P Jordan: Women's Day during Women's Month

9 August 2006

Comrade President Thabo Mbeki,
Comrade Deputy President, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka,
Vice-President Joyce Mujuru,
Our honoured guests from neighbouring countries and from afar who are
celebrating here with us today,
Mam’ Albertina Sisulu, Mam’ Adelaide Tambo, Comrade Sophie Williams-de
Bruyn,
Ministers and Deputy Ministers of the national government,
Premiers and MECs here present,
Members of Parliament and legislative assemblies,
The mayors and municipal councillors from various towns and cities here
present,
Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps,
Leaders of the Progressive Women’s Movement,
Comrades, the representatives of the women of South Africa,
Friends,

I welcome you all to this great occasion!
And what an occasion!
I want to welcome you to the National celebration of the 50th anniversary of
South African Women’s Day!
We are here today to celebrate and to commemorate!

We are here today to remember. To remember not only the 20 000 who marched
on 9 August 1956, but to remember the millions of women of South Africa and of
the world who have fought for and are still fighting for the rights of women!
We are here to pay a tribute, to pay a national tribute as a people, as a
nation, as a country, to millions of Women of this country who have over the
years fought for and struggled for the democracy we have today!

We are here today to honour the millions of women of yesteryear, of the
decades and the century before today, whose struggles and perseverance has
brought us freedom and democracy!

We are here to salute, the millions of women – tillers of the soil, mothers,
wives, workers who use their hands and of the workers who use the mind, whose
sacrifices and whose spirit of no surrender have brought South Africa and the
people of South Africa the liberty, the freedom and the democratic rights we
all enjoy today.

We are here to pay homage to the women of South Africa, to the millions of
mothers throughout the country who have borne the burden of birthing, of
nurturing, of feeding, of bringing up, and of raising generations of South
Africans – who bore and raised the thousands of warrior women and men who
fought on the factory floor, on the streets, in the rural areas, on the
battlefields, in the classroom, on the stage, at every site where we waged the
struggle to free our country from racial domination and from oppression.

The roll call is far too long for us to recall all their names. We are here
to honour Charlotte Maxeke, that indomitable educationalist and freedom
fighter! We are here to honour Cecilia Makiwane and Mina Soga, their colleagues
and contemporaries who were the pioneers among our women in opening up the way
for those who followed them into the various professions. We are here to pay
homage to the memory of Cissy Gool and of her sisters-in-law, Janub and Amina,
who fought the good fight from the 1930s until the end of their lives. We
remember today the great feats of organisation and mobilisation performed by
Ray Alexander Simons, Elizabeth Mafikeng and Elizabeth Abrahams. Florence
Matomela, Bertha Mkhize, Ida Mntwana and thousands of others responsible for
the organisation and unionisation of women workers in various industries.

We are here to remember the names of Mrs Amina Pahad and Mrs Khadijah
Christopher, Dr Goonam, Fatima Meer, and of all the courageous women who led
the Passive Resistance campaign of 1946 in Durban. We are here to recall the
names and the courageous deeds of Lillian Ngoyi, Dora Tamana, Winifred Siqwana,
Hettie McLeod September ;Francis Baard, Annie Silinga, Helen Joseph; Victoria
Mahabane, Victoria Mxenge, Rahima Moosa; Ellen Kuzwayo, Asa Dawood; and all the
other stalwarts of the 1950s, who led militant women’s formations in the fight
for social justice, for freedom, for the rights of women, the rights of the
youth, the rights of children, indeed for the rights of all our people.

We recall the names of thousands of women who participated in the armed
struggle as soldiers and underground fighters, braving the gravest dangers and
hazards of military service, to bring freedom to the people of our country. We
are here to pay homage to spirit of self sacrifice of the thousands of women,
African, Coloured, Indian, and White who painstakingly built the liberation
movement’s underground structures, who did the quiet unglamorous work of
building organisations and structures so that we could take on the racist enemy
and finally defeat him!

And as we celebrate, we dip our banners in homage to the women martyrs, to
Ruth First, to Dulcie September, to Jeanette Schoon, to her little girl Katryn,
to the hundreds of women who were killed by assassins, bombs and bullets, by
armed police and soldiers in the streets of South Africa and in the countries
where they found refuge! We are here to acknowledge the sterling contribution
of the women who were imprisoned for their part in the struggle for freedom,
the women who were tortured, who were brutalised and those were secretly
murdered by the racist security forces. We are here to acknowledge the great
contribution made to the struggle for liberation made by the young women who
dared to defy the racist regime, risking and sometimes losing their own lives,
to ferry the weapons and other materials for the fighters; to reconnoitre and
effect border crossings during the armed struggle!

We honour and pay tribute to the millions of women who today are working in
every sphere of public and private life to build and reconstruct our society,
our nation and our country, that has been so battered and degraded by centuries
of oppression. Yes, we are here to honour you, the women of South Africa, whose
spirit sustains and keeps alive the flame of hope! Hope for a better country!
Hope for better world! Hope for a better life for all the people of South
Africa.

Malibongwe! Malibongwe!

Welcome to our national celebrations of South African Women’s Day!

Issued by: Department of Arts and Culture
9 August 2006
Source: Department of Arts and Culture (http://www.dac.gov.za)