Women's resistance in the 1960s - Sharpeville and its aftermath

South African women in exile, 1960-1990

There is a great deal of information on women’s internal political activities or protests against racial discrimination and unjust laws in South Africa, but not much has been written on the history of women activists in exile. This section deals with both high and low profile women in exile during the struggle. It is imperative to note that the banning and the consequences of banning political organisations such as the African National Congress (ANC), the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) - who both had taken up anti-pass campaigns in 1960 - and the South African Communist Party (SACP) in the same year were momentous. One of the most significant impacts of the bannings was the subsequent decline of the liberation movement after the Sharpeville Massacre in 1960. In an effort to resuscitate the war effort, thousands of people, of which a large number were women, (i.e. women activists and spouses of male activists) left the country for various destinations in Africa and Europe. Ever since that date, support for the ANC began to grow from strength to strength. In the ensuing decade the explosion of student unrest and the crackdown by the government in 1976 further drove thousands of students into exile, among them young girls. After Soweto, many young men and women who went into exile joined guerrilla armies (i.e. Umkhonto we Sizwe/MK). A relatively smaller group followed other professions. The former category was housed in ANC bases in Zambia, Tanzania, Angola and other African countries. In these bases, female youths, just like their male counterparts, carried out various activities under very trying conditions. 

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