This Day in History: March 27, 1960
Additional Date: March 27, 1960
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.