Today, Tuesday, August 9th, is National Women's day in South Africa. It is to commemorate the 1956 protest lead by Rahima Moosa, Lilian Ngovyi, Helen Joseph, and Sophia De Bruyn. The protest was against the law that required all black South African women to carry a special identification pass in order for them to travel from one area to another during the Apartheid era. This year marked the 60th anniversary since this historical march took place.
For my first time being in SA and to see the celebration, these are the things I saw and noticed: First of all, schools had the day off. (They actually had Monday and Tuesday off.) Then there were road blocks up as we were leaving our B&B for an early outing that day. I believe our taxi driver said there was a race/walk going on.
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| Women's Living Heritage Monument Pretoria, SA |
Next, when I took a walk to the Pick 'N Pay market area, the hardware store and all the little stores around were not open for business. But it wasn't until I walked into the Pick 'N Pay grocery store that I saw all the cashiers and workers dressed in their traditional clothing. I wish I had a camera to take a picture because they were all so beautiful and colorful. Then I began to notice all the African women in the coffee shop and the restaurants, they were dressed up (not all traditionally but sharp). Later that afternoon, I took a walk to the Boardwalk area. I was naturally drawn to singing...and in one of the Boardwalk restaurants, a large group of women, again in their traditional dresses were singing what I would have thought a prayer before eating. What a beautiful holiday to honor their heritage and their history. Sorry, no pictures because I did not want to be disrespectful.
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