Lecture
21 August 2006
The Minister of Arts and Culture, Dr Z Pallo Jordan and the vice chancellor
of the University Of South Africa, Dr Barney Pityana, invite members of media
to the Lilian Ngoyi Memorial Lecture. As part of the 50th anniversary
celebrations of the Womenâs Anti-Pass March, the Department of Arts and Culture
(DAC) and the University of South Africa (UNISA) will co-host a memorial
lecture in honour of the late Ms Lilian Ngoyi, one of the iconic figures in the
history of the struggle for freedom in South Africa. The memorial lecture will
be delivered by the first speaker of a democratic parliament, Dr Frene
Ginwala
On the 9th of August 1956, Ms Lilian Ngoyi was one of the women who led the
anti-pass march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria, one of the largest
demonstrations staged in South Africa. Women played a leading role in the
resistance to unjust pass laws which severely affected their position in
society as well as the African family life. Women were at the bottom of the
social and economic hierarchy. Because of the tenuous nature of their
employment, largely in the domestic service and informal sectors, African women
were particularly vulnerable to removal from the urban areas as âidle Africansâ
or âsuperfluous appendagesâ.
Apartheid laws made it far more difficult for African women than men to
acquire urban residency rights, accommodations in the urban areas. Influx
control laws and extension of the pass system, were intentionally used by
government to bar African women from the urban areas and to confine them to the
African reserves.
Date: 25 August 2006
Time: 18h00
Venue: ZK Mathews Hall, UNISA Main Campus, Pretoria
Draft Programme:
Programme Director: Ms Mary Metcalfe
* Entrance by academic procession
* Constitution of the Congregation: University Chancellor
* Opening and welcome: Prof Barney Pityana, UNISA Vice Chancellor
* Remembering the 9th of August 1956: Ms Sophie de Bruyn
* Introduction of Dr Frene Ginwala: Ms Ntombazana Botha, Deputy Minister of
Arts and Culture
* Keynote address: Dr Frene Ginwala
* Vote of thanks: Dr Z Pallo Jordan, Minister Arts and Culture
* Singing of the National Anthem: All
* Dissolution of the congregation
Enquiries:
Mack Lewele
Tel: (012) 441 3083
Cell: 082 450 5076
Eric Mudzanani
Tel: (012) 441 3737
Cell: 082 940 0927
Abe Mokoka
Cell: 082 375 4457
Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
21 August 2006
