Cape Town women pay tribute to 1956 heroines

Women working in essential services and law enforcement agencies took to the streets today in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, in an attempt to make another historical statement similar to the 1956 march.

Thousands of women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on August 9, 1956 to petition against unjust apartheid pass laws. This historic march redefined the role of women in the South African struggle for freedom and democracy.

Organisers say it is the first time that women from all these services came together in a march but, this time it was to pay tribute to those women who made it possible for them to do jobs formerly reserved for men.