On August 9 1956, 20,000 women from across SA converged at the Union Buildings to protest against pass laws and to end human rights violations being perpetrated by the apartheid government. It was a battle for democratic rights for all; for freedom, the right to equal treatment and the right to participate fully in society. They took a stand not only against injustice, but for a society that allows all people to fully exercise their rights.

On Sunday August 7 2022, the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation hosted an annual memorial walk to honour and celebrate the lives and contributions of the courageous women who led that march in 1956. At the graveside of Lillian Ngoyi and Helen Suzmann, comrades who insisted on being laid to rest together, Sophie de Bruyn, the only surviving leader of the march, expressed fears that the compatriots she walked side by side with could not possibly be at rest, as SA today does not resemble the society they fought for...