8 August 2006

The government has announced a year-long programme of activities, starting in July, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Women's March to Pretoria.

On 9 August 1956, about 20 000 women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against legislation aimed at tightening the apartheid government's control over the movement of black women in urban areas.

According to SA History Online, the march, organised under the banner of the Federation of South African Women, challenged the idea that "a women's place is in the kitchen", declaring it instead to be "everywhere".

To commemorate this landmark in South Africa's struggle against oppression, the Department of Arts and Culture will hold a public event in Pretoria on Women's Day, 9 August, to re-enact the march.

It is expected that thousands of people will gather at Strijdom Square in Pretoria's central business district before marching to the Union Buildings, where they will be received by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and some of the 1956 veterans.

The 50th anniversary campaign of the 1956 anti-pass march will also honour the icons of the liberation struggle.

"It is unfortunate that legendary women leaders like Charlotte Manye-Maxeke, Madie Hall-Xuma, Cissy Gool, Ray Alexander Simons, Winifred Siqwana, Ida Mntwana, Dora Tamana and Annie Silinga - unlike their male counterparts - are not household names," said Arts and Culture Minister Pallo Jordan.

The Department of Arts and Culture is working on a compilation of biographies of a number of South African women, and is also working with a number of the country's universities to host a series of lectures on the lives of some of the veterans of 1956.

The first lecture, to be held at the University of South Africa, is expected to focus on Lilian Ngoyi. Others will focus on Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, Ruth First, Charlotte Manye-Maxeke, Winifred Kgoare and Ellen Khuzwayo, among others.

A special award of national orders for women will be made in September, while Parliament will also host an international conference of women later this year.

Source: BuaNews

	On 9 August 1956, about 20 000 women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against the apartheid government's pass laws (Graphic: SA History Online: Imbokodo - Women's Struggle in South Africa)

	Kuzwayo 'left too soon': Mbeki Women's Jail comes full circle SA honours freedom heroes A short history of South Africa

Imbokodo, the rock, Woman! SA History Online's special project on the women's struggle in South Africa - an ongoing project leading up to the Women's March 50th anniversary - features an excellent range of biographies, milestones, photographs, links and more.