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This piece aims to understand Women’s Day through a woman born under democracy.
This however will not fail to acknowledge the rich and powerful role that women played in a pre-democratic sphere and how that lay foundation to what we now recognize as democracy.
Not expressing a whole hearted appraisal of women would be a grave mistake upon my part as women are the soil of this world we so claim, however women have not had a smooth sail be it now or during apartheid. Women of every class were affected however more than others.
White women were yes under patriarchal control of the then Apartheid government however the people who felt the whips, teargas and agony of burying their children were black (Coloured, African and Indian) women. If not harassed by barbaric police they were unsafe in their own homes as political instability is anarchy at its infancy; rapes, killings and kidnappings were happening in the midst of the liberation movement.
This something Winnie Madikizela-Mandela expressed ever so repeatedly after she was sexually assaulted during her 491 day captivity. Her story one of many horrific experiences in what seems to be an un-relentless attack on women from all fronts throughout the years.
Women in the apartheid years were fighting in battles even they were not equipped to face but they survived showing the tenacious nature and commitment to a cause.
Fast forward to a post apartheid South Africa which is as tricky as apartheid if not trickier. As much as inner fighting existed in the apartheid era everyone had a common enemy and that enemy had the face of a white man however in the era we live in the face has dissolved into this suffocating mist and as a result we fight amongst ourselves we don’t know who the enemy is.
Women in a democratic South Africa share similar struggles to those in the apartheid era as the economic factors that restricted us then still do so now. Many have possible come across white youth that have cars and you’ve seen your family struggle for years in attempts to secure a car that not even a second hand. This is indicative of the realities your colour of your skin affords you. If you were white its all good fat salary, coloured since you are lighter than the rest you deserve more and the Africans will get what is left provided the sing our praises thereafter.
The same racial lines that governed then govern us now as whites are at the top of the income chain and the owners of the soil are at the bottom.
Women are expected to be progressing yet on average 27 cases are reported daily and think of more that go unreported, because she fears for her life, doesn’t want to be disowned or because he threatened to harm the children. There are numerous issues that need to be addressed in South Africa before women truly celebrate Women’s Day. The violence, the rape and say what you must a justification for rape does not exist and never will.
Culture and religion need a lot of revising as the orient never made space for women and when she escape those boundaries it is rejected.
Women’s Day is a day woman will continue to be another holiday up until the issues that women bring are addressed and taken seriously as those men bring.
