Fighting for Liberation

In the face of all the suffering imposed by the apartheid regime, the consistantly significant contribution of women to the fight for national liberation cannot be over-emphasised. From the 1913 campaigns against pass laws for women which resulted in exempting women from pass laws until 1957, the black women of South Africa have written themselves a heroic history. Supporting them have been a small band of white women.

The 1913 campaign was led by Charlotte Makeke, a founder member of the African National Congress in 1912. Since then, the daughters of South Africa have followed in the tradition of struggle. Women such as Lilian Ngoyi, Ida Mntwana, Helen Joseph, Dorothy Nyembe, and Mary Moodly immediately come to mind - women who through bannings, detentions, torture, and long prison terms have remained steadfast in their determination to overcome their problems.

During the bitter struggle of the anti-pass campaigns, women leaders mobilised tens of thousands of women in a show of strength that transcended barriers of race, ethnicity, rural or urban background. The most dramatic event in the history of women's struggle and unity was the convergence of over 20,000 women on the Union Buildings in Pretoria to present anti-pass petitions with over 100,000 signatures.

The magnitude of the crowd, their dignity and discipline, despite police efforts to disrupt their well-laid plans, is an achievement yet to be repeated in South Africa. Betty du Toit describes it as "eerie". They stood in complete silence while the petitions were delivered. Then they sang freedom songs ending with the famous line to the then Prime Minister Strijdom: "Now you have touched the women, you have dislodged a boulder. You will be crushed."

Subsequent anti-pass demonstrations mobilised thousands of women across the country. The police force resorted to more overt violence, shooting into groups of women and harrassing them with low-flying aircraft.

The harsh "anti-terrorist" legislation introduced during the early 1960s placed great strain on the liberation movement. And once again women were the first to suffer solitary confinement and torture. Over 200 were brought to trial and 83 served prison sentences. Over 150 women have been banned and placed under house arrest. After events following the Soweto uprising another generation of women freedom fighters has emerged.

Today in South Africa, women are inspired by their ancestors, but even more by the victories of the women of Mozambique, Angola, and Zimbabwe. For the women of South Africa, the message is clear: not to seek equal status with men under apartheid, but to work together with the men to topple the apartheid system.