Sharpeville (also spelled Sharpville) is a township situated between two large industrial cities, Vanderbijlpark and Vereeniging, in southern Gauteng, South Africa.

It was named after John Lillie Sharpe who came to South Africa from Glasgow, Scotland, as secretary of Stewarts & Lloyds.

With the implementation of the apartheid government's Group Areas Act 21 of 1950, it was estimated that over 3.5 million South Africans were forcibly removed from 1960 to 1982.

In 2004, the people of Top Location were compensated for the loss of their properties and land, and an amount of R60,000 per house was paid to all former residents or dependants.

On 21 March 1960, the Sharpeville massacre occurred when the PAC (Pan Africanist Congress) organized a protest in which black Africans attempted to hand in to police their Apartheid-required pass books which restricted them from going in certain areas.

According to official figures released at the time by Prime Minister Henrik Verwoerd's government, 69 Africans were killed and 180 wounded by the police.