South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa
Fellow South Africans,
Today is an important day in the life of the women of our country, but also in the life of our nation.
Exactly 65 years ago today, 20,000 South African women from all walks of life and various parts of the country marched to the Union Buildings to demand an end to the dehumanising pass laws.
Despite the dangers of challenging apartheid authorities, they asserted their worth as human beings and refused to be relegated to the margins of history in their own country.
We salute the courage of this generation and its leaders, among them Lilian Ngoyi, Rahima Moosa, Helen Joseph, Sophie De Bruyn, Albertina Sisulu, Bertha Gxowa, Motlalepula Chabaku and many others.
We have declared 2021 as the Year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke, a courageous women’s rights activist and also a leader who was born 150 years ago. We celebrate this year of her birth because we want to encourage the women of this country to follow her example and to follow in her footsteps.