# Sharpeville Aftermath Sends Exiles to Bechuanaland (March 1960)

URL: https://allhistories.com/botswana/timeline/1960-sharpeville-aftermath-sends-exiles-to-bechuanaland
Location: Lobatse, Bechuanaland Protectorate
Themes: main-event

The Sharpeville massacre in March 1960 was followed by a state of emergency declared on 30 March, under which, Wikipedia says, more than 18,000 people were detained. The ANC and PAC were banned soon afterwards, and many activists looked for safety across the border in the High Commission Territories. Wikipedia's article on the Botswana People's Party says South African exiles arriving after Sharpeville influenced its founding, and the GlobalSecurity summary of Botswana's history states that refugees from Sharpeville formed the Bechuanaland People's Party. The exiles brought organising experience and the model of the ANC. Bechuanaland became a transit route and, for some, a refuge for the liberation movements. The British administration had to balance humanitarian practice, its border with South Africa and the wishes of its own officials, a balance that shaped the secret flights of the early 1960s. At this point in the timeline (1960), Peter Fawcus (1959 – 1965) was the last Resident Commissioner of the Bechuanaland Protectorate (styled Her Majesty's Commissioner from 1 August 1964), the British colonial administrator during the move to self-government; the sources differ on the dates of his tenure; Sir John Maud (15 January 1959 – 1963) was High Commissioner for Southern Africa, the senior British official in the region.

## Why it matters
Sharpeville made Bechuanaland a refuge for South African activists and politicised the protectorate.

Ruler at the Time: [Peter Fawcus](https://allhistories.com/botswana/rulers/peter-fawcus-1959)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Sharpeville massacre](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharpeville_massacre)
- [globalsecurity.org — history 9](https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/botswana/history-9.htm)
- [Wikipedia — Botswana People's Party](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana_People%27s_Party)