EVERY year in August, South Africa marks Women’s Month, a tribute to the over 20,000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 to demand an end to apartheid pass laws.
It’s a time meant to honour women’s resilience, contributions, and continued struggle for equality and justice.
Yet today, the month has become less of a celebration and more of an awareness.
Rampant gender-based violence (GBV), femicide, misogyny, and systemic gender discrimination cast a dark shadow over any attempt to genuinely honour women. The elimination of these issues can only start from the perpetrators, men.
Only then can women truly celebrate Women’s Month. This August, like many before it, the month will become a rallying call for women's safety in their homes, workplaces, or communities. South Africa has one of the highest femicide rates in the world.
This reality takes away from empowerment rallies, turning them into memorials. Instead of honouring industry groundbreakers, women are forced to honour the departed.
It's a month that brings an opportunity for a wave of speeches from politicians, public pledges, and social media campaigns. But these gestures mean little when there is no political will to change the status quo.
Symbolic gestures during August cannot erase the lived reality of inequality throughout the year.
There is also a growing societal tension around Women’s Month. In some circles, it’s seen as exclusionary, a time when men feel sidelined rather than engaged. This misinterpretation risks turning a vital moment for awareness and change into yet another divisive issue. It shouldn’t be. Gender equality is not an us-and-them scenario. A safer, more equal South Africa benefits everyone.
True recognition of women’s dignity and rights cannot be seasonal. It must be built into every policy, every budget, every courtroom, and every school. It must be ingrained into our parenting styles and how we raise our sons and support our daughters.