Riots erupted in East London, Eastern Cape after strike meetings were banned by the government. 17 protesters were killed, as well as an Irish Nun who was stoned to death by the mob. The riots happened five months after the start of the Defiance Campaign, 26 June 1952 when the first volunteers including Nelson Mandela, Yusuf Dadoo and Walter Sisulu defied Apartheid laws in Johannesburg and other major city centres. The period 1950 -1952 was marked by a commitment to militant African nationalism, mass action, and tactics of boycotts, strikes and civil disobedience.
eventREF E-0069292Revised
9 November 1952
Riots erupt in East London, Eastern Cape
- Updated
- 30 Sep 2019
How we know this
- 01Boddy-Evans, A. ‘This Day in African History: 9 November’, [online], available at https://africanhistory.about.com (accessed: 10 October 2013)
- 02South African History Online, ‘Defiance Campaign 1952’, [online], available at www.sahistory.org.za (accessed: 10 October 2013)
Last updated · 30 Sep 2019
South African History Online. (2011, November 7). Riots erupt in East London, Eastern Cape. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0069292
South African History Online (2011) 'Riots erupt in East London, Eastern Cape', South African History Online, 7 November. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0069292 (Accessed: 21 October 2026).
South African History Online, Riots erupt in East London, Eastern Cape [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0069292, (accessed 21 October 2026).
"Riots erupt in East London, Eastern Cape." South African History Online, 7 Nov. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0069292. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.
South African History Online. "Riots erupt in East London, Eastern Cape." South African History Online. November 7, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0069292.
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