Seventy years after South Africa’s women’s march, the struggle is not over

What the report says

At South Africa’s National Women’s Day commemoration in Pretoria, activists and officials marked 70 years since the 1956 women’s march to the Union Buildings against apartheid pass laws. The event recalled how about 20,000 women, including Sophie Williams-de Bruyn, helped challenge one of the most visible tools of racial control by protesting laws that restricted Black South Africans’ movement. Williams-de Bruyn, now 88, returned to the same site and used the occasion to question whether the country’s democratic gains have translated into real security and dignity for women.

Al Jazeera reported that South Africa has made major political changes since the end of apartheid, including a democratic constitution, broader women’s representation in Parliament and senior state posts, and greater access to education and financial inclusion. President Cyril Ramaphosa highlighted those advances during the ceremony. But both he and rights groups said women still face major gaps in wealth, land ownership, employment and public safety.

The article pointed to the country’s continuing crisis of gender-based violence, noting police figures for the first quarter of 2026 that showed thousands of reported rapes and sexual offences. It also cited high unemployment, especially among women and Black African women, as a factor that can deepen dependence and make it harder to leave abusive situations. Amnesty International South Africa said many survivors struggle to report abuse or follow cases through the system.

Williams-de Bruyn’s message was that the political freedom won in 1994 has not yet delivered equal social and economic freedom for many women, a theme that shaped this year’s commemoration.