Women's March (South Africa)
| Women's March | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | 9 August 1956 | ||
| Location | Petitions | ||
| Parties | |||
| Lead figures | |||
Lilian Ngoyi
J.G. Strijdom
| |||
Women's March took place on 9 August 1956 in
Background
The organisation behind the march was
March
The march took place on 9 August 1956 with an estimated 20,000 women of all races descending on Pretoria.[2]: 4 The day of the protest was called for on a Thursday, the traditional day when black domestic workers had their day off, with the aim of ensuring a larger gathering of women.[2]: 4 As the women arrived by train and other means, they walked to the Union Buildings, the centre of the South African Government, in small groups of twos and threes – large groups were banned by the authorities – and met at the building's gardens and amphitheatre.[2]: 4 Leading the march were Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn.[3]
A representatives of each race group in South Africa carried 14,000 petitions for presentation to the Prime Minister
They then stood for thirty minutes in silence before singing "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" and then sang a woman's freedom song called "Wathint' abafazi, Strijdom!"
wathint' abafazi,
wathint' imbokodo, uzo kufa!
[When] you strike the women, you strike a rock,
you will be crushed [you will die]!
— Rallying call for Women.[4]
[2]: 4
Petition
The petition had been created by the Federation of South African Women and printed by the Indian Youth Congress.[2]: 4 The petition reads:
We, the women of South Africa, have come here today. We African women know too well the effect this law upon our homes, our children. We, who are not African women know how our sisters suffer. For to us, an insult to African women is an insult to all women.
* That homes will be broken up when women are arrested under pass laws.
* That women and young girls will be exposed to humiliation and degradation at the hands of pass-searching policemen.
* That women will lose their right to move freely from one place to another.
We, voters and voteless, call upon your government not to issue passes to African women. We shall not resist until we have won for our children their fundamental rights of freedom, justice and security.— Presented to Prime Minister: 144J.G. Strijdom, 9 August 1956.Monument to the event
On 9 August 2000,
Technikon Pretoria was held to enable the event to be fair and transparent and allow disadvantaged artists to participate in the competition.[2]: 4 Sixty entries were received with the winners being Wilma Cruise and Marcus Holmes.[2]: 4The final design for the monument starts on the steps of the amphitheatre with the keywords of the petition inscribed in metal on the risers.[2]: 6 Climbing the stairs, you trigger a sound message in eleven official languages, "you strike the woman, you strike the rock".[2]: 6 When you reach the vestibule, there in the centre lies a imbokodo, a small grinding stone atop a larger grinding stone.[2]: 6 The stones sit atop a polished circular bronze stone surrounded by a darker bronze octagon plate.[2]: 6 The stones symbolise the women's labour and nurturance while the bronze plates the earth and stone they sit upon.[2]: 6
Notable participants
- Frances Baard[6]
- Bertha Gxowa[7]
- Helen Joseph[8]
- Fatima Meer[6]
- Ruth Mompati
- Florence Mkhize (as an organizer)[6]
- Rahima Moosa[9]
- Rita Ndzanga[10]
- Lilian Ngoyi[11]: 83
- Albertina Sisulu[7]
- Sophia Williams-De Bruyn[10]
- Annie Peters[7]
- Nosipho Dastile[12]
References
- ^
JSTOR 3990829.- ^
JSTOR 3337784.- ^ Maponya, Chichi (16 August 2015). "Honour the Strike a Woman Legacy". IOL. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
- ^ a b Boddy-Evans, Alistair (24 November 2014). "Women's Anti-Pass March on the Union Buildings, Pretoria". about education. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
- ^ a b c "60 Iconic Women — The people behind the 1956 Women's March to Pretoria (11–20)". Mail & Guardian. 25 August 2016. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
- ^ a b c Supplement. "60 Iconic Women — The people behind the 1956 Women's March to Pretoria". The M&G Online. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ Supplement. "60 Iconic Women — The people behind the 1956 Women's March to Pretoria (21–30)". The M&G Online. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ sahoboss (17 February 2011). "Rahima Moosa". South African History Online. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ a b "Women's March leader visits graves of fellow activists". www.enca.com. Retrieved 12 May 2018.
- ^ "Lillian Ngoyi, 68, Dies in Soweto; Leader of South Africa's Blacks". The New York Times. Reuters. 14 March 1980. Retrieved 26 November 2017.
- ^ "Tribute to women warriors". Retrieved 12 May 2018.
