50 years later - wathint' abafazi...!

This year, 9 August, National Women's Day, will assume special significance because it will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Women's March that inscribed this date in our historical annals. Fifty years ago the women of our country marched to the Union Buildings as part of the struggle to liberate our country.

This year, again on 9 August, the women of South Africa (with men among them), will take to the streets of our capital city in a symbolic march to the Union Buildings, to commemorate 9 August 1956 and celebrate the freedom we achieved in 1994, as well as continue the struggle for gender equality and the true emancipation of women.

Throughout the decades of struggle under the leadership of the national movement, the African National Congress, the women of our country took their place among the invincible forces that ultimately triumphed in 1994, when, through our first democratic elections, power passed into the hands of the people as a whole.

That victory created the conditions such that a new march to the Union Buildings should take place this year with no threat that the marchers would be met with state repression, or that the state would treat their demands as hostile to the objectives the nation has set itself.

Today's generations of the women of South Africa, including some of those who marched in 1956, therefore have every reason to celebrate the victory of 1994 as a product of their sacrifices and their determination to ensure the liberation of our people, whatever the cost to themselves.

They engaged in that struggle organised in women's organisations, such as the ANC Women's League and the Federation of South African Women, as members of the ANC, the ANC Youth League, Umkhonto we Sizwe, the progressive trade union movement, religious organisations, and formations of civil society.

It was because of their steadfastness in the face of an unrelenting tyranny and merciless repression that the nation accepted as obviously true, the slogan - wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo: uzakufa! (strike the women, you strike a rock: you will perish!)

As early as 1913, the women of our country demonstrated the courage that was to play such an important part in the victory of the democratic revolution. In that year, the African and Coloured women in the then Orange Free State petitioned the white minority government of the day to repeal the pass laws for women. When the government ignored their demand, the women resolved never to carry passes and launched a defiance campaign, saying, "We are done with pleading; we now demand!"

Many women were arrested during the course of this struggle. Having visited them in Kroonstad prison, the first Secretary General of the ANC, Sol Plaatje, wrote: "They don't care, even if they die in jail. They swear they will cure that madness (of women's passes); they will stop their protest only when the law prevents policemen from stopping and demanding passes from other men's wives". Faced with this determined opposition, in 1914 the government stopped enforcing its policies obliging black women to carry passes. The government of Louis Botha had struck a rock and had to retreat!

During the course of its evolution, our movement came clearly to define the emancipation of women as an inherent, inalienable and defining feature of our struggle for national liberation. Thus we arrived at the firm determination that our freedom could never be complete unless it involves the emancipation of the women of our country.

We stated this firmly that the oppressive and exploitative tyranny in our country meant that our women suffered from triple-oppression - based on race, gender and class. Necessarily, therefore, the struggle for the emancipation of women had to focus on all these three.

Given that, even 12 years after our liberation, our continuing struggle is still centred on the task to eradicate the legacy of centuries of colonialism and apartheid, we have a similarly continuing responsibility to confront the triple-oppression we defined as characterising the condition of the women of our country.

As we engage this struggle, we still need to draw on an historic document adopted in 1954, at the Founding Conference of the Federation of South African Women - The Women's Charter.

What was to come out of this Conference was heralded by the opening speech delivered by the ANC Women's League President, Ida Mntwana, who said: "Gone are the days when the place of women was in the kitchen and looking after the children. Today, they are marching side by side with men on the road to freedom."

Much of what the Charter said 52 years ago must continue to guide us today as we work further to promote the goals of the national democratic revolution, which include the emancipation of women. In part, The Women's Charter says:

"We women do not form a society separate from the men. There is only one society, and it is made up of both women and men. As women we share the problems and anxieties of our men, and join hands with them to remove social evils and obstacles to progress.

"The level of civilisation which any society has reached can be measured by the degree of freedom that its members enjoy. The status of women is a test of civilisation. Measured by that standard, South Africa must be considered low in the scale of civilised nations...

"As members of the National Liberatory movements and Trade Unions, in and through our various organisations, we march forward with our men in the struggle for liberation and the defence of the working people. We pledge ourselves to keep high the banner of equality, fraternity and liberty. As women there rests upon us also the burden of removing from our society all the social differences developed in past times between men and women, which have the effect of keeping our sex in a position of inferiority and subordination...

"We recognise that the women are treated as minors by...marriage and property laws because of ancient and revered traditions and customs which had their origin in the antiquity of the people and no doubt served purposes of great value in bygone times... Those conditions have gone...

"The law has lagged behind the development of society; it no longer corresponds to the actual social and economic position of women. The law has become an obstacle to progress of the women, and therefore a brake on the whole of society.

"This intolerable condition would not be allowed to continue were it not for the refusal of a large section of our men-folk to concede to us women the rights and privileges which they demand for themselves.

"We shall teach the men that they cannot hope to liberate themselves from the evils of discrimination and prejudice as long as they fail to extend to women complete and unqualified equality in law and in practice.

"We also recognise that large numbers of our womenfolk continue to be bound by traditional practices and conventions, and fail to realise that these have become obsolete and a brake on progress. It is our duty and privilege to enlist all women in our struggle for emancipation and to bring to them all realisation of the intimate relationship that exists between their status of inferiority as women and the inferior status to which their people are subjected by discriminatory laws and colour prejudices.

"It is our intention to carry out a nation-wide programme of education that will bring home to the men and women of all national groups the realisation that freedom cannot be won for any one section or for the people as a whole as long as we women are kept in bondage."

This year we have been celebrating the 10th anniversary of the adoption of our National Constitution. That Constitution contains the specific injunction that we must build a non-sexist society. It therefore represents acceptance by our society of what The Women's Charter said, that, "freedom cannot be won for any one section or for the people as a whole as long as we women are kept in bondage."

Perhaps more than anybody else, our movement must strive fully to understand the great advance represented by today's reality, that gender equality and the emancipation of women constitute fundamental national objectives that have also become a constitutional imperative.

I say this because, in its earlier history, our movement, despite its otherwise pioneering role, also perpetuated the inferiority of women within its own ranks, having accepted the validity of what The Women's Charter described as "ancient and revered traditions and customs which had their origin in the antiquity of the people and no doubt served purposes of great value in bygone times".

At its foundation, the ANC did not accept women as full members. Its 1919 Constitution only provided that women could be auxiliary members, with no voting rights, and no possibility to be elected to any of the organs of the movement.

This was only changed at the 1943 National Conference, which resolved to grant women full membership of the ANC, and called for the establishment of the ANC Women's League. It was only at the 1955 National Conference that the first woman was elected into the National Executive Committee of the ANC, this being that great heroine of our struggle, Lilian Ngoyi.

The fact of the matter therefore is that it took our movement more than 40 years fully to give expression within its own ranks to the principle and practice of gender equality. In this regard, The Women's Charter had said: "The status of women is a test of civilisation. Measured by that standard, South Africa must be considered low in the scale of civilised nations." Our movement has an obligation to ensure that it does not, through its own conduct, define itself as barbaric.

It also has a responsibility to work hard, consciously and consistently to accelerate the advance towards the realisation of the goal of the creation of a non-sexist society, understanding from its own history that this will not come about of its own.

We can and should be proud of the fact that during the first 12 years of our liberation, we have made some progress towards the achievement of this goal. That progress ranges from the passage of legislation prohibiting gender discrimination, through improving the lot of women by providing clean water and electricity, addressing them in our poverty relief programmes, instituting affirmative action programmes in favour of women, opening the doors for women to take their place in the decision making bodies of our system of governance, including the legislatures, the executive and the judiciary, consistently addressing the crimes of gender violence, and so on.

However, all of us know very well that we have as yet not achieved gender equality and are still some distance away from realising the goal of a non-sexist society. It is therefore important that constantly we must make the nation aware of our scorecard in this regard, and thus place the objective of the emancipation of women constantly at the centre of our work as we strive to effect the reconstruction and development of our country.

Of great importance also, is the mobilisation of women themselves to contribute to the attainment of the central goal of a non-sexist society, building on the many decades of the involvement of women in the struggle to create a new South Africa. Those decades confirm that Ida Mntwana was right when she said, "Gone are the days when the place of women was in the kitchen and looking after the children."

We hope that the Progressive Women's Movement of South Africa that will be launched in Bloemfontein in the next few days, ahead of the 50th Anniversary of the 1956 Women's March, will contribute to the further strengthening of the role of the heroic women of our country as an agent of progressive change.

In this regard, we cannot but agree with the ANC Women's League that, "the Progressive Women's Movement must be progressive and diverse. It should be shaped by local struggles and has to acknowledge that women are not a homogeneous group. Similarly the movement should advocate the ethos of transforming South Africa into a non-sexist, non-racial, democratic, united and prosperous South Africa, as well as promote an understanding of social relationships of class, race, ethnicity, age, religion etc.

"(Further), the movement should respond to specific conditions of gender inequality through a minimum platform for action. The formation of the progressive women's movement should enable women to resolve fundamental disagreements or differences through dialogue so that they can sharpen their understanding of the challenges facing them."

It is surely one of the imperatives of the day that, as the Progressive Women's Movement intends, "The women of South Africa should unite and march together for equality, peace and development"!

Women's Movement

Now is the time, our age of hope

Fifty years ago, on 9 August 1956, the women of South Africa were galvanised into that great tide that saw a male racist chauvinist flee in front of their anger. We owe it to them to recognise, learn from and pay tribute to their historic actions that laid the foundation for the democracy we have achieved and the strides we have made on our determined march to gender equality.

However the best tribute we can pay to these heroines and the heroes is to defend the gains made and also in action, to change the lives of those who have yet to taste this freedom in real terms, the majority of whom are the black, poor, rural and working class women existing on the periphery of society. All of us should unite with them in action to make sure that in reality "today is better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today".

The people and the government of South Africa have put in place many policies, laws and institutions to ensure that women not only regain their dignity but are "mistresses" of their own destinies. Papers have been written in praise of the achievements made in South Africa and in particular in the inclusion of women in decision-making spheres. Tempting as it is to analyse the gains and the gaps, this contribution is directed only at the current debate on the 'formation' of a 'South African women's movement'.

The story of 'forming' a Women's Movement in the current period dates back to the Malibongwe Conference in Amsterdam in 1989. In the glorious, long and arduous road to freedom, there have always been women's movements. If by a 'women's movement' we mean all women who recognise the need to mobilise and organise themselves at any level and engage in any form of struggle to better their lot, or fight against any form of discrimination against women, or engage in any form of struggle for the achievement of women's emancipation and gender equality, then there has been not one women's movement, but many.

The debate about forming a woman's movement should therefore not be taken to mean that there has never been one or that none currently exists. The debate should in fact be informed by these, their experiences, victories and challenges.

The launch of the South African Women's Movement should be used to dialogue and strategise for further onslaughts against patriarchy, that abominable system, ideology and practice of domination of women by men that permeates all spheres of our lives.

Democracy is crucial for, and has contributed to, the road to gender equality in our country, including the improvement of the status and quality of life of women. It has also very importantly created the opportunity and a healthy environment for furthering the gender struggles. However it is not sufficient for dislodging patriarchy. We still have to do much more for the complete eradication and transformation of all power relations in society, across which runs the gender inequality thread. The whole society has to be mobilised into a strong and vibrant movement for transformation, at the centre of which should be a women's movement driven by women, particularly the most marginalised poor, black, rural and working class women.

Patriarchy cannot be eradicated only by government, or one group or organisation. It needs all forces within society. Particularly because it coexists with, and survives even under, the most progressive political systems; because it is articulated in many diverse subtle and hidden or open and crude forms; because it is explained away in many logical-sounding ways ranging from the natural, biological to religious and cultural arguments; because one of its strongest bases is the family, the home, and among loved ones; and because it is the most complex and entrenched system embedded in, and permeating through, all spheres of life, it needs all forms of struggle - persuasion, contestation, compromise, pressure and confrontation. The struggle against patriarchy is a "struggle within the struggle". The different forms and levels of engagement, organised or not, formal or otherwise, constitute the women's movements.

Women's struggles take different forms and occur in different localities determined by diverse interests and needs. Some women, especially poor and black women, are mobilised in their communities and localities on needs that are so basic they are taken for granted (like access to clean water). They thus struggle for elementary rights. Their needs are classified by some scholars as the practical gender needs (PGNs). Significantly, these women and their organisations do not link their situation to that of patriarchy. They may even accept the biological, religious or cultural explanations of their place and role in society.

If women's struggles and organisations were to be presented in a continuum, the basic needs group, sometimes called the popular women's movement, would be at the one end. Towards the other end would be the strategic gender needs groups (SGNs). These include, but are not limited to, feminists (of many kinds) mainly concerned with the complete eradication of unequal power relations between men and women. Some of these look down on the practical gender needs and struggles maintaining that these wittingly or unwittingly reinforce the socially defined but not natural role of women as being in the domestic sphere. Of significance with these is that they have many different and diverse theories to explain the root of and path to the eradication of patriarchy and how to change it.

At the other end of the continuum would be what some of us call the transformative group that is committed to a transformative agenda. These acknowledge and are directly and indirectly involved in the whole range of the struggles, from the practical through to the strategic needs, seeing each as a necessary building block for women's emancipation, gender equality and a competently transformed society that has eradicated all forms of inequality, oppression and discrimination. They use different strategies, tactics and participate in all kinds of organisations and struggles. They fight for access to water and access to decision-making bodies, use power to transform power and its instruments, and transform society and social relations.

There are no borders between these groups and struggles. There is mobility, support and solidarity, and sometimes overlaps, among them. All of these strands have gone through highs and lows at different times and for different reasons.

One of the lessons that will have to be learnt is the challenge of politics of access, inclusion and participation. When some of us moved into the state and its machinery we had to shift the sites to other battles. While this was very good, the unintended consequence was a temporary demobilisation and expectations of delivery from a state that has so many women. In some cases the politics and advantages of access and inclusion prevailed with many acting as if the mere act of inclusion was transformation, and not a step towards transformation.

As we prepare for the formation of this movement, the lessons have to be brought to the fore for us to emerge stronger. This becomes critical as it determines how in this complex epoch we unite in action for the bigger goal of equal gender relations.

The strength of any movement lies in its ability to link with others. The women's movement should therefore include, but not be limited to, these networks and organisations. It should be the much-needed coordination, cooperation and collaboration point for solidarity and united action.

One of the weaknesses we have had as the Alliance has been the poverty of gender theory. This makes us lurch from side to side as a rudderless ship on the seas of gender engagement. Some kind of theory emanating from our and other experiences would help us to have markers and pointers in our struggle. A women's movement does not necessarily evolve around a theory, but it needs a basic reference point beyond the slogans of engendering, mainstreaming, integrating gender, etc. South Africa as a whole is poorer for the limitation of the intellectual debate especially on these matters. Many women in South Africa have the practice, but that is not sufficient for the transformation agenda. Practice and experience needs to be continuously fortified by theory, while in turn enriching theory.

These are the pieces of the jigsaw that have to be put together to form the tapestry of one women's blanket - with identifiable and distinct colours and yet forming part of the whole. The thread knitting us together would be our action plan, unity in action and commitment to completely overthrow patriarchy and all its manifestations. We are ready, able and willing. Now is the time, our age of hope.

** Thenjiwe Mtintso is a member of the ANC National Executive Committee. This is an edited version of an article that appears in the forthcoming edition of the ANC political discussion journal, Umrabulo.

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