Women now account for 65.4% of university graduates, with female graduates outnumbering males across almost every qualification type except doctorates.
More than 20,000 women marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 to protest against the extension of pass laws to women.
Seventy years later, South Africa marks that anniversary under the theme “Empowered Women Empower the Nation” – and the data shows how much has changed, and how much has not.
The August 9, 1956 march was organised by the Federation of South African Women, with women from different racial groups taking part. Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn led the marchers, who presented a petition to the government of prime minister JG Strijdom.
But the women’s demands went beyond the pass laws. Their earlier submission to the Congress of the People had called for childcare, housing, education, equal pay and equal rights in relation to property, marriage and guardianship of children.
