A research report submitted to the School of Social Sciences, Faculty of
Humanities of the University of
the Witwatersrand in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in HistorySharpeville has become a seminal part of South African history and has captured the
minds and memories of many, both nationally and globally. While much attention has
been placed on the documentation of the events of the 21st of March 1960- the date of
the Sharpeville massacre- surprisingly little has been recorded about the history of the
township beyond this. This report aims to begin to fill the lacuna in this part of South
African history by examining the reasons behind the dearth of political action and
organisation in Sharpeville from its formation through to the early 1980s. The report
examines Sharpeville as a ‘model township’, dissects what this concept means and
begins to suggest how this conceptualisation affected political organising in the area.
The report argues that Sharpeville as a ‘model township’ experienced political
quiescence throughout the 1960s and 1970s which was only punctured by
spontaneous political action. The report then goes on to explain and scrutinise the
possible reasons for this quiescenc
