With the terrible things happening to women daily, we should not diminish all the hard-won victories the women of SA have achieved overcoming unimaginable odds.
A fitting way to pay homage to the brave women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 for one of the basic human rights, the right to move freely, is to support and champion female advancements in every sector of society.
Think of the women in sport — Banyana Banyana were recently crowned continental champions of Africa after beating Morocco. They have also qualified for the 2023 Fifa World Cup. The women in the national team worked hard for this, with no official women’s league in the country and little opportunity to train full-time.
Women in sports are punching well above their weight.
We as a society should champion gender equality in all sectors. We should all aspire to be a part of a society with women actively at the front.
The Proteas Women’s team is another a formidable outfit that goes toe-to-toe with the best in the world. The national women’s rugby league is something that needs to be supported. Rugby in SA is one of the few male-dominated sporting codes with a professional women’s league — and it deserves more recognition.
We as a society should champion gender equality in all sectors. We should all aspire to be a part of a society with women actively at the front.
The women who marched all those years ago would be appalled at what SA has become, a place, where in 2021 902 women were killed in three months, a place where one in five women will have experienced gender-based violence by a partner, a place where the minister of police can say on national TV that a woman was lucky she was raped once.
Talking is not enough, we need action. The journey to the Union Buildings was not a selfish undertaking, they did it for all of us.
It’s time we return the favour.
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