Why women marched in 1956

On August 9, , an estimated They were there to protest against the imposition of pass laws on black South African women and to present a petition to the then Prime Minister J. The day of the protest was called for on a Thursday, the traditional day when black domestic workers had their day off, with the aim of ensuring a larger gathering of women. As the women arrived from all over the country by train and by other means, they walked to the Union Buildings in small groups of twos and threes — large groups were banned by the authorities — and met at the building's gardens and amphitheatre.

In order to enforce such drastic influx control measures, the Government needed a means of identifying women who had no legal right to remain in the Western Cape. According to the terms of the Native Laws Amendment Act, women with Section 10 1 a , b , or c status were not compelled to carry permits.

Theoretically, only women in the Section 10 1 d category - that is, work-seekers or women with special permission to remain in the urban area - were required to possess such documents. In spite of their legal exemption, women with Section 10 1 a , b , and c rights were issued permits by local authorities which claimed that the documents were for their own protection. Any woman who could not prove her a , b , or c status was liable to arrest and deportation.

Soon after permits were issued to women in the Western Cape, local officials began to enforce the regulations throughout the Union. Reaction to the new system was swift and hostile. Even before the Western Cape was designated a "Coloured preference area", Africans were preparing for the inevitable.

On January 4, , hundreds of African men and women assembled in the Langa township outside Cape Town to protest the impending application of the Native Laws Amendment Act. Walker describes the impressive scene: Many of the African women wore traditional dress, others wore the Congress colours, green, black and gold; Indian women were clothed in white saris.

This is something that touches my heart. I appeal to you young Africans to come forward and fight. These passes make the road even narrower for us. We have seen unemployment, lack of accommodation and families broken because of passes. We have seen it with our men. Who will look after our children when we go to jail for a small technical offence -- not having a pass? The turbulent s - Women as defiant activists. Know something about this topic? The minister claimed that the issue women were raising was a problem of the Orange Free State.

But greatest fear was that the protest would ignite countrywide protests by black people given that the mobilisation of the women collected five thousand signatures in protest against the passes that they had to carry. In March , a petition signed by some 5 Black and Coloured women in the Free State, was sent to Prime Minister Louis Botha asking for the repeal of the pass laws.

There was no response. A year later when no changes were made, women found their frustrations growing as the government continued to ignore their demands. Among the women were Mrs. Gabashane, Mrs. Kotsi and Katie Louw. They submitted a petition of over signatures and the government promised to look into their complaint. The escalation of pass laws continued and triggered growing irritation.

In a group of women led by Charlotte Maxeke burned their passes in front of municipal offices, staged protest marches, sang slogans and fought with the police. Many women were arrested in Jagersfontein, Winburg and Bloemfontein. In May , the police arrested large numbers of men and women for pass laws violations throughout the Orange Free State.

This came after brief period of where the enforcement of pass laws seemed to have been relaxed in the province. The number of women was particularly high in Bloemfontein with four times higher than the previous month.

Georgina Taaibosch an outspoken woman who refused to submit to oppression was arrested for the first time. In other parts of the province such as Winburg two women were charged in May while in Jagersfontein eight women were arrested.

Following these arrests, black African women convened a meeting in Waaihoek where they talked about their anger at the government for their harassment. They resolved not carry passes if the government did not relax the existing laws and order the police to show maturity in treating women.

From there a group of women marched into town demanding to see the mayor. When they did not find him they sent a delegation to meet him the following day. The mayor told them there was nothing that he could do about their plight.

Women did not become discouraged; they took their fight to the local police station where they protested. They tore their passes and threw them to the ground preferring to be arrested than suffer indignity. As a result, 80 women were arrested and charged for violating pass laws. This sparked an even bigger demonstration the following day. A crowd of about women headed by Mrs Molisapoli marched and chanted slogans towards the magistrates court where their comrades were being tried.

When the police attempted to keep them off the steps of the court a violent rebellion nearly broke out. In June , a group of between and women gathered on the City Hall and told the Mayor that they would no longer carry passes.

The government began arresting women in large numbers and by July women sent a petition to the Mayor to negotiate abolishing passes for girls over the age of 16 and unmarried women.

The organisation was led by Catharina Symmons and Katie Louw. The association raised funds to assist those women who were in jail, and to pay for their medical bills. Despite pressure applied by the women against pass laws in , the government refused to remove them. Thus, women continued in the following years to apply pressure on the government yielding a positive result.

Women pleaded with him to persuade the Prime Minister and Minister of Native Affairs to relax the pass laws. As a result on 3 March the Prime Minister proposed that all pass laws should be looked into.

Members of Parliament from the Orange Free State supported a strict enforcing of the pass laws while some from the Cape disagreed. However, by mid the campaign began to lose momentum and eventually ended. In , the government threatened to re-introduce pass laws for women in the Free State and other areas as well.

Hence, civil disobedience and demonstrations continued sporadically for several years. Ultimately the permit requirement was withdrawn. No further attempts were made to require permits or passes for African women until the s. Although laws requiring such documents were enacted in , the Government did not begin issuing permits to women until and reference books until , and was one of the main components of the women's struggle. In the Native Laws Amendment Act tightened influx control, making it an offence for any African including women to be in any urban area for more than 72 hours unless in possession of the necessary documentation.

The only women who could live legally in the townships were the wives and unmarried daughters of the African men who were eligible for permanent residence. In terms of this act the many different documents African men had been required to carry were replaced by a single one - the reference book - which gave details of the holder's identity, employment, place of legal residence, payment of taxes, and, if applicable, permission to be in the urban areas.