Women: Wise, Optimistic, Motivating, Empowering & Nurturing
Women’s Day, celebrated annually on the 9th of August, commemorates the 1956 women’s march against the discriminatory pass laws during the apartheid era. It was on this day that women from across the nation were led by Helen Joseph, Lillian Ngoyi, Rahima Moosa and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn to the Union Buildings to protest against the oppressive pass laws. As SA History describes it, “The 1956 Women’s March played a vital role in women becoming more visible participants in the anti-apartheid struggle.” That is not to say that women were not already playing an instrumental role in the struggle. But as history has long demonstrated, this is often a forgotten aspect of our narrative.
This unfortunate omission underscores the importance of reclaiming and preserving these stories, weaving them into the broader narrative of societal progress. As we reflect on their fight and the impact of their war cry, “wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo, uza kufa” which translates to “when you strike the women, you strike a rock, you will be crushed you will die”, we are given pause to reflect on the progress made in the fight for equality since then. We now live in a democratic society where many of our aspirations have been realised. Yet, there is much we have not managed to achieve. To say that South Africa has achieved equality would be a fallacy. A grim reality is that in many aspects we have failed women.
Pay parity, underrepresentation in industries, unequal access to opportunities, disturbing levels of violence, sexism and misogyny persist unabated. These issues cast a long shadow over our aspirations as a nation. This book aims to shed light on these issues while honouring the progress made and highlighting the road ahead.
The paperbacks are available directly from UJ Press at R200. Office 311 APK Library, ujpress@uj.ac.za or 011 559 2891.
Product details
Chapters
-
Acknowledgements
-
Word from the Chancellor
-
1. Selected Historical African Women of Enduring InspirationKimpa Vita aka Dona Beatriz (c. 1684-1706) and Queen Abla Pokou (c. 1700-1760)
-
2. Ahead of Every Great African Man is a Greater African Woman
-
3. The Rise of Women into Leadership
-
4. Levelling the Academic Field
-
5. The Journey of the First Black Woman Chartered Accountant in South Africa
-
6. Leadership Lessons from my Grandmother, Ms Tshianeo Nyamande Marwala
-
7. An Ode to the Two Women Who ‘Made me a Person’
-
8. From Child Bride to a High-power ExecutiveThe Amazing Journey of Mmathabo Sukati
-
9. An Ode to Ten Women Who Have Taught Me Valuable Life Lessons
-
10. The Staying Power of Women
-
11. An Ode to My Mother
-
12. Resilience and GraceThe Journey of a South African Woman Across Eras
-
13. Ode to My First and Best Leadership Coach and Law Teacher
-
14. Rethink Our World to Achieve Equality for WomenNegative Perceptions, Harmful Stereotypes Still Persist in Our Homes and Workspaces
-
15. Women’s Day and the Ongoing Struggle Against Gender Inequality
-
16. Not Yet UhuruThe Violence Faced by Women in Leadership
References
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
