The 1956 Women’s March

On August 9, 1956, an estimated 20.000 South African women of all backgrounds and cultures marched towards the Union Buildings, the official seat of the South African Government in Pretoria. They were there to protest against the imposition of pass laws on black South African women and to present a petition to the then Prime Minister J.G. Strijdom. Organised by the Federation of South African Women (FSAW), the march was one of largest mass gatherings of women in South African history.

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 from all over the country by train and by other means, they walked to the Union Buildings 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, Albertina Sisulu, and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn.

Representatives of each “race” group in South Africa carried 14,000 signed petitions for presentation to the Prime Minister J.G. Strijdom. The Prime Minister was not available, being elsewhere so that he would not have to accept the list of signatures from a multicultural group of women, so in his place it was accepted by his Secretary. The women then stood for thirty minutes in silence before singing "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" and a new song called "Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo, uza kufa!” ([When] you strike the women, you strike a rock, you will be crushed!]), which in turn has become a kind of rallying call for women.

Despite the protest, women were forced to carry passes, but the day was a turning point in their resistance history: it marked their agency.

In commemoration of the march, South Africa has celebrated National Woman's Day on August 9 every year since 1995.

(Source: Wikipedia, edited)

Selected publications

Fatima Meer : memories of love and struggle / Fatima Meer. - Cape Town : Kwela Books, 2017

Frances Baard's and Helen Joseph's struggle against apartheid, 1950-1963 : a comparative analysis / Estella Musiiwa.
In: Historia : amptelike orgaan , vol. 57, no. 1, p. 66-81, 2012

Representation & reality : portraits of women's lives in the Western Cape 1948-1976 / Helen Scanlon. - Cape Town : HSRC Press, 2007

Strike a woman, strike a rock : fighting for freedom in South Africa / Barbara Hutmacher MacLean. - Trenton, N.J : Africa World Press, cop. 2004

The New Monument to the Women of South Africa / Rayda Becker.
In: African arts, 2000-12-01, Vol.33 (4), p.1-9

Women of South Africa : their fight for freedom / Peter Magubane; Carola Lazar; Nadine Gordimer. - Boston [etc.] : Little, Brown and Co, cop. 1993

Women and resistance in South Africa / Cherryl Walker. - New York : Monthly Review Press, cop. 1991

Now you have touched the women : African women's resistance to the pass laws in South Africa 1950-1960 / Elizabeth S. Schmidt. - [New York] : UN, Mar. 1983.
https://www.sahistory.org.za/archive/now-you-have-touched-women-african-...

Side by side : the autobiography of Helen Joseph / Helen Joseph. - London : Zed Books, 1986

Women against apartheid : the fight for freedom in South Africa, 1920-1975 / Nancy van Vuren. - Palo Alto, Calif : R & E Research Associates, 1979

See also: Online exhibition "9 August 1956: The Women's Anti-Pass March", Google Arts and Culture and "The 1956 Women's March in Pretoria" on South African History Online.

South Africa: The icons behind the 1956 women’s march. Film produced by Esther Ogola for the BBC (4:12 min), 30 November 2020
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-55106942