More to Women’s Month than just the 9th

The Government of South Africa declared August women’s month and 9 August is celebrated annually as Women’s Day.

South Africa commemorates Women’s Month in August as a tribute to the more than 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 in protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women.

The 2015 Women’s Month is a build-up towards the 60th Anniversary of the Women’s march and is aimed at:

• educating the nation about the role women played in the emancipation of the continent
• documenting the correct stories of heroines of South Africa
• celebrating women who have made it in all spheres of life in the continent
  honouring and celebrating the girls of 1976 and recognise the role played by young women in the liberation struggle
• uniting South African women
• celebrating the struggles of the women over the decades and a rejuvenation of our commitment to strive for a society that is truly non-racial, non-sexist, united, democratic and free of all forms of discrimination remembering the history of Women’s struggle in South Africa and to continue writing our history as it has to evolved.

Every week of August 2015 will focus on a specific sub-theme:

Week 1: Celebrating Women in Fashion

The week will be dedicated to celebrating profiling women in the fashion industry who contribute to job creation.

Various media platforms will be utilised where we will have a collage of these women and their contribution in dressing the nation. The SABC will partner with the Department of Women in this programme.

Week 2: Celebrating Women in Film

The department in partnership with the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) will have two screenings produced or directed by women or telling stories of women.

The screenings will target young people and will take place as follows:

10 August 2015: Jabulani
14 August 2016: Kwamashu

The screenings will be extended to other provinces as we move towards the 60th Anniversary.

Week 3: The fight against human trafficking and labour exploitation of women

The week will focus on the fight against trafficking of women and children as well as the exploitation of women from our neighbouring countries with specific focus on Lesotho women.

South Africa will partner with Lesotho government and the following activities are planned for the week:

• 21 August 2015: Symposium focusing on labour exploitation and related issues.
• 22 August 2015: A symbolic march at the Maseru border gate where both South African and Lesotho women will give their memorandum of demands to authorities representing their countries. The march will call for an end to human trafficking and request more stringent measure of combating trafficking of women and children.
• 22 August 2015: The march will culminate into a rally on a farm where the leadership of both countries will have an opportunity to address women. The rally will be held at Mooderpoort farm, the home of Mantsopa.

Week 4: Economic Empowerment (Financial Inclusion of women)

In line with the African Union themes of the African Women’s Decade and the new mandate of the Department of Women’s socio-economic empowerment, the department will host high level engagements on the mechanisms and modalities for women’s financial inclusion in the economy and all sectors of the country.

• 4-5 September 2015: Trade Fair and Exhibition of Women in South Africa and Zimbabwe to be held in Musina, Limpopo. Women from both countries will showcase and sell their products from clothes to crafts.
• 9 September 2015: Techno-girl roundtable – The department will host The New Age business breakfast focusing on the empowerment of young women in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The business breakfast will culminate into a high level panel discussion on how to strengthen the current Techno-Girl job-shadowing programme

Read more on Women’s Month here.