City of Tshwane Commemorates Women’s Day 70 Years Since Historic March

City of Tshwane executive mayor Dr Nasiphi Moya photo by Dimakatso Modipa

By Dr Nasiphi Moya
Executive Mayor of Tshwane

This year marks 70 years since 20,000 women marched to the Union Buildings to protest the injustice faced by women across South Africa at the hands of a brutal
Apartheid government.

Today, as we commemorate the 70th anniversary of that 9 August 1956 historic event, we remember the sacrifices made by a revolutionary generation of women who paved
the path for our rights and freedom.

These liberties were earned through sacrifice, loss and pain. While we’ve made
progress in post-democratic South Africa, there remains areas where we still have a
lot of work to do.

Many women still face economic exclusion to opportunities and gender-based-violence remains a growing concern in many communities.

In the City of Tshwane, we are determined to do our best to create safer public spaces where residents can live in dignity and participate in the economy.

These priorities are also dependent on partnerships with communities.

While we still have a long way to go as society, women have a space to celebrate this Women’s Day.

We have the freedom and the right to chart a better path for ourselves and for South Africa.

Women lead and hold important positions across multiple fields: in political office,public service, entrepreneurship, teaching, nursing, engineering, science, medicine and as community leaders.

For many women, they are the breadwinners and anchors of households and of extended families.

As the women of 2026, we owe it to the young girls who will inherit this country to ensure that they are raised with the confidence and belief that their dreams are valid.