A two-day All-in African Conference starts in Pietermaritzburg, Natal

The two-day All-in African Conference - with 1,400 delegates from 145 religious, cultural, peasant, intellectual and political bodies was hosted in Pietermaritzburg, Natal. The conference called for a national convention of elected representatives of all adult men and women, regardless of race, colour or creed. The Republic, it declared, "rests on force to perpetuate the tyranny of the minority". If the Government ignored the demand for a national convention, the people were called upon to organise mass demonstrations on the eve of the proclamation of the Republic. Mr. Nelson Mandela was appointed secretary of the National Action Council. The conference was held four days after the first anniversary of the Sharpeville Massacre, where 69 people were killed and scores left injured in what has come to be known as the Sharpeville Massacre.