The Security Council begins deliberations on the situation in South Africa

Updated: 30 Mar 2026

In our historical archives, it was on this day, 30 March 1960, when the UN Security Council began deliberations on the situation in South Africa.

The United Nations Security Council began deliberations on the situation in South Africa, under an agenda item entitled: "The situation arising out of the large-scale killings of unarmed and peaceful demonstrators against racial discrimination and segregation in the Union of South Africa". The move by the Security Council followed the event of 21 March, 1960, where the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) staged an anti-pass demonstration outside Sharpeville police station near Vereeniging. They handed over their passes demanding an end to the pass laws. However, the march ended in tragedy when the police opened fire on the marchers, killing 69 people and injuring close to 200 in what has come to be known as the Sharpeville Massacre.

How we know this

01South African History Online, ‘Police kill 69 people during the Sharpeville Massacre’, [online] available at www.sahistory.org.za (Accessed: 12 February 2013)
02O’Malley, P. ‘1960’, from Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory, [online], available, at www.nelsonmandela.org.za (Accessed: 12 February 2013)

Last updated · 30 Mar 2026

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2013, March 27). The Security Council begins deliberations on the situation in South Africa. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095340

South African History Online (2013) 'The Security Council begins deliberations on the situation in South Africa', South African History Online, 27 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095340 (Accessed: 3 November 2026).

South African History Online, The Security Council begins deliberations on the situation in South Africa [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095340, (accessed 3 November 2026).

"The Security Council begins deliberations on the situation in South Africa." South African History Online, 27 Mar. 2013, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095340. Accessed 3 Nov. 2026.

South African History Online. "The Security Council begins deliberations on the situation in South Africa." South African History Online. March 27, 2013. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0095340.