What's in the name, Wathint' abafazi, Wathint' imbokodo?
On 9 August 1956, about 20,000 women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against the proposed amendments to the Urban Areas Act of 1950. This Act was meant to "tighten up control of movement of African women to town, registration of their service contracts, and a compulsory medical examination for all African women town-dwellers" (Walker; 1982: p.129). This Act was also meant to extend passes to African women in a form of reference books . The march was organised under the banner of the Federation of South African Women, and challenged the idea that 'a women's place is in the kitchen', declaring it instead to be everywhere'. Although the Prime Minister, JG Strijdom was not at the Union Buildings to accept the petition, the women of South Africa had sent a public message that they would not be intimidated and silenced by unjust laws. After the petitions were handed over to the Secretary of the Prime Minister, the women sang a freedom song:Wathint` abafazi, Strijdom!
Wathint` imbokodo uzo kufa!
Now you have touched the women, Strijdom!
You have struck a rock
(You have dislodged a boulder!)
You will be crushed!
FEDSAW leaders facing the crowd and singing with them, after the petition were handed over at the Union Buildings. From left to right, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, Sophy Williams and Lilian Ngoyi (Picture from BAHA)
Since then, the phrase 'wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo' has come to represent women's courage and strength. As a group that had been marginalized, South African women rose to question the barrier and fought for their emancipation and their families within the political and social fields. more about the march...
ORGANISING WOMEN FOR A COMMON GOAL
It is difficult to pin down the particular issues that South African women faced then in 1956 or today. Issues that concerned women in the 1950s can be described as 'bread and butter' matters, such as housing, food prices, and permits. In modern day South Africa , women are faced with a wide range of issues such as domestic violence, child abuse, HIV/AIDS, unemployment gender discrimination as well as poverty. It is against this background that women then organised themselves within the community to take up these challenges. One such community-based structure was the Alexandra Women's Council (AWC), which was established in the mid-1940s. The AWC became active in issues relating to squatter movements, and in 1947 it demonstrated against the Native Affairs Commission, which wanted to remove squatters in Alexandra Township. Following the Second World War rapid urbanisation took place as more people moved into the cities in search of work in factories or in the mines . The influx of Black people increased to 23.4 per cent in 1946 from 18.4 per cent in 1936. As a result, the need for housing also grew. As government prevented Black people from permanent residence in the cities, they began to build squatter camps or informal settlements on the outskirts of urban areas. The reaction of the government was to clamp down on these squatter camps and remove people to locations, far from their places of work. Women took it upon themselves to fight these removals because it affected their livelihoods such as the shebeens. Women who could not find employment in the factories or as domestic workers began to brew beer and sold it to a large number of migrant workers who could not afford to buy the western beer, or to those men who still preferred the traditional African beer. Relocating these men meant a loss of customers. In the Western Cape , the women of Crossroads squatter camp established the Women of Crossroads Movement to fight similar issues as the AWC was fighting .
From left to right: Woman brewing beer in the township; Men drinking traditional beer in the shebeen; Police arresting a woman for running a shebeen. (Source: http://www.museums.org.za/sam/conf/enc/ pics/gaull/gaul_04b.jpg)
Apart from forming movements such as the AWC and the WCM, there were other movements, which grew into political movements. For instance, Thursdays in South Africa was regarded as a holy day where women from different ethnic and social backgrounds met for a prayer. These prayer groups paved the way for new structures around micro finance and economic support. They organised stokvels and savings clubs for women. Ordinary women who did not belong to any political organisations in the 1950s started these structures. There was one organisation that was established by two women who were politically active at that time; the Zenzele Club started by Josie Palmer and Madie-Hall Xuma. Although it was started by political figures, its members were attracted by the issues of survival that it raised. Zenzele Club encouraged women to make a living from knitting. It was through such organisations that FEDSAW rallied women for a common goal. Although the issues that women fought for remained unsolved, the march in 1956 was a victory in its own right. More women became active in politics and some paid the price of long-term imprisonment while some pose a threat to the government and were assassinated.List of women who went to prison and women who were assassinated click here.
It was not only African women who formed social structures like the ones described above. Luli Callinicos in her book, A Place in the City: The Rand on the Eve of Apartheid; describes how Afrikaans women formed 'wives clubs' to support the Afrikaner cause of 'Broederbond'. Callinicos writes that as early as the 1930s Afrikaans women were regarded as the main bearers of their culture. They were also the "transmitters of the mother tongue and the bearers of Afrikaner culture in the home" (Callinicos; 1993: p.117). White women organisations such as the Black Sash, mobilised women structures such as these for a political cause. Although this was a challenge because of cultural barriers that bound most Afrikaans women, there were some such as Bettie du Toit who rose above those restrictions and fought for the emancipation of South African people across racial lines.
Women's group in Newlands, Johannesburg.
(Source: Luli Callinicos; A Place in the City: The Rand on the Eve of Apartheid, p.117)
South African women, across racial lines, have been the source of courage for the entire community. In appointing women into government President Thabo Mbeki stated "No government in South Africa could ever claim to represent the will of the people if it failed to address the central task of emancipation of women in all its elements, and that includes the government we are privileged to lead." (Mbeki, 2004) Currently women in Cabinet make up 33 percent of positions a far cry from when Helen Suzman stood alone as a woman Member of Parliament. She made her presence felt by openly opposing the policies of the National Party and urging the government to open discussion with the Liberation Movements. Women of South Africa across all spheres of life have contributed in the making of South Africa . Today, the contribution that women made in our history is not only visible in our society but in the steps of the Union Buildings.
Women's Monument, Union Buildings in Pretoria (Source: Sue Krige)
MALIBONGWE IGAMA LAMAKHOSIKAZI!
PRAISE THE WOMEN'S NAME!
Sources:
- Callinicos, L (1993); A Place in the City: The Rand on the Eve of Apartheid, Ravan Press, Cape Town .
- Walker, C (1982); Women and Resistance in South Africa, Onyx Press, London .
- Musiker N and Musiker R (2000) A Concise Historical Dictionary of Greater Johannesburg, Francolin Publishers, Cape Town .
- DACST (2000) Women Marching into the 21 st Century: Wathint' abafazi wathint' imbokodo, Sheron Printers.
- http://www.museums.org.za/sam/conf/enc/pics/gaull/gaul_04b.jpg
