Sophie de Bruyn next to her statue at the Living Women's Monument on Lillian Ngoyi Square in Pretoria.
Struggle stalwart Sophie de Bruyn delivered a stark critique of the “dark cloud” cast by gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa, during a moving Women’s Day commemoration at the Union Buildings.
Recalling the power of their unified, silent protest on August 9, 1956 De Bruyn described the enduring spirit of that solidarity and the hope they held that future generations would live free from the triple yoke of racial, class, and gender oppression.
More than 20 000 women, representing the diversity of the country, participated in the march and protesters delivered petitions containing over 100 000 signatures to protest apartheid pass laws.
“But today, as I look at our beautiful country, my heart is heavy. The freedom we marched for and for what we bled is, in reality, a painful paradox. How can we fully celebrate our past victories when our present realities are so deeply disappointing and stressful? We fought to banish the pass laws, yet today our women are prisoners in their own homes,” De Bruyn said.
