In Sharpeville, the estimated five thousand African protestors marched through the streets towards the police station without their passes, chanting campaign slogans such as "Izwe lethu" (Our land); "Awaphele ampasti" (Down with passes); and "Sobukwe Sikhokhle" (Lead us Sobukwe). When the demonstrators arrived at the police station, the chanting continued as they presented themselves for arrest. The crowd was peaceful and non-violent, however the people at the front of the massive crowd were constantly being pushed forwards as a result of the thousands of people behind them trying to see what was happening up front. In an attempt to disperse the protest and teach the crowd a lesson, the police began firing into the crowd with revolvers, rifles, and mounted machine guns on Saracen armored cars.
"I do not know how many people were shot. It all started when hordes of natives surrounded the police station. If they do these things they must learn their lesson the hard way.".
These are the words of Lt. Col. Pienaar, officer in change at Sharpeville on the 21st of March, 1960. Sixty-nine African people were shot dead and one hundred and eighty wounded, most of which were shot in the back as they were trying to flee. .
"The Commission finds that the police deliberately opened fire on an unarmed crowd that had gathered peacefully at Sharpeville on 21 March 1960 to protest against the pass laws. The Commission finds further that the SAP (South African Police) failed to give the crowd an order to disperse before they began firing and that they continued to fire upon the fleeing crowd, resulting in hundreds of people being shot in the back".
The previous statement was came from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and can be considered a fair account of what happened at Sharpeville. Despite the horrendous tragedy of Sharpeville, it was the closest the South African people have come to winning back their freedom.