Police arrested 2,300 people in the township of Sebokeng in the Vaal in what was believed to be the biggest raid against black people living in the townships and hostels. The arrest came at the height of unrest in the Vaal which broke out in September of the same year when the Vaal Civic Association organised a stay away, school boycott and protest marches. This led to clashes between police and township residents that left thirty people dead. By the end of the year almost 150 people had been killed in political violence, which increased to 600 by September 1985 as the revolts spread across the country and the government of P.W. Botha declared a State of Emergency.
eventREF E-0094048Revised
16 November 1984
More than 2,250 people are arrested in the township of Sebokeng
- Updated
- 30 Sep 2019
How we know this
- 01O’Malley P. ‘1984’, from Nelson Mandela Center of Memory and Dialog, [online], available at www.nelsonmandela.org (Accessed: 02 October 2012)
- 02South African History Online, ‘Township Uprising, 1984-1985’, [online], available at www.sahistory.org.za (Accessed: 02 October 2012)
- 03Kora Matrix, ‘South Africa updates’, [online], available at kora.matrix.msu.edu (Accessed: 02 October 2012)
Last updated · 30 Sep 2019
South African History Online. (2012, November 7). More than 2,250 people are arrested in the township of Sebokeng. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094048
South African History Online (2012) 'More than 2,250 people are arrested in the township of Sebokeng', South African History Online, 7 November. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094048 (Accessed: 7 October 2026).
South African History Online, More than 2,250 people are arrested in the township of Sebokeng [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094048, (accessed 7 October 2026).
"More than 2,250 people are arrested in the township of Sebokeng." South African History Online, 7 Nov. 2012, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094048. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.
South African History Online. "More than 2,250 people are arrested in the township of Sebokeng." South African History Online. November 7, 2012. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0094048.
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