Pass laws are suspended in South Africa

Updated: 21 Jul 2026

The South African Commissioner of Police announced that the pass laws, applicable to the African population, were suspended until normality had been restored, following the Sharpeville Massacre. The Police Commissioner said that the pass laws were not being suspended to appease the unfounded protests of Bantu agitators, but because the jails could no longer accommodate the many Africans who presented themselves for arrest by openly violating the pass laws. Pass laws required that Africans carry their pass books all the time; this helped the government in restricting their movements. The suspension of pass laws followed the country-wide anti-pass campaign that resulted in the Sharpeville Massacre, where more than 200 protesters were shot down by police.

How we know this

01SAHO, Liberation history Timeline 1960-1969, from South African History Online, [online], Available at www.sahistory.org.za [Accessed: 10 March 2014]
02O’Malley, P., '1960' from Nelson Mandela Center for Memory, [online], Available at www.nelsonmandela.org [Accessed: 10 March 2014]

Last updated · 21 Jul 2026

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2012, March 16). Pass laws are suspended in South Africa. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0079720

South African History Online (2012) 'Pass laws are suspended in South Africa', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0079720 (Accessed: 29 October 2026).

South African History Online, Pass laws are suspended in South Africa [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0079720, (accessed 29 October 2026).

"Pass laws are suspended in South Africa." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0079720. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

South African History Online. "Pass laws are suspended in South Africa." South African History Online. March 16, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0079720.