Federation of South African Women

Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW), multiracial women’s organization that was one of the most important antiapartheid organizations in South Africa. The Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) was founded in 1954 by two members of South Africa’s communist party, Rachel (Ray) Alexander Simons, a trade union leader, and Hilda Bernstein, a member of the Johannesburg city council. FEDSAW was strongly supported by a broad range of antiapartheid organizations, including the African National Congress Women’s League and several trade unions. FEDSAW was founded initially as an individual membership organization, but in time it became a federation of affiliate organizations. It was disbanded in 1994 following the nation’s first democratic elections.

At FEDSAW’s inaugural conference, a Women’s Charter was adopted that focused on the conditions of the oppressed black majority. The charter demanded a range of political and civil rights, including the right to vote, the right to education and child care, and equality in relation to marriage, parental responsibilities, and employment. The charter did not confine itself to apartheid laws but also condemned laws of indigenous South African peoples that discriminated against women and denied them equality in many areas of life. The rights called for in the charter were incorporated into the Freedom Charter, adopted by the Congress Alliance, a broader coalition of antiapartheid organizations, in June 1955.

One of the most renowned and successful activities of FEDSAW was a 20,000-strong women’s march on the Union Buildings, the administrative seat of government, in Pretoria on August 9, 1956. Alexander Simon and Bernstein, who had been banned by the apartheid government just before the march, were not allowed to attend any gatherings. The leaders of the 1956 march were Lilian Ngoyi, Rahima Moosa, Sophie Williams, and Helen Joseph, who became some of the most prominent antiapartheid activists. A phrase from a protest song, “You have touched the women, you have struck a rock,” coined during the 1956 march, became synonymous with the South African women’s struggle. To commemorate the remarkable stand taken by the women of FEDSAW, August 9 was later designated Women’s Day in South Africa.

FEDSAW continued to conduct massive campaigns of resistance to apartheid laws, particularly the hated pass laws that required nonwhites to carry documents authorizing their presence in restricted areas. However, FEDSAW came under tremendous pressure when the African National Congress and other political organizations were banned in the 1960s. Although FEDSAW was never banned itself, many of its leaders were jailed or forced into exile, and the organization declined. Some attempts were made to revive FEDSAW in 1983, but because of the widespread political repression at the time, FEDSAW was not relaunched until 1987; it remained active until South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994.