# Vaal Triangle uprising (3 September 1984)

URL: https://allhistories.com/south-africa/timeline/1984-vaal-triangle-uprising
Location: Sebokeng and Sharpeville, Vaal Triangle (Gauteng, South Africa)
Themes: main-event

On 3 September 1984, the day the new constitution came into force, residents of the Vaal Triangle townships of Sebokeng, Sharpeville, Boipatong and Evaton protested against rent increases imposed by black local authorities, and against the tricameral parliament. Councillors, seen as collaborators, were attacked, and in the clashes with police more than twenty people died on the first day, including the deputy mayor of Sharpeville. The revolt spread across the Transvaal and country, with school boycotts, stayaways and street committees forming. The army entered Sebokeng on 23 October 1984 in Operation Palmiet, the first large use of troops in townships. By 1986 about 2,000 or more had died in unrest and the areas around Soweto became ungovernable. The uprising led to the first national state of emergency in 1985. At the date of this event the principal authority over the largest part of present-day South Africa, by the convention of this dataset, lay with Marais Viljoen, State President of South Africa (1979–1984). The executive government of the Republic was headed by Prime Minister P.W. Botha. The Vaal revolt began the most sustained domestic challenge to the state. It gave rise to people's power structures and the slogan Make the townships ungovernable. Many of the grievances, such as high rents and poor services, remain issues in township protests today, and the Vaal region remains a symbol of resistance.

## Why it matters
The Vaal uprising launched the mass township revolt of 1984-86 and led to the declaration of states of emergency.

Ruler at the Time: [Marais Viljoen (1979–1984)](https://allhistories.com/south-africa/rulers/marais-viljoen-1979)

Prime Minister of South Africa: P.W. Botha

## Sources
- [Vaal Uprising](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaal_Uprising)
- [apartheid](https://www.britannica.com/topic/apartheid)
- [www.sahistory.org.za](https://www.sahistory.org.za/)