This year’s Women’s Day commemorations coincide with the centenary celebrations of late struggle icon, Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu.
Mma Sisulu as she was affectionately known, was among the organisers of the 1956 Defiance Campaign, an anti-pass march led by women in Pretoria.
The Defiance Campaign of 1952 propelled the ANC’s Women’s League into a new era of struggle.
It led to the formation of the Federation of South African Women (Fedsaw) in 1954.
Fedsaw fought for gender equality – and adopted the Women’s Charter, at its inaugural conference.
In 1956 Fedsaw led an anti pass march against the apartheid system in Pretoria with women like Mma Sisulu at the forefront
Ntsiki Sisulu, Albertina’s grand daughter says: “When women organised and Mma Sisulu being one of the organisers of the Federation of South African Women, they came up with the Women’s Charter in terms of what they wanted. They didn’t organise unorganised, they were much focused. As family this being her centenary we will like to hear what other people say about her.”
Ntsiki who was named after her grand mother, says her granny would be concerned about the struggles facing women today.
She has called on South African women to emulate the generation of Albertina Sisulu, Charlotte Maxeke and many others, to launch a new struggle against patriarchy.
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