18,000 people have been detained since the declaration of the State of Emergency in March

Updated: 30 Sep 2019

The Government of the Republic of South Africa announced in Parliament that 18,000 people had been arrested and detained since the declaration of the State of Emergency in March. The State of Emergency was proclaimed on 30 March 1960, following the Sharpeville killings that left 69 unarmed people dead and scores injured. Following the proclamation, 11 727 people were detained. In April 1960, the government banned the African National Congress (ANC), the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) and other organisations under the Unlawful Organisations Act. These organisations were left with no choice, but to operate underground.

How we know this

01O’Malley, P. ‘1960’ from Nelson Mandela Center of Memory, [online], available at www.nelsonmandela.org.za (Accessed: 12 April 2013)
02South African History Online, ‘State of Emergency follows Sharpeville massacre’, [online], available at www.sahistory.org.za (Accessed: 12 April 2013)
03South Africa. Info, ‘Sharpeville remembered’, [online], available at www.southafrica.info (Accessed: 12 April 2013)

Last updated · 30 Sep 2019

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2013, May 3). 18,000 people have been detained since the declaration of the State of Emergency in March. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095578

South African History Online (2013) '18,000 people have been detained since the declaration of the State of Emergency in March', South African History Online, 3 May. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095578 (Accessed: 26 October 2026).

South African History Online, 18,000 people have been detained since the declaration of the State of Emergency in March [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095578, (accessed 26 October 2026).

"18,000 people have been detained since the declaration of the State of Emergency in March." South African History Online, 3 May 2013, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095578. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "18,000 people have been detained since the declaration of the State of Emergency in March." South African History Online. May 3, 2013. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095578.