Women’s Day 2021 marks 65 years since the watershed 1956 Women’s March to the Union Buildings against draconian pass laws.
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa will on Monday deliver the 2021 National Women’s Day keynote address virtually under the theme: ‘The Year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke: Realising Women’s Rights’.
Government has declared 2021 as “The Year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke” and all national days are aligned with this theme that marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke.
Women’s Day 2021 marks 65 years since the watershed 1956 Women’s March to the Union Buildings against draconian pass laws.
Women’s Day is also framed by the continuing global fight against Covid-19 and takes place during a time when the world continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic with millions of lives lost.
In this regard, the event will be celebrated virtually and televised to observe the national lockdown restrictions on gatherings.
Although the event will be virtual, Limpopo is the host province.
National Women’s Day is celebrated on August 9 every year as part of Women’s Month, which commemorates the heroic 1956 Women’s March to the Union Buildings against apartheid pass laws and their impact on women.
Women’s Month provides an opportunity for government and civil society to highlight the challenges confronting women and profile programmes and policies that advance women empowerment and gender equity.
It also provides an opportunity to pay tribute to the generations of women whose struggles laid the foundations for the progress made in the democratic era in empowering women and advancing gender equality.
This Women’s Month, the emphasis will be on elevating the voices of ordinary women across sectors of society under the sub-theme “What Women Want”.
This focus draws attention to strategic interventions for the radical transformation of gender relations and the political, social and economic empowerment of women, including young women and those with disabilities.
President Ramaphosa’s role in the Women’s Day commemoration will include the release of the one-year progress report on the implementation of the National Strategic Plan (NSP).
– POLITICAL BUREAU
