Women's March was a march that took place on 9 August 1956 in

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends eastward into the foothi ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

. The marchers' aims were to protest the introduction of the

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

pass laws In South Africa, pass laws were a form of internal passport system designed to segregate the population, manage urbanization and allocate migrant labor. Also known as the natives' law, pass laws severely limited the movements of not only blac ...

for black women in 1952 and the presentation of a petition to the then Prime Minister

J.G. Strijdom Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom (also spelled Strydom in accordance with Afrikaans spelling; 14 July 1893 – 24 August 1958), also known as Hans Strijdom and nicknamed the Lion of the North or the Lion of Waterberg, was the fifth prime minister o ...

Background

The organisation behind the march was

Federation of South African Women The Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) was a political lobby group formed in 1954. At FEDSAW's inaugural conference, a Women's Charter was adopted. Its founding was spear-headed by Lillian Ngoyi. Introduction The Federation of South Afric ...

, an anti-apartheid organisation for women of various groups including the ANC Women's League with the aim of strengthening female voice in the movement. They contributed to the Congress of the People in 1955, where the

Freedom Charter The Freedom Charter was the statement of core principles of the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress (ANC) and its allies: the South African Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats ...

was drawn up, by submitting a document called ''What Women Demand'' which addressed needs such as child care provisions, housing, education, equal pay, and equal rights with men in regard to property, marriage and guardianship of children. By 1956 their focus had shifted towards a protest concerning the introduction of passes for black women.

March

The march took place on 9 August 1956 with an estimated 20,000 women of all races descending on Pretoria. 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. As the women arrived by train and other means, they walked to the

Union Buildings The Union Buildings ( af, Uniegebou) form the official seat of the South African Government and also house the offices of the President of South Africa. The imposing buildings are located in Pretoria, atop Meintjieskop at the northern end of ...

, 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. Leading the march were Lillian Ngoyi,

Helen Joseph Helen Beatrice Joseph (''née'' Fennell) (8 April 1905 – 25 December 1992) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. Born in Sussex, England, Helen graduated with a degree in English from the University of London in 1927 and then departe ...

Rahima Moosa Rahima Moosa (13 October 1922 - 29 May 1993) was a member of the Transvaal Indian Congress and later the African National Congress. She is well known for the role she played in the national uprising of women on 9 August 1956. Moosa was also a sh ...

and

Sophia Williams-De Bruyn Sophia Theresa Williams-de Bruyn (born 1938) is a former South African anti-apartheid activist. She was the first recipient of the Women's Award for exceptional national service. She is the last living leader of the Women's March. Early life ...

. A representatives of each race group in South Africa carried 14,000 petitions for presentation to the Prime Minister

. The Prime Minister was not available, being elsewhere so as not to accept the petition from a multicultural group of women, so in his place it was accepted by his Secretary. 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!"

Petition

The petition had been created by the Federation of South African Women and printed by the

Indian Youth Congress The Indian Youth Congress is the youth wing of the Indian National Congress party. The Indian Youth Congress was a department of the Indian National Congress from the period just after the Partition of India in 1947 until the late 1960s. While p ...

. The petition reads:

Monument to the event

On 9 August 2000,

National Women's Day National Women's Day is a South African public holiday celebrated annually on 9 August. The day commemorates the 1956 march of approximately 20,000 women to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to petition against the country's pass laws that requir ...

, a monument was unveiled at the ''Malibongwe Embokodweni'', the amphitheatre at Union Buildings in Pretoria to celebrate and commemorate the event of 1956. It is called the Monument to the Women of South Africa, a project developed by the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology (DACST). A Monument Steering Committee was formed in 1999 with a judging panel established consisting of a veteran of the march, a member of the presidents office, three artists, a designer and a curator. A seven-day workshop at the Technikon Pretoria was held to enable the event to be fair and transparent and allow disadvantaged artists to participate in the competition. Sixty entries were received with the winners being

Wilma Cruise Wilma may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Wilma (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Eva Wilma (1933–2021), Brazilian actress and dancer Places * Wilma Township, Pine County, Minnesota, United Sta ...

and Marcus Holmes. The final design for the monument starts on the steps of the amphitheatre with the keywords of the petition inscribed in metal on the risers. Climbing the stairs, you trigger a sound message in eleven official languages, "you strike the woman, you strike the rock". When you reach the vestibule, there in the centre lies a ''imbokodo'', a small grinding stone atop a larger grinding stone. The stones sit atop a polished circular bronze stone surrounded by a darker bronze octagon plate. The stones symbolise the women's labour and nurturance while the bronze plates the earth and stone they sit upon.

Notable participants

* Frances Baard *

Bertha Gxowa Bertha Gxowa (née Mashaba November 26, 1934 - November 19, 2010) was an anti-apartheid and women's rights activist and trade unionist in South Africa. Biography Gxowa was born in Germiston. She first started working as an office assistant in th ...

Fatima Meer Fatima Meer (12 August 1928 – 12 March 2010) was a South African writer, academic, screenwriter, and prominent anti-apartheid activist. Early life Fatima Meer was born in the Grey Streets of Durban, South Africa, into a middle-class famil ...

* Ruth Mompati *

Florence Mkhize Florence Grace Mkhize (1932 – July 10, 1999) was an anti-apartheid activist and women's movement leader. Mkhize was usually called 'Mam Flo'. Mkhize was also involved in trade unions in South Africa, organizing for the South African Congress o ...

(as an organizer) *

Rita Ndzanga Rita Alice Ndzanga (, 17 October 1933 – 17 August 2022) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and trade unionist. Biography Ndzanga was born on 17 October 1933 in Mogopa village, near Ventersdorp. Her family moved back and forth betwe ...

Lilian Ngoyi Lilian Masediba Matabane Ngoyi, "Mma Ngoyi", (25 September 1911 – 13 March 1980) was a South African anti-apartheid activist. She was the first woman elected to the executive committee of the African National Congress, and helped launch ...

Albertina Sisulu Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu ( Thethiwe; 21 October 1918 – 2 June 2011) was a South African anti-apartheid activist, and the wife of fellow activist Walter Sisulu (1912–2003). She was affectionately known as "Ma Sisulu" throughout her li ...

* Annie Peters * Nosipho Dastile *

Lilian Diedricks Lilian Diedericks (17 December 1925 in Port Elizabeth, Red Location – 21 December 2021 in Port Elizabeth) was a South African activist known as a founding member of the Federation of South African Women. She was an active shop steward and co-f ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Women's March 1956 in South Africa 1956 protests Opposition to apartheid in South Africa Events associated with apartheid Protests in South Africa Apartheid in South Africa 1956 in women's history Women's marches August 1956 events in Africa