Canada and the Fight Against Apartheid

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Topic spans: 1952 - 1994

Canada and the Fight Against Apartheid

For almost 50 years, South Africa was ruled by apartheid — a brutal system of racial separation that kept the nation's black majority in poverty while a white minority held the wealth and power. As unrest grew, South Africa seemed destined for a bloodbath. Canada — like many nations — was slow to react but, by the 1980s, assumed a leading role in forcing economic sanctions against South Africa. Canadian business people, activists and clergy also played parts in bringing about all-race elections in 1994, and a surprisingly peaceful end to apartheid.

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Sharpeville massacre sparks international condemnation

Broadcast Date: April 17, 1960

Sharpeville, South Africa. March 21, 1960: black opposition to South Africa's oppressive "pass laws" comes to a violent head when thousands of protestors leave their passbooks at home and march to the local police station to turn themselves in. Police open fire on the crowd, killing 69 people and wounding 180. The shots are heard around the world. The world media swiftly condemns the massacre.

Among the most vocal is Canadian journalist Norman Phillips of the Toronto Daily Star. Phillips arrives just after the shootings but is prevented from entering Sharpeville. But he bears witness to police violence in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, where he is arrested for writing "reports critical of the government." Upon returning to Canada, Phillips tells Pierre Berton of CBC Television's Close Up that he fears South Africa is headed for a bloodbath.

Sharpeville massacre sparks international condemnation

• The nation-wide rally against pass laws was organized by the anti-apartheid Pan Africanist Congress. Sharpeville was a black township near Vereeniging, south of Johannesburg.

• The Sharpeville massacre was caught on tape by a BBC television crew and became a turning point in world opinion. Phillips' coverage of the violence is credited with raising awareness of apartheid in Canada.

• In response to the protest, the South African government banned all opposition groups.

• Norman Phillips was arrested and held for 3 1/2 days and then deported for writing a story about police violence in Nyanga, Cape Town, shortly after the massacre at Sharpeville.

• Four days after Sharpeville, Phillips' article "No White Safe in Black Africa" was published in the Toronto Daily Star. He wrote, "To understand what it is to be a resident of Sharpeville is to understand apartheid, to know why 70 persons were shot to death there, and to comprehend why 14,500,000 South Africans of all colours and backgrounds face the future uneasily."

• That same day, Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker told the House of Commons that the government "has no sympathy for policies of racial discrimination" and deplores the "tragic loss of life." But he went on to say that "at this time no beneficial purpose would be served by diplomatic protests."

• South Africa's passbook laws were scrapped in 1986.

Sharpeville massacre sparks international condemnation

Medium: Television

Program: Close-Up

Broadcast Date: April 17, 1960

Guest(s): Norman Phillips

Interviewer: Pierre Berton

Duration: 27:32

Last updated:
April 22, 2009

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