This piece, written by Lynnda Wardle, has been republished with permission from the Dangerous Women Project, created by the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh.
Born: 8 April 1905, United Kingdom
Died: 25 December 1992
Country most active: South Africa
Also known as: Helen Fennell
Four women mobilised support and organised the huge protest that was to take place on August the 9th 1956 at the Union Buildings, the seat of the apartheid government. Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophia de Bruyn knew that this was a dangerous undertaking. As Sophia De Bruyn explained later in an interview ‘We entered the holy grail; it was like us being cheeky! We dared to enter their domain.’
All four knew that this political gathering could end in violence and bloodshed. However, they had all worked in the trade union movement and knew how to organise a large gathering. Black people were not allowed to gather publicly and so the women were told to make their way to the Union Buildings in small groups, careful not to appear to be marching. By late morning however, there were thousands of women gathered, many dressed in the green and gold of the ANC. Others were wrapped against the cold in brightly coloured blankets, carrying their own babies or the white children they were looking after, on their backs. Over again they sang:
Wathint’abafazi, wathint’imbokodo!
You have struck women; you have struck a rock!
The four organisers left the petitions against the Pass Laws signed by thousands of women in bundles at Strijdom’s door. He had not come to meet them and the rumour was that he was not even in the building. Lilian Ngoyi then led the women in half an hour of silence, symbolic of the silencing of women’s voices for decades under white rule.
To date this was the biggest mass gathering of women ever seen in South Africa. The campaign against Pass Laws for women continued for another seven years but increasing police intimidation, harassment and arrests eventually wore down resistance and black women were finally forced to carry passes (nicknamed ‘Dompas’ or stupid pass) in 1960. Their march in 1959 was one of unity and defiance in the face of injustice. The march has become a symbol for women who continue to fight for women’s rights in South Africa today.