Grace Khunou
Pretoria - In August 1956 South African women from multiple cultures and walks of life marched in unison to challenge patriarchy and to affirm their humanity.
Their legacy is visible in the gender equality policies that we have and the relative positioning of women in the country. However, as we take time to pause and reflect on what it means to be a woman in South Africa in 2023, we unfortunately have to acknowledge that the road is still long.
This pause can be discouraging as it brings to the fore some of the continuing challenges that South African women face.
We are still contending with unrelenting GBV and multiple exclusions with regards to economic, political and social power.
A case in point is the triumphant Banyana Banyana; they have to constantly endure mistrust and demeaning behaviour from the SA Football Association despite excelling and making us proud. We stand with them and bask in their brilliance.
Women still earn relatively lower than men in similar positions. In South Africa this is unfortunately more so for black women who remain at the bottom of the ladder with regards to access to jobs, psychosocial resources and to leadership roles.
It is our nuanced examination of these myriad socio-political contexts that drives the transformation work done at Unisa.
As we celebrate 150 years at Unisa, we are keenly aware of the continuing need to centre gender equality in our endeavour. For example, one of the 10 catalytic niche areas undertaken as a strategic focus of the university in 2021 was Feminist, Womanist, Bosadi Theorisations. The intention of this catalytic niche area is not only to theorise from the standpoint of women, but to do so with the awareness that women-centred knowledges have been muted.
It is our nuanced examination of these myriad socio-political contexts that drives the transformation work done at Unisa.
As we work towards excavating these “her stories” we deliberately provide access to more black women. Of the more than 350 000 students that Unisa registers, 255 307 are women.
As we pause and reflect on what it means to be a woman in South Africa and at Unisa, we recognise the powerhouses who came before us and those who still walk through our halls – we see you.
Who is worth mentioning? Here we call their names so as to keep their contributions alive.
As I write this, I am reminded of Koko Potona Diphare, my father’s Mmane.
She also marched in 1956. Of my women ancestors, she is one of the rebellious ones.
I invoke her fighting spirit and that of the women of 1956 who refused to be boxed and muted. I invoke this rebelliousness and applaud South African women for following not only their passions, but for harnessing their gifts so that they can continue to challenge and nurture.
I invoke the spirit of Sophie Sefefe, a young woman who was necklaced in Diepkloof in the 1980s for not adhering to the gender script forced on her by the community of small-minded people who murdered her.
I mention the names of these women so that they don’t die twice. The stories of these women awaken us from the discouragement felt as we reflect on the continuing struggles.
These stories remain an inspiration in our collective consciousness, they inspire us to all find our rebelliousness – to stand up and fight when the intention is to wear us down. I write this piece to reawaken in us that light, that song that drove the women of 1956 to courage.
While the women of 1956 experienced visible divergences in their experiences, they were brought together by sometimes hidden convergences brought on by how they are positioned as women.
I urge us to find those bonds that will assist us to recommit standing together in our differences.
In closing, I want to state that we remain vigilant, we are witness to the push-backs that are relentlessly trying to rob us of the progressive legacies of those courageous women of 1956.
We claim their wins, we claim their courage and we build on it as we centre our well-being in the politics of equality and woman-centred living.
* Professor Khunou is Unisa’s director of Leadership and Transformation: Scholarship Change.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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