1960 in South Africa

Events

21 March – Sharpeville Massacre, Police shoot and kill 69 people who were part of a demonstration against pass laws
22 March – Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd tells Parliament that the Anti-Pass Resistance in Sharpeville was not targeted against the government
23 March – Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe, leader of the Pan Africanist Congress, who led the Sharpeville demonstration and 12 others are arrested for incitement of riots
24 March – All public meetings more than 12 people are banned
30 March – The government declared a State of Emergency
The government bans the African National Congress and the Pan Africanist Congress

16 April – David Pratt shots and injures Hendrik Verwoerd, the Prime Minister of South Africa, as he opened the Rand Easter Show at Milner Park, Johannesburg
19 April – The South-West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) is founded in Windhoek, South West Africa, to oppose South African rule
30 April – The Springboks, the South African rugby team, beats Scotland in Port Elizabeth 18–10 in the only test match of the series

4 May – Robert Sobukwe, President of the Pan Africanist Congress, is sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for incitement of Africans to urge the repeal of pass laws

5 October – whites vote in a referendum, to sever South Africa's last links with the British monarchy and become a republic

Sewsunker "Papwa" Sewgolum, an Indian golfer, wins the Dutch Open tournament for the second time