18 September 2006
The Minister of Arts and Culture, Dr Z Pallo Jordan and the Vice-Chancellor
of the University of Johannesburg, Dr Ihron Rensburg, invite members of media
to the Helen Joseph Memorial Lecture. As part of the 50th anniversary
celebrations of the Women's Anti-Pass March, the Department of Arts and Culture
and the University of Johannesburg will co-host a memorial lecture in honour of
the late Ms Helen Joseph, one of the iconic figures in the history of the
struggle for freedom in South Africa. The memorial lecture will be delivered by
Ambassador Jessie Duarte.
On 9 August 1956, Ms Helen Joseph 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 "idle Africans" or "superfluous
appendages".
Apartheid laws made it far more difficult for African women than men to
acquire urban residency rights, and accommodation in the urban areas. Influx
control laws and by extension 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: Tuesday, 26 September 2006
Time: 17h00 for 17h30
Venue: University of Johannesburg, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture
Auditorium, Auckland Park Bunting Road Campus, Bunting Road, Cottesloe
Enquiries: Mack Lewele
Tel: (012) 441 3083
Cell: 082 450 5076
Eric Mudzanani
Tel: (012) 441 3737
Cell: 082 940 0927
Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
18 September 2006
