Women’s Month: Let’s remember those who fought for us

NONTOMBI VELELO

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THE 1956 Women’s March comprised 20 000 women fighting for free movement in South Africa. The protest was directed at dismantling the dompas system created by the apartheid regime to control the movement of ‘nonwhites.

The regime utilised the dompas as one of its systematic mechanisms of racial oppression, segregation, and discrimination. The direct translation of dompas in English is ‘stupid pass’; however, the apartheid regime referred to it as ‘domestic pass.

This illustrates the derogatory and aggressive nature of this law towards black South Africans, as well as the lack of recognition and acknowledgement of their humanity.

The dompas was imposed on people of colour, and failure to adhere to this law resulted in detention and incarceration. People of colour were banned from entering suburban white residential areas without a pass.

This year marks 69 years since the Women’s March. At the forefront of this movement were women who were not scared of the punitive aftermath of their march by the apartheid system, aboMakhulu bethu Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Sophia Williams-De Bryn, Frances Baard, and other women whose names and contributions were not recorded in our history books.

Also, it is worth acknowledging the pain, struggle, and victory of the heroines such as aboMakhulu Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Charlotte Makgomo Maxeke, Fatima Meer, Albertina Sisulu, and Bertha Gxowa, and other women activists who fought for freedom of movement for all South Africans.

These women were aware of the dangers of the patriarchal apartheid system and fought for the rights of those who were marginalised, particularly black South Africans. They were hurt and enraged by apartheid.