ABSTRACT
Chapters 5 and 6 recount the events of 20 and 21 March 1960 based on the testimonies of over 400 eyewitnesses whose accounts were recorded in detail within days, weeks, and months of the events, and interviews that we recorded with survivors and family members in 2018, 2019, and 2022. This chapter seeks to tell the story using the words of the people involved themselves and to do so by relying on the statements made by all participants, African and White, Sharpeville residents and policemen alike. This story begins on the evening of Sunday, 20 March 1960, and breaks at around 11:30 am on Monday 21 March 1960 as Sharpeville people wait for the arrival at 2 pm of a senior government official who they have been told by the police will address them on the issue of passes.
