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The Anti-Pass Campaign reached its tragic climax on 21 March 1960 at Sharpeville, when police opened fire on a crowd of peaceful protesters who had gathered to demonstrate against the pass laws. Sixty-nine people were killed and over 180 wounded — most shot in the back as they fled.
The Sharpeville Massacre shocked the world and hardened opinion against the apartheid regime internationally. Within weeks, the apartheid government declared a state of emergency and banned both the ANC and the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC).
The banning of the ANC marked a decisive turning point in the liberation struggle. Faced with the impossibility of legal organisation, the ANC's leadership began planning for armed resistance — leading to the formation of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961.