Friday-Saturday, April 8-9, 1960: Unrest in South Africa

April 8: The political groups PAC (Pan Africanist Congress) and the ANC (African National Congress) are banned by the apartheid government under the Unlawful Organisations Act. The order follows the Sharpeville massacre (see March 21) and the state of emergency imposed on March 30. Members of the groups flee the country or go into hiding for fear of arrest; the ban would lead to the rise of armed resistance the next year under the banner of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), or MK.

* Timeline (from South African History Online): @

* History of the ANC (from ANC website): @

* More about ANC (from South African History Online): @

* PAC website: @

* The Road to Democracy Project: @

April 9: Prime minister Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd is shot twice in the face by a white farmer who called Verwoerd "the epitome of apartheid." Verwoerd survives.

* More about the assassination attempt: @

* Newsreel: @

* Brief biography: @

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