First Women Anti-Pass Campaign starts

The June 1913 anti-pass campaign was probably the first recorded incidence of protest by women against the Union government. About 700 women marched to the Bloemfontein City Council in the Orange Free State to petition the mayor. The Orange Free State was the only province in which passes were stringently enforced to control the movement of women residing and working in towns in large numbers. The Campaign gained momentum and spread to other areas in Bloemfontein. 34 women were arrested and convicted for not having passes. The direct result of this campaign was the establishment of the Bantu Women's League under the leadership of Charlotte Manye Maxeke. The Bantu Women's League was adopted and relaunched by the African National Congress as its Women's League structure in the 1940s.