communicate the complete catastrophic knowledge to others, thereby caught between the compulsion to bear witness and the impossibility of doing so.11 Memorialisation process further establishes frameworks of history in order to ensure their future does not contain the same fate.12 Its expression can be found in the phrase “Never Again”13. According to Ali Khangela Hlongwane, this theme epitomises a fortitude to think of what occurred in such a way that the killings in question should not be repeated.14 For example, at the entrance of Sharpeville Human Rights Precinct, there is graffiti of hanging nooses and the face of a person in the background with a “Never Again” signature at its bottom right,15 highlighting a painful incident 9 A. K. Hlongwane, & S. M. Ndlovu, Remembering Sharpeville Day and Fashioning Contested National Narratives: The Sharpeville Memorial Precinct and the Langa Memorial. In A. K. Hlongwane, & S. M. Ndlovu, Public History and Culture in South Africa Memorialisation and Liberation Heritage Sites in Johannesburg and the Township Space. Palgrave Macmillan. Switzerland. Cham.(2019).p.79. 10 J. Winter, Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning: The Great War in European Cultural History. (1995). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. In S.L. Steele, Memorialisation and the Land of the Eternal Spring: Performative practices of memory on the Rwandan genocide. Passages: law, aesthetics, politics.(2006).p.3. 11 C. Caruth, Trauma: Explorations in Memory Baltimore. Johns Hopkins University Press.(1995). In S.L. Steele, “Memorialisation and the Land of the Eternal Spring: Performative practices of memory on the Rwandan genocide”. Passages: law, aesthetics, politics.(2006).p.3 12 B. De Bortoli, “Post-Conflict Memorialisation in Rwanda and South Africa”. Australian Institute of International Affaris.26 May 2014. https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/news-item/post-conflict-memorialisation-in-rwanda-and- south-africa/ .(Accessed on the 18.08.2021). 13 According to D. I. Popescu, & T. Schult, “Performative Holocaust commemoration in the 21st century”. Holocaust Studies. Vol.26.No.2.(2020).p.135. The “Never Again” mantra or pledge belongs to the standard repertoire of Holocaust commemoration, and it is currently expressed in a wide range of settings such as official commemorations, memorials, and museums as well as school curricula globally. 14 A. K. Hlongwane, “The Historical Development of the Commemoration of the June 16, 1976, Soweto Students’ Uprisings: A Study of Re-representation, Commemoration, and Collective Memory”. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Witwaterand. Johannesburg.(2015).p.31. 15 Z. Buthelezi, Retracing the struggle route at the Sharpeville Memorial. Gauteng Tourism Authority. 04 April 2016. https://www.gauteng.net/blog/retracing-the-struggle-route-at-the-sharpeville-memorial. (Accessed on the 18.08.2021). https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/news-item/post-conflict-memorialisation-in-rwanda-and-south-africa/ https://www.internationalaffairs.org.au/news-item/post-conflict-memorialisation-in-rwanda-and-south-africa/ https://www.gauteng.net/blog/retracing-the-struggle-route-at-the-sharpeville-memorial 4 in South Africa’s past. These words were also used by Nelson Mandela in 1994 in his first speech to the nation.16 According to one lexicon, its definition, as opposed to memorialisation, is “to honour and preserve the memory of something for all eternity”.17 According to Brian Conway, social groups mobilise to represent the past to themselves and to others. It, therefore, relates to what people do in a communal way and in public contexts. Sabine Marschall argues that it serves not just to remember the past and honour the victims, but also to form consciousness and establish collective identity among the living.18 The working definition of commemoration in this thesis means a set of narratives and practices that draw together individual memory, collective grief, regular ritual, aesthetic representation. It includes its dynamic combination of space, sensory experience, affect, expressive and material culture.19 It can also involve festive celebrations as seen in the post-1994 state-led observances of the massacre, a tradition followed by the governing party in the form of the ANC and its alliance partners such as the South African Communist party and the Congress of South African Trade Unions. It is further conveyed and sustained within the ritual performance of political speeches.20 This study traces the historical development of the way in which Sharpeville Day has been observed and how it has changed in terms of traditions, re-constitution, and expressive and material cultures. The focus is on private forms of memorialisation by victims’ relatives and the low-key commemoration activities of the 1960s when this day was not openly observed. It was followed by different traditions such as demonstrations, protests, political speeches, and enactments by both the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) and the ANC family of affiliates from the late 1960s to 1980s, respectively.21 The focus expands to include the transitional period, characterised by the unbanning of liberation movements in the 1990s, as well as the state’s master narrative and counter- commemorations of this massacre in the post-apartheid dispensation. Lastly, the material culture associated with this incident is also analysed. 16 M. B. Mhlauli, E. Salani, & R. Mokotedi, “Understanding apartheid in South Africa through the racial contract”. International Journal of Asian Social Science, Vol.5. No.4.(2015).p.203-204. 17 J.T.Baumel, "In Everlasting Memory”: Individual and Communal Holocaust Commemoration in Israel”. Israel Affairs. Vol.1.No.3.(1995).p.149. 18 S. Marschall, “Visualizing memories: The Hector Pieterson Memorial in Soweto”. Visual Anthropology. Vol.19.No.2.(2006).p.149. 19 S. Sumartojo, “Commemorative atmospheres: Memorial sites, collective events and the experience of national identity”. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. Vol.41.No.4.(2016).p.542. 20 J. S. Damico, & L. Lybarger, “Commemoration, Testimony, and Protest in Argentina: An Exploration of Response and Responsibilities”. The Journal of Literature, Literacy, and the Arts, Research Strand. Vol.3.No.1.(2016).p.15. 21 It must be noted that these affiliate movements became agents for change in South Africa after the banning of liberation movements in the 1960s. 5 The context of the study is, therefore, the observance of this day within South African borders by “progressive” or “above-ground” organisations (as opposed to “underground”)s,, particularly students, labour, youth movements as well as the role of churches where evident during the period under investigation. This was prior to the 1990s when liberation movements were banned within the country and operating only in exile. The views of the ordinary residents of Sharpeville are analysed to determine what the political parties’ heated claims and counterclaims of ownership mean to the residents. The views of survivors and victims’ descendants which have, until recently, not received proper attention are also analysed to establish what it means to have a personal experience turned into a national event.22 The choice of the research period is significant. Besides the fact that Sharpeville has been included in the Resistance and Liberation National Heritage Route, in 2016 Sharpeville Massacre memory spaces were declared national heritage sites, thereby gaining governmental protection and preservation status. The Sharpeville Massacre is also the most revered incident with more memorials than any other political event, where all these memorials are erected within a radius of less than 10 kilometres.23 There are further ongoing efforts and a submission to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to declare the entire township a World Heritage Site. 22 A. K. Hlongwane, The Commemoration of Sharpeville. http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/commemoration-sharpeville- extract-paper-ali-hlongwane. (Accessed on 29.08.2021). 23 Interview with Nicho Ntema. Sharpeville. 21 March 2020. http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/commemoration-sharpeville-extract-paper- http://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/commemoration-sharpeville-extract-paper- 6 Map.1.1. Map of Africa showing Johannesburg and Sharpeville. https://melbourneblogger.blogspot.com/2021/03/sharpeville-massacre-in-south-africa.html. (Accessed 28 April 2023). 1.1 A CASE FOR THE OBSERVANCE OF THE SHARPEVILLE MASSACRE Several factors motivate the choice of observance of the Sharpeville Massacre over two other commemorative anniversaries happening within Sharpeville and its surrounds. Firstly, in many accounts, the Sharpeville Massacre was a key turning point for contemporary South African history.24 In his autobiography A Long Walk to Freedom (1994), Nelson Mandela writes: “This massacre marked a break with the epoch of peaceful demonstrations, which had its origins in Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha campaign”.25 In describing the events of that day, Kgalema 24 S. Dubow, “Were there political alternatives in the wake of the Sharpeville-Langa violence in South Africa:1960?”. Journal of African History. No.56.(2015).p.119. 25 N. Mandela, A long walk to freedom: The autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Abacus. London.(1994). In T. Ntlemeza, “Demonstrations on 21 March 1960: A view from the Western Cape. The Thinker. Vol.50.No.4.(2013).p.46. https://melbourneblogger.blogspot.com/2021/03/sharpeville-massacre-in-south-africa.html 7 Motlanthe26 said, “Sharpeville and Langa Massacres were a tipping point in that they served to trigger off deep revulsion and disgust both locally and internationally against the apartheid government.”27 Reflecting on the killing at Sharpeville, Pierre Nora remarks; “No event since World War II has been fully assimilable to a unified national memory.”28 Secondly, the Sharpeville Massacre was a seminal incident in the dark history of apartheid. It continues to resonate in historic memory as an iconic symbol of the apartheid regime’s ruthlessness and of the popular struggle against racial subjugation.29 Philip Frankel argues that the Sharpeville Massacre continues to occupy the emotional heights of anti-apartheid struggle in a way that no person or place has superseded for generations. It further has a unique capacity to evoke worldwide recognition even among people with little other knowledge about the struggle against apartheid.30 Within the South African borders, it started the true beginning of hostilities and other provocations resulting in both the ANC and the PAC forming armed wings to fight for the freedom of Africans against the tyranny of colonial apartheid.31 Thirdly, the onrush of the Sharpeville Massacre was for many years a global media sensation and as such provided a strong and simple narrative. Father Patrick Noonan recalls: “…The foreign media normally get it right; they came and asked the right questions. Mallory Saleson from the Voice of America never misses 21st March Sharpeville Day….”32 Rob Skinner (2010) argues that the massacre marked a definitive moment in the formation of the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM). He contends that the Sharpeville Massacre and the apartheid regime’s draconian response resulted in a fast-tracked internationalisation of anti-apartheid activism. Political refugees became essential figures in the formation of anti-apartheid networks in 26 Kgalema Motlanthe served as president of South Africa from 2008-2009 and deputy president from 2009-2014. For more on Motlanthe, see E. Harvey, Kgalema Motlanthe: A Political Biography. Jacana Media.(Pty).Ltd.Johannesburg.(2013). 27 Address by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe at the Human Rights Day Celebration, 21 March 2010. In The Thinker. Vol.50.(2013).p.46. 28 P.Nora, & L. Kritzman, Realms of memory: The construction of the French past. Vol. 3. New York: Columbia University Press. (1998). In K. Wells, “Symbolic Capital and Material Inequalities: Memorializing Class and “Race” in the Multicultural City”. Space and Culture. Vol.10.No.2. (2007).p.202. 29 S. Dubow, Apartheid. 1948-1994.Oxford University Press.Oxford.(2014).p.74. 30 P.Frankel, An Ordinary Atrocity: Sharpeville and Its Massacre. Yale University Press. New Haven. 2001).p.4. 31 S.Ellis, “The Genesis of the ANC's Armed Struggle in South Africa 1948–1961”. Journal of Southern African Studies.Vol.37.No.4.(2011).p.661. 32 P.Noonan, They’re Burning the Churches: The Final Dramatic Events That Scuttled Apartheid. Jacana Media.(Pty).Ltd.Johannesburg.(2011).p.114. https://www.amazon.com/Ebrahim-Harvey/e/B00E6I43SM/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1 8 Europe, North America and Africa.33 Within the United Nations (UN), the Sharpeville Massacre marked a turning point in the global efforts against apartheid.34 The UN regarded the massacre as disproportionate to anything that the demonstrators had done.35 From the mid-1960s, racial discrimination in South Africa became “one of the major preoccupations of the UN system”.36 On the sixth anniversary (1966) of the Sharpeville Massacre, the UN designated 21st March as International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.37 Fourthly, the Sharpeville Massacre overshadowed one of the worst mining tragedies to ever happen in Africa.38 On the 21st of January, 1960, the Coalbrook mine disaster occurred, with 435 miners perishing when a huge section of the mine collapsed a few kilometres from Sharpeville.39 Furthermore, Sharpeville continues to get the lion’s share of attention in commemorative discourses in South Africa, although there was a massacre in Langa on the 21st of March, 1985, where at least twenty mourners were killed in what became known as the Langa Massacre.40 Fifthly, the fact that the TRC selected the Sharpeville Massacre as the starting point of its work cannot be overlooked as it is also a form of commemoration - a “negative commemoration,”41 Charles Taylor argues that this form of commemoration is associated with a valorisation of previously marginal voices, creating occasions for their stories to be told and whereby individual testament has become the overriding repertoire for the act of regret.42 He further contends that politics of negative commemoration is inseparable from politics of victimhood and the “victim consciousness” attached to it. Taylor further posits that truth commissions are occasions wherein 33 R. Skinner, The Foundations of Anti-Apartheid Liberal Humanitarians and Transnational Activists in Britain and the United States, c.1919–64. Palgrave Macmillan.London.(2010).p.157. 34 I. J. Gassama, “Reaffirming Faith in the Dignity of Each Human Being: The United Nations, NGO’s and Apartheid”. Fordham International Law Journal.Vol.19.(1996).p.1483. 35 S. C. Jansen, & B. Martin, “Exposing and opposing censorship: Backfire dynamics in freedom-of-speech struggles”. Pacific Journalism Review.Vol.10.No.1.(2004).p.31. 36 R. Schifter, “Human Rights at the United Nations: The South African Precedent”. American University Journal of International Law and Policy. Vol.8.(1993). In Dubow.S,“The United Nations and the Rhetoric of Race and Rights”. Journal of Contemporary History. Vol 43.No.1.(2008).p.48. 37 K. Wells, “Memorializing Class and “Race” in the Multicultural City”. Space and Culture.Vol.10.No.2.(2007).p.202. 38 K. Sheth, Worst Mining Disasters in Human History. 25 April 2017. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/worst- mining-disasters-in-human-history.html. (Accessed 26 on the 26.08.2021). 39 A. Cobley, “Powering Apartheid: The Coalbrook Mine Disaster of 1960”. South African Historical Journal. Vol.72.No.1.(2020).p.80. 40 R. Thornton, "The shooting at Uitenhage, 1985, South Africa, 1985: The context and interpretation of violence”. American Anthologist. Vol.17.No.2.(1990).p.217. 41 C. Taylor, “Justice, Memory and Inclusion,” paper presented at Global Imaginaries Symposium, Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Witwatersrand, 2002. In Posel.D, “History as Confession: The Case of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission”. Public Culture. Vol.20.No.1.(2008).p.123. 42 Ibid.p.123. https://www.worldatlas.com/contributor/khushboo-sheth https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/worst-mining-disasters-in-human-history.html https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/worst-mining-disasters-in-human-history.html 9 negative commemoration can route its discourses and ethical imperatives into the politics of fledgling democracies seeking to come to terms with recent histories of intensely violent and divisive conflict.43 Sixthly, South Africa in 1994 saw the advent of a “Memory Boom,”44 symptomatic of a society that has emerged from years of conflict.45 A significant post-1994 feature of South African cultural life has been the rise of commemorations manifesting in new monuments and memorials, museums, archives and historical exhibitions and national memory cultures. There has also been a deliberate move by the ANC government of declaring landmarks of historic significance as liberation heritage sites. As Jay Winter has observed, “State sponsored commemoration is a politically sanctioned and politically funded rite of remembering in public adjusted to a publicly or politically approved narrative.”46 Drawing from Robert Hewison (1987), Sabine Marschall argues that South Africa’s obsession with heritage involving not only the preservation, but sometimes actual recreation of the past is in fact a global phenomenon that characterises the contemporary era.47 Lastly, there is the structural development of historical consciousness in relation to the consciousness of time, transition, cause and effect, time, and development.48 In this regard, Ali Khangela Hlongwane and Sifiso Ndlovu provide an example of how the Hector Peterson Museum in 2007 hosted a youth workshop with “Human Rights” as its theme. Participants were asked to make a short original documentary on what 21st March 1960 Sharpeville Day meant to them. Both scholars observe that none of the participants interviewed was able to link Human Rights Day to the Sharpeville Massacre.49 Furthermore, the Human Sciences Research Council’s (HSRC) South African Social Attitudes Survey profiled cognizance of the Sharpeville Massacre and views on the 43 Ibid.p.123. 44 According to S. Arnold-de Simine, Mediating Memory in the Museum Trauma, Empathy, Nostalgia. Palgrave Macmillan. London. (2013).p.14. ‘Memory Boom’ refers to a development in which, over the last few decades, the prominence and significance of memory have risen within both the academy and society. 45A. K. Hlongwane, “The Historical Development of the Commemoration of the June 16, 1976, Soweto Students’ Uprisings: A Study of Re-representation, Commemoration, and Collective Memory”. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Witwaterand. Johannesburg.(2015).p.6. 46 J. Winter, “The generation of memory: reflections on the memory boom in contemporary historical studies”. Canadian military history. Vol.10.Iss.3.p.366. 47 S. Marschall, “Canonizing New Heroes: The Proposed Heroes Monument in Durban”. South African Journal of Art History. Vol.18.(2003).p.80. 48 M. J. Ngoaketsi, “Historical consciousness experienced by the community of Sharpeville: A case study”. Unpublished master’s dissertation. University of Free State.Phuthaditjhaba.(2001).p.113. 49 A. K. Hlongwane, & S. M. Ndlovu, Remembering Sharpeville Day and Fashioning Contested National Narratives: The Sharpeville Memorial Precinct and the Langa Memorial. In A. K. Hlongwane, & S. M. Ndlovu, Public History and Culture in South Africa Memorialisation and Liberation Heritage Sites in Johannesburg and the Township Space. Palgrave Macmillan. Switzerland. Cham. (2019).p.97. 10 importance of memorialising the past. The survey was conducted between March 2020 and February 2021, consisting of respondents older than 15 years of age.50 In the study, respondents were asked about their familiarity with the Sharpeville Massacre. The results showed that 39% of the respondents had not heard of the incident before, 39% of them knew very little or nothing about it, 19% of them knew enough to describe it to the next person, and 3% did not give any response to the question.51 On awareness of seminal moments such as the Freedom Charter and the Soweto Students Uprising, findings revealed that awareness of the former was comparable to that of the Sharpeville Massacre, with 57% of respondents having heard of it and 40% of respondents not having heard of it. Familiarity with the latter was higher at 71%, with 27% of respondents reporting no acquaintance of it. The survey concluded that levels of knowledge about specific events remain quite shallow. Furthermore, there is a wide generational difference in awareness of the Sharpeville Massacre, with 60% of respondents aged between 16-24 never having heard of this important massacre. There is also a strong class gradient, indicating low levels of awareness among adults from rural and low economic backgrounds. The conclusion being that the more sophisticated an individual is, the more likely they are to be aware of the Sharpeville Massacre.52 The higher awareness, amongst younger generation can be attributed to one’s level of schooling considering that Sharpeville Massacre features in the school history curriculum. Scholars such as Matthew Graham, Thando Sipuye, Ali Khangela Hlongwane and Sifiso Ndlovu provide some insights as to why there is such a lack of knowledge of the connection between the Sharpeville Massacre and Human Rights Day. Thando Sipuye’s views regarding the ANC government are that South Africa has a theatrical crisis of selective amnesia and partisan remembering of history and commemorative events. Sipuye also believes that the ANC government is biased towards a singular political trajectory and one particular school of thought that is portrayed as the sole agent of the socio-economic and political transformations. The reconstruction 50 B. Roberts, G. Houston, J. Struwig & S. Gordon, Survey shows ignorance about big moments in South Africa’s history – like the Sharpeville massacre. The conversation.19. March. 2021. https://theconversation.com/survey- shows-ignorance-about-big-moments-in-south-africas-history-like-the-sharpeville-massacre-157513 . (Accessed on the 17.10.2021). 51 T. Bernard & African News Agency, 4 out of 5 people ignorant about big moments in South Africa’s history – like the Sharpeville massacre. Independent Online. 20 March 2021. https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/4-out-of-5- people-ignorant-about-big-moments-in-south-africas-history-like-the-sharpeville-massacre-0659e605-3c4e-4907- a924-844f59b59b66.(Accessed on the 17.11.2021). 52 Ibid. https://theconversation.com/survey-shows-ignorance-about-big-moments-in-south-africas-history-like-the-sharpeville-massacre-157513 https://theconversation.com/survey-shows-ignorance-about-big-moments-in-south-africas-history-like-the-sharpeville-massacre-157513 https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/4-out-of-5-people-ignorant-about-big-moments-in-south-africas-history-like-the-sharpeville-massacre-0659e605-3c4e-4907-a924-844f59b59b66 https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/4-out-of-5-people-ignorant-about-big-moments-in-south-africas-history-like-the-sharpeville-massacre-0659e605-3c4e-4907-a924-844f59b59b66 https://www.iol.co.za/news/opinion/4-out-of-5-people-ignorant-about-big-moments-in-south-africas-history-like-the-sharpeville-massacre-0659e605-3c4e-4907-a924-844f59b59b66 11 and rewriting of histories about the Sharpeville Massacre and the reconstitution of that day as ahistorical and a depoliticised “Human Rights Day” is but one of many examples of this unfortunate political bias and narrow approach to the telling of history. Hlongwane and Ndlovu also observe that for some residents of Sharpeville, the anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre is just a boring day.53 On the other hand, Matthew Graham argues that the ANC has worked tirelessly to recover certain historic events as its own while excluding other liberation movements from the struggle for liberation narrative. For example, the ANC’s rewriting of South Africa's history denigrates other organisations involved in the anti-apartheid campaign, such as the PAC. It is, according to Graham, an acknowledged fact that the PAC’s anti-pass campaign resulted in the Sharpeville Massacre. This study is, therefore, by no means a comparative study; however, it draws heavily on pioneering works on aspects of memorialisation and commemorations by South African scholars of the 1976 Soweto Students Uprising.54 This study makes a significant contribution in attempting to investigate shifts, charges, continuities and/or raptures of memorialisation and commemoration of the 21st March 1960 Sharpeville Massacre and the extent to which it has been used in constructing a heritage landscape and group identity over a period of fifty-six years. Furthermore, in South Africa, memorial efforts post-1994 have mainly focused on the evocation of the battleground of struggle. They are today the object of memory enterprises which are intended to contribute to the construction of a national identity rooted in memories of a violent past and the abuses committed under apartheid. Noor Nieftagodien argues that the question of the link between these memorialised neighbourhoods and the population 53 A. K. Hlongwane, & S. M. Ndlovu, Remembering Sharpeville Day and Fashioning Contested National Narratives: The Sharpeville Memorial Precinct and the Langa Memorial. In A. K. Hlongwane, & S. M. Ndlovu, Public History and Culture in South Africa Memorialisation and Liberation Heritage Sites in Johannesburg and the Township Space. Palgrave Macmillan. Switzerland. Cham.(2019).p.110. 54 South African scholars this work will draw heavily on include among others, A.K. Hlongwane, Soweto 76 Reflections on the Liberation Struggles: Commemorating the 30th Anniversary of June 16, 1976.(2006) Footprints of the Class of 76: Commemoration, Memory Mapping and Heritage (2008). A.K. Hlongwane’s doctoral thesis on The Historical Development of the Commemoration of the June 16, 1976, Soweto Students’ Uprisings: A Study of Re- Representation, Commemoration and Collective Memory. (2015). S.M.Ndlovu, Soweto Uprisings Counter Memories of June 1976. Pan Macmillan South Africa.(2017). Edited work by Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu, The Road to Democracy in South Africa, Volume 7, Soweto Uprisings: New Perspectives. (2021). Sifiso Mxolisi Ndlovu’s Public History and Culture in South Africa Memorialisation and Liberation Heritage Sites in Johannesburg and the Township Space (2019); Angel David Nieves and Ali Khangela Hlongwane’s Public History and “Memorial Architecture” in the “New” South Africa: The Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museum, Soweto, Johannesburg.(2007). Ali Khangela Hlongwane’s Commemoration, Memory and Monuments in the Contested Language of Black Liberation: The South African Experience (2008). https://www.tandfonline.com/author/Nieves%2C+Angel+David https://www.tandfonline.com/author/Hlongwane%2C+Ali+Khangela 12 currently living in them has not yet been explored in depth. Not only do these evocations of memory tend to obstruct opposing voices, but also little space is left for ordinary memories. Chris Saunders and Cynthia Kros argue that urban memory - including its meaning in the making of identities and development strategies linked to intangible and tangible heritage produced by local and municipal governments - has recently come under investigation by researchers in Africa.55 1.2 KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS The Sharpeville Massacre has been commemorated by the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) family of affiliates from the second day after its occurrence - a practice that it kept observing annually until 1994 when AAM was itself disbanded. Simon Korner an AAM activist writes; “We were one organisation that could disband because what we wanted, which was the right of the people of South Africa, both black and white, to elect their own government in a fair way, that was achieved, and the people of South Africa could rule themselves”.56 As far back as 1966, the day was institutionalised and annually observed by the United Nations (UN) as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and continues to be commemorated as such. Within South Africa, the day continues to be observed through ongoing memorialisation processes by victims’ relatives and survivors alike. There have been other annual commemorations, however low-key, by progressive movements since the days of apartheid. taking the form of expression of grief and loss during the first two decades (1960s through the 1970s). From the 1980s to the early 1990s, commemorations took the form of symbolic defiance against the same illegitimate apartheid system, in pursuit of the liberation project in South Africa. John Hunter argues that we commemorate to instruct ourselves, to inspire others to act in a way similar to that of the persons we venerate and, perhaps most of all, to impress the fact of the debt of the living to the past.57 With the unbanning of the liberation movements, observance of the Sharpeville Massacre began to compete for space in the form of memorial sites within Sharpeville itself. As a result of contestation over ideological hegemony among the liberation movements turned political parties, new forms of tangible and intangible public re-presentations and political identity happened. The post-1994 period witnessed a range of “massacre memorials” being built all over the country and at Sharpeville specifically. The memorials were to visually represent the new foundation myth, 55 Ibid. 56 M. Graham, & C. Fevre, “Mandela’s out so apartheid has finished’: the British Anti-Apartheid Movement and South Africa’s transition to majority rule, 1990-1994”. Contemporary British History. (2021).p.22. 57 J. Hunter, “Purpose of Commemorations”. Nature. Vol.129.(1932).p.427. 13 legitimise the emergence of a new socio-political order58 as well as contribute to the construction of a new South African identity based on the “struggle for liberation”.59 According to Sabine Marschall, material culture in post-1994 South Africa is part of a larger process of appropriating the past for the political, social, cultural or economic purposes of the present, which can be regarded as a key characteristic of “heritage”.60 This study, therefore, is specifically aimed at answering the following questions: How have the survivors and descendants of the victims of the Sharpeville Massacre memorialised this tragic event since 1960? What roles have soft powers played in the memorialisation and/or commemoration of the Sharpeville Massacre during the repressive decades within South Africa? What forms of narratives and traditions have the commemorations taken and how have they changed over time, including the period after 1994? What are the dominant political questions emanating from these commemorations? Why have certain narratives become dominant and which ones have been silenced or excluded? What is the relationship between the residents of Sharpeville and the material culture built and natural environments associated with the massacre? What is the role of commemoration practices and how do they influence the contemporary construction of territorial and political identity narrative? How have heritage sites been negotiated within the community of Sharpeville? Given that social and political changes impact on the evolution of historical memories, what impact have the post-1994 socio-political changes had on the commemorations and memories of the Sharpeville Massacre? 1.3 RESEARCH STATEMENT This study attempts to analyse the complexities of commemorating the Sharpeville Massacre within South Africa from 1960 to 2016. Its spontaneous memorialisation by victims’ next of kin and anniversary commemoration by different ideological/political movements before the end of apartheid should be viewed against the backdrop of violent and repressive regimes. Its shifts, change and continuity post-1994 should further be observed against the backdrop of proliferation of heritage sites encompassing archival expansion, commemorative museum, library, gallery and 58 S. Marschall, “Pointing to the dead: Victims, martyrs and public memory in South Africa”. South African Historical Journal. Vol.60.No.1.(2008).p.1. 59 S. Marschall, “Lest we forget”: The “struggle for liberation” as foundation myth. Alizés: Revue angliciste de La Réunion, Faculté des Lettres et Sciences humaines (Université de La Réunion).Founding Myths of the New South Africa/Les mythes fondateurs de la nouvelle Afrique du Sud.(2004).p.253. 60 S. Marschall, “Pointing to the dead: Victims, martyrs and public memory in South Africa”. South African Historical Journal. Vol.60.No.1.(2008).p.1. https://journals.co.za/journal/sahist https://journals.co.za/journal/sahist https://journals.co.za/toc/sahist/60/1 14 (counter) memorials erected by the state based on the notion of a shared history of oppression transcended by resistance. The role of the state is investigated in the post-1994 dispensation, which is characterised by state-sanctioned master narrative, appropriation, and different forms of observances through festivities and celebrations of the Sharpeville Massacre as a national holiday, as well as the re-presentation, re-naming, and re-branding of the day as Human Rights Day. By analysing the way in which the Sharpeville Massacre has been (re)constructed, (re) packaged and (re) fashioned over five decades, the study advances the argument that memorialisation and commemoration of the Sharpeville Massacre was not, until recently, a straightforward process. It is marked by contestations, counter-commemorations, and political power struggles over ownership of its memory. The study maintains that the occurrence of political contestations during anniversaries and over the political legitimacy, hegemony and memory ownership and role of the state post-1994 has altered the meaning of this day. It has also muted and whitewashed the narratives and contributions of certain liberation movements and their leaders in the contemporary history of South African liberation struggle. With the proliferation of sites of memory in the form of commemorative monuments, memorials, memory institutions and heritage sites in the post-1994 South African landscape, this research contends that there are obvious contestations, manifesting as a quest for aesthetics of representation, consultations, counter-commemoration, inclusion and exclusion, as well as heritage production and consumption. This is because the physical Sharpeville landscape boasts eight memorial sites of historical significance and heritage sites in a radius of less than 10 kilometres, commemorating a single event occurring within the community. 15 1.4 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK UPON WHICH THE RESEARCH IS CONSTRUCTED The research on collective memory, oral history, commemorations and heritagisation of traumatic events is too diverse to be explained by a single theory. Therefore, several appropriate theoretical frameworks are used to construct this study. Firstly, there is collective memory, which, according to Maurice Halbwachs, is: “A mode of memory carried out by social group and societies within specific social framework. Collective memory became public memory when it is transformed into political instrument to build, assert, and reinforce identities of these groups. It is not related to individual recollection of personal experiences and events but is about the way the past of a group is lived in the present”.61 Over the past decades, historians have focused on collective memory by drawing heavily on the work of Maurice Halbwachs. It is an approach that views oral history and collective memory studies as converging.62 Maurice Halbwachs’s theory of collective memory involves accumulated individual recollections, official commemorations, shared representations and intangible constructive landscapes of shared identities.63 In societies marked by a traumatic past, as in the case of Sharpeville, collective memory gives way to historical memory, which, to some extent, can be “crystallized” into more permanent forms, including museums, monuments and memorials, in the processes that can be defined as memorialisation and heritagisation.64 Halbwachs’s emphasis on the functions of everyday communication in the development of collective memories and the imagery of social discourse resonates with recent historiographical themes, such as historical representation.65 61 A. L. Araujo, Politics of Memory: Making slavery visible in the public space. Routledge. New York.(2012).p.1. 62 A. Green, “Individual remembering and ‘collective memory’: Theoretical presuppositions and contemporary debates”. Oral History. Memory and Society. Vol.32.No.2.(2004).p.35. 63 J. K. Olick, “Collective memory: The two cultures”. Sociological Theory. Vol.17.No.3.(1999).p.336. 64 Ibid.p.1. 65 W. Kansteiner, “Finding meaning in memory: A methodological critique of collective memory studies”. History and Theory. Vol 41.No.2.(2002).p.181. 16 On the other hand, the theoretical discourse of transitional justice66 will be applied. In this work, the Theory of Traditional Justice is applied to the Sharpeville Massacre commemorations and memory projects. This theory has recently emerged as an international discourse - with the presence of international criminal tribunals, truth and reconciliation commissions and other societal initiatives devoted to reparations, fact-finding and the culture of remembrance.67 Researchers working on historical memory subscribe to a postmodernist approach, which seeks to expose the notion of commemoration concealing beliefs and ideologies behind the masks of objectivity and one truth.68 I agree with the belief that the postmodernist perspective enables and encourages the participation of people in the production of meaning, as opposed to the belief that individuals receive immediate and incontestable truths. The notion of commemoration can remain a process that encourages different and various interpretations and narratives of the past. According to the postmodernist view, there are various authentic representations of the past. In other words, there is no one objective truth to the past: there are many ways in which one can describe and commemorate the past.69 Post-Structural Language Theory focuses on the role of language in our thinking and understanding of reality. Post-structural theorists, like Jacques Derrida, argue that language inherently affects the way in which we understand and conceive the world and, in this manner, directly mediates and orders our sense of history and reality.70 Durkheim’s Performance Theory will be applied in this research as far as it relates to commemorative performances of the Sharpeville Massacre. According to Performance Theory, the past is represented and relived through rituals, and the relationship between the past and the present takes the form of a dramatic presentation.71 I will demonstrate that in South Africa, as in the rest of the world, anniversaries like that of the 66 Transitional Justice is associated with upholding human rights after the demise of an authoritarian regime. The goals of it include addressing and attempting to heal divisions in society that arise as a result of human rights violations, bringing closure and healing the wounds of individuals and society through truth-telling, providing justice to victims, and accountability for perpetrators. It involves creating an accurate historical record for society, restoring the rule of law, reforming institutions to promote democratisation and human rights, ensuring that human rights violations are not repeated, and promoting co-existence and sustainable peace. 67 M. Fischer, H. J. Giessmann, & B. Budrich, Transitional Justice and Reconciliation: Theory and Practice. Advancing Conflict Transformation. The Berghof Handbook. Opladen/Framington Hills. 2011.https://gsdrc.org/document- library/transitional-justice-and-reconciliation-theory-and-practice/. (Accessed on the 28.10.2021). 68 T. L. Meets, “Deconstructing museums and memorials in pre-and post-apartheid South Africa”. Unpublished master’s dissertation.University of South Africa.Pretoria.(2009).p.4. 69 Ibid.p.4. 70 Ibid.p.5. 71 A. Cossu, “Durkheim’s argument on ritual, commemoration, and aesthetic life: A classical legacy for contemporary theory”. Journal of Classical Sociology. Vol.33.No.49.(2010).p.36-38. https://gsdrc.org/document-library/transitional-justice-and-reconciliation-theory-and-practice/ https://gsdrc.org/document-library/transitional-justice-and-reconciliation-theory-and-practice/ 17 Sharpeville Massacre are marked by human arrangements of performances or ritual commemorations. Wagner-Facifici and Schwartz’s contributions to Durkheimian’s theory of commemoration are useful in this project. Their point of departure is that all commemorations have undercurrents of dynamic interaction among political organisations and social movements. According to their theory, all commemorative acts are infused with dynamics of political conflict to different degrees. They argue that different groups mobilise and contest commemorations to promote their particular version of collective memory, thereby advancing their own political interest and symbolic legitimacy.72 The commemoration of the Sharpeville Massacre by global social movements and internal movements such as churches, non-governmental organisations and advocacy groups can be analysed by looking at transnational activism, civil societies, and non-governmental organisations. Social Movement Theory highlights the significance of alliances across nation, race, class, and gender. Social movements are established with a common purpose and solidarity to mount collective challenges to elites and authorities.73 Civil Society Theory, which has emerged, is a movement opposing apartheid in South Africa. Robert Fine argues that Civil Society Theory “refers to the public realm of free association which mediates between the state and the private individual”.74 The life narrative interpretative theory of oral history further lays the basis for this project. From the 1970s, there has been an epistemological shift into the “interpretative” modes from empiricism, by turning to narrative forms and creative dimensions of oral narratives. According to this theory, the emphasis moves from the individual to the wider social and cultural context within which remembering occurs.75 For this research, the life narrative interpretative theory (oral history) will also be employed to uncover the history of commemorative events, places, and the material history of a historic site such as Sharpeville. Unpacking the way in which gender politics plays itself out in the commemoration and memorialisation of the Sharpeville Massacre, the study adheres to the combined use of oral history and grounded theory. Oral history gives the opportunity to explore life 72 H. Saito, From collective memory to commemoration. In Hall.J.R, Grindstaff. L, & Lo. M.C, Handbook of Cultural Sociology. Routledge. London.(2010).p.629-635. 73 A. Klotz, “Trans-national activism and global transformation: Anti-apartheid and abolitionist experiences”. European Journal of International Relations. Vol.8.No.1.(2002).p.57. 74 R. Fine, “Civil society theory and the politics of transition in South Africa”. Review of African Political Economy. Vol.19.No.55.(1992).p.71. 75 Ibid.p.35. 18 histories by using living memory, its structures and language and by providing social context for historical events within this community.76 In South Africa, the use of oral evidence is not a new practice. Tina Sideris observes that the use of oral testimonies in South Africa has often focused on local and regional issues, domestic life and popular culture, the place of the individual in historical processes, as well as on informal and spontaneous forms of resistance.77 1.5 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE 1.5.1 SOUTH AFRICAN LITERATURE/PERSPECTIVES ON THE SHARPEVILLE MASSACRE Matthew Chaskalson’s The road to Sharpeville: A history of South African townships in the 1950s (1985) and Ian Jeffrey’s Cultural trends and community formation in a South African Township: Sharpeville, 1943–1985 (1991) provide an analysis of the social and economic development of Vereeniging up to the 1950s. The common threads in the foregoing works are the early years of Sharpeville, the social circumstances before the massacre and how it was a fertile ground for pass laws resistance. Chaskalson further provides undelaying reasons for Sharpeville being receptive to the PAC, such as social control which banned political activism, thus creating an impression that Sharpeville was quiet. Other factors, he argues, were youth unemployment, inadequate housing as well as the rise in municipality rent charges. What is common in these works is the view of the authors that the authorities regarded Sharpeville as a “model township”, while, according to earlier residents, it was “dull and boring” because it was under constant surveillance, but also lacked the social vibe that Top location offered even though the residents referred to it as “Skoti Phola”. These bodies of work proved to be useful in providing background to the topographical history of Sharpeville. However, as Carlton Monnakgotla observes, “people outside Sharpeville only know Sharpeville post 1960, but even then, they would ask, ‘Where is Sharpeville? Is it in Soweto?’”.78 Therefore, much of existing literature covering Sharpeville is limited to and focuses exclusively on the Sharpeville Massacre and its aftermath. Ambrose Reeves’ Shooting at Sharpeville: The agony of South Africa (1961) and Humphrey Tyler’s Life in the time of Sharpeville (1995) provide graphic 76 B. Marcus, Oral History, and the Documentation of Historic Sites: Recording Sense of Place. Architectural Conservator Page & Turnbull.Inc. Los Angeles.(2008).p.1. 77 T. Sideris, “Recording living memory in South Africa”.Critical Arts. Vol.4.No.2.(1986).p.50. 78 Ibid.p.80. 19 eyewitness accounts of the massacre. In his book, Reeves outlines his interactions with the victims at Baragwanath Hospital. During the Wessels Commission, he further provides a counter narrative to that of the apartheid regime which claimed that demonstrators were armed, and police were justified in opening fire in self-defence.79 Tyler’s book, published 25 years after the shooting, provides an authoritative eyewitness account of the massacre. Tyler was a reporter for Rand Daily Mail, and together with Ian Berry, the Drum magazine photographer, witnessed the shooting. Tyler, in his book, gives a vivid description of their arrival at Sharpeville, the mood of the demonstrators and a chilling account of the massacre. On the other hand, Peter Magubane, another Drum magazine photographer, arrived at Sharpeville after the firing had stopped. He, however, succeeded in getting more than a few snapshots of the bodies and witnessing the suffering of the survivors.80 Blum argues that Magubane’s funeral pictures are “classic examples of political art”,81 while Okwui Enwezor notes, “The events of that day produced the picture of the funeral as one of the central iconographic emblems of the anti- apartheid struggle.”82 The chapter by Darren Newbury (2012) presents an account of what made the massacre a global news sensation. According to him, “The Sharpeville Massacre did not derive its significance from the fact that it was photographed, but that the availability of photographers contributed to its international prominence.”83 Drawing from Darren Newbury, Ali Khangela Hlongwane argues that there is a close relationship between the development of photography and socio-political issues in South Africa, which over the years took place within the traditions of cultural resistance against apartheid colonialism. This makes the large body of photographic material available in the country a unique archive of various memories of the liberation struggle.84 Claudia Castellano argues that the sequences of the massacre 79 Following the massacre, the apartheid government established a one-man Commission of Inquiry to investigate and report on the occurrences in the districts of Vereeniging, namely at Sharpeville location, Evaton and Vanderbijlpark province of the Transvaal on 21st March 1960. National Archives Repository.SAB.1/3/60. Commission of inquiry into disturbances at Vereeniging. (Sharpeville disturbances) - claims arising from No.1-35. 80 P. Von Blum, “Resistance, Memory, and Hope: The Photographic Art of Peter Magubane”. Safundi: The Journal of South African and American Comparative Studies. Vol.6.No.4.(2005).p.5. 81 Ibid.p.6. 82 O. Enwezor, “A Critical Presence: Drum Magazine in Context”. In Bell.C, Enwezor. O, Danielle Tilkin.D.& Zaya.O, In/sight: African Photographers, 1940 to the Present. Guggenheim Museum Publications. New York.(1996). In Thomas.K, History of Photography in Apartheid South Africa. Oxford Encyclopedia of African History. (2020).p.11. 83 D. Newbury, Picturing an ordinary atrocity: The Sharpeville Massacre. In Butchen.G, Gidley.M, Miller.N.K, & Prosser.P, Picturing atrocity: photography in crisis. Reaktion Books. London. (2012).p.209. 84 A. K. Hlongwane, “The Historical Development of the Commemoration of the June 16 1976 Soweto Students’ Uprisings: A Study of Re-representation, Commemoration and Collective Memory”. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Witwaterand. Johannesburg.(2015).p.64. 20 pictures by Jürgen Schadeberg, Peter Magubane and Ian Berry are now carved into the collective memory and characterise a noteworthy lesson on photojournalism.85 The strength and value of the above literature provide a rich descriptive account and a window through which the massacre can be understood. In this way, it is useful in understanding, from the eyewitnesses’ points of view, what happened during that day. Sally Stein contends that photography, as opposed to photographs, guides our appreciation of the past.86 According to Jay Prosser, “…to not picture atrocity is therefore to omit what’s there, to fail the truth of a situation, to withhold that proof. Equally, to not look at pictures of atrocity is to deny its existence, not only when atrocity happens at a distance but also when it’s there on our doorsteps, in front of us.”87 The works of these scholars are useful in understating the socio-political dynamics that were at play within this community. These pictures are also useful in that they fill the lacunae in analysing the funerary rites which are memorialisation processes in their own rights. Mirna Lawrence’s unpublished master’s dissertation focuses on the social memory and commemoration of the Sharpeville Massacre. It discusses issues around “ownership” of the memory of the Sharpeville Massacre and the public contestation post-1994, particularly between the ANC and the PAC, in terms of which organisation can claim the initiation of the anti-pass campaign.88 Although Lawrence does provide an interesting insight into heritage and history, Natasha Thandiwe Vally argues that Lawrence’s work should be a heritage analysis that aims to provide input on teaching the Sharpeville Massacre rather than a historical account. For this thesis, Lawrence’s work provides a foundation upon which the heritage commemoration of Sharpeville Massacre will be explored as it deals with different perspectives of political parties and 85 C. Castellano, “The Gaze Back: Photography and Social Consciousness in South Africa”. Wrongwrong magazine. No.19.(2018). https://wrongwrong.net/artigo/the-gaze-back-photography-and-social-consciousness-in-south-africa. (Accessed on the 18.08.2021). 86 S. A. Stein, “The rhetoric of the colourful and the colourless: American photography and material culture between the wars”. Unpublished doctoral thesis. Yale University. Ann Arbor. (1991). In Berger.M.A, “Photography, History, and the Historian”. American Art. Vol.29.No.1.(2015).p.4.