Daughters of the soil: It’s Aluta Continua 63 years on
The Capital City’s veteran women activists have called for heightened levels of activism by young women
AS part of Women’s Month celebrations, Msunduzi News spoke to some of the City’s women struggle veterans who argue that today’s women are not only faced with a struggle of wanting to be afforded the same equal opportunities as their male counterparts, but there is a new struggle of a deafening silence on societal issues.
Speaking about the role of women in the liberation movement and the status of women today, veteran activist Nana Mnandi said that although she was not part of the 1956 march, women from Pietermaritzburg played a very active role in fighting against oppression as they used unity to question the status quo. Mnandi said during the apartheid struggle solidarity was what kept them going. After young people were killed day and night by the apartheid government, they mobilized as women in order to start a burial scheme with only R2 so that they could be given descent burials. She also paid tribute to the late “Mother of the Nation” Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela- Mandela who was always their source of strength during those days.
“As I celebrate women’s month, I celebrate it with a very heavy heart as it seems that all that these heroines fought for has become a futile exercise. During the struggle, if there was something that we were not happy about as women, we mobilised in order to question the status quo. Young women nowadays have become too silent while there are so many social ills to be vocal about. For us it was about solidarity and patriotism more than ‘stomach politics’ as it has turned to be today. As we commemorate the lives of these women, I wish that women political leaders could go back to their history books in order to understand the significance of this day and to understand the role of women in challenging the status quo. Nowadays it’s all about money. While this country has made great strides towards gender equality, there is still more to be done as men still view women who are strong willed, brave and intelligent as arrogant and unfit to occupy leadership positions.”
Mnandi further raised concerns that while women have played a very instrumental role in the liberation movement, their names have been erased from history. “We have women activists such as Khopha Masuku from KwaMachibisa who was brutally killed by the apartheid government, Buyi Xulu from Ashdown, Jabu Ndlovu from Imbali , but other than Jabu Ndlovu, they are nowhere to be found in history books,” ended Mnandi.
Under the theme: “25 Years of Democracy: Growing South Africa together for Women’s Emancipation”, on 9 August this year the country celebrated 63 years since thousands of women marched to the Union Buildings to protest against apartheid pass laws. As we honour the lives of these courageous extraordinary women of 1956 whom through a collective effort demanded an end to pass laws which sought to control their movements, women empowerment talks and slogans such as “Wathint’ abafazi wathint’ imbokodo” (You Strike a woman, you strike a rock) will feature prominently throughout this month.
Despite past research indicating that South African women have taken significant strides towards gender equality, delivering her women’s day’s speech this year, Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disability Maite NkoanaMashabane argued that women are still not afforded the same equal opportunities in terms of education, jobs and salaries when compared to their male counterparts.
Former ANC MP and struggle activist Happy Blose also shared the same sentiments, saying that women are no longer entering the political sphere to serve the interests of the people. She said: “Post democracy, women’s activism is as good as dead. During our times, we did not need money to fight against societal ills, but we mobilised as women. I remember that at the forefront of all these mobilisation campaigns were myself, Lulu Gwala, Nana Mnandi, Sibongile Mkhize and Dr Makhosi Khoza. If there was a societal issue that needed an intervention, we did not seek permission, but we mobilised as women. Even if we were suspecting a case of domestic abuse, we would mobilise as women and talk to the perpetrator. Today’s women activists have lost the urge to fight for serious issues.” Blose ended by saying that while times have changed as more women occupy leadership positions, men are still threatened by this as women who show signs of bravery and intellect are easily discouraged and silenced at very early stages of their careers.
Rabia Motala, a struggle activist and wife to the late anti-apartheid activist Dr Chota Motala said that while women of 1956 paved the way for the emancipation of women, the current generation of women owe it to these women to ensure that the struggle for women emancipation continues. “While women have better opportunities post-democracy, there is a lot that still needs to be done by the South African government. Great strides have been made, however there is still a long way to go. We will get there hopefully,” ended Motala.
Luhle Ndlovu, uMgungundlovu District SACP Secretary and daughter to the late trade unionist Jabu Ndlovu said that while triple oppressions of race, class and gender that affected women pre-democracy are still prevalent even today, the difference is in the approach in which women of today are dealing with these challenges.
She said, “Women then were dealing with these challenges with no policy support. Nowadays we have policy support in writing but not in practical reality. Women leaders of today are not as self-less as women back then. They solved issues as a collective while we are individuals located within ourselves. Nowadays women in leadership positions have the tendency to lock doors for others who are behind, whenever they have fulfilled their objectives. Being a daughter to someone who was selfless and understood her role as a shop steward even with a meagre salary, has also taught me to understand my role and responsibility as a woman leader.”