Hitherto the hated pass document known as dompass or badge of slavery, in the black ghettoes was carried by male Africans only . An attempt had been made decades previously, and meeting a militant resistance from the women organizations, was shelved until the early 1950s. Women had started with provincial protests, and it was time to mobilize the whole country to descend on the capital, Pretoria, to scare the wits out of Strydom, singing, “wee Strydom, wa thinth’abafazi , wa thinth’imbokotho uza kufa …!’ (Hey Strydom, you have struck a rock you’ll die!} Not long thereafter Strydom was no more!
Women the world over have been enslaved, subjugated, discriminated against , genitally mutilated and abused without let and hindrance. When the democratic system of government was conceived women were not supposed to be part of it by design; they were denied the vote even in those countries that pioneered the democratic system. Women had to fight with all their might to be recognised .
