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Ansela van Bengal arrives in Cape Town
Ansela arrives in Cape Town from Bengal with the returning VOC fleet and is sold to Jan van Riebeeck, the VOC commander. -
Armosyn Claasz is born
One of the first children to be born into slavery in the Cape, Armosyn grew up in the Slave Lodge and became its matres. -
Susanna van Bengal's death sentence is read
Susanna van Bengal's sentence is read out aloud in the square in front of the Fort, after which she was escorted to the roadstead, and before the assembled slaves of the Company, sewn into a bag with rocks and dumped alive in Table Bay. -
Zara van der Caab commits suicide
Zara van der Caab, a 24-year-old Khoikhoi woman, committed suicide on this day. The VOC condemned her dead body to violent and unusual punishment, proof of their determination to punish any act of defiance, even one of self-destruction Zara was found dead by strangulation in the home of the freed slave Ansela van Bengal. -
Anna and Marrij van Madagaskar are sold
Two females slaves from Madagascar, Anna and Marrij van Madagaskar, are sold to two different owners for different amounts. Anna was sold to Pieter van der Poel for Rds 88 and Marrij to Theunis Verweij for Rds 106. -
Dina van Rio de la Goa is put on trial
Dina van Rio de la Goa is put on trial in Cape Town with six others. -
A mother buys freedom for her daughters
Magdalena van Batavia buy and signs for her daughters' freedom in from of seven witnesses. -
China is sold into slavery
China, aged nine or ten, daughter of Silidana of the Coast, living at Singaracolla, is sold to Jan Christian Lijst, the Company trumpeter at Nagapatnam, for the sum of fifteen silver Rupis. Her mother declared poverty and lack of means of livelihood the reason for this sale. -
South African College's first women students
Women first registered as students at the South African College (SAC), the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) forerunner, in 1886. Pictured are the BA Lit class of 1899 (from left) Margarete von Oppell, Hettie McGregor, Selina Gordon, May le Roux, Helen Ethel Bennett, Agnes Bissett and Madeline Russell -
Anti-Pass Protest
After the Orange Free State introduced a law stating women had to carry reference documents, protests ensued. Women created multi-racial groups made of mostly teachers and nurses and over a few months of protests, when World War I started, the Free State confirmed that the rule would be relaxed. -
Bantu Women's League
Founded by Dr Charlotte Maxeke, the Bantu Women's League, was the first women's organisation in South Africa. It was later replaced by the ANC Women's League in 1948. -
Zenzi Miriam Makeba
Zenzi Miriam Makeba, a South African singer and a world-renowned symbol of the fight against apartheid, is born. After beginning her music career in her home country, Makeba goes into exile in the United States where she gains wide recognition. Following her marriage to the activist Stokely Carmichael, she is once again exiled – this time to Guinea where she embarks upon an African and international career. Her talent and her militant engagements make her an icon in the defence of human rights. -
Zainunnissa (Cissie) Gool
In 1932 the first black woman graduated from UCT, Anti-apartheid and civil rights leader Zainunnissa (Cissie) Gool graduated from UCT with an MA. -
ANC Women's League
The ANC National Womens League is founded in 1948 and replaced the Bantu Women's League. The ANCWL played an integral role in the anti-apartheid struggle through their commitment to passive resistance. -
Federation of South African Women
Four women, Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Amina Cachalia, and Ray Alexander-Simons band together to form the Federation of South African Women. This organization helped women all over South Africa come together to demand equal rights and because of their work South Africa is one of the few countries that have women equal with men in rights. -
Black Sash
Founded in 1955, the Black Sash mobilised thousands of women to act in protest of the apartheid regime. -
Richardene Kloppers
Richardene Kloppers (1926-2014), the first black primary school teacher in Namibia, opens one of the first non-racial schools in Khomasdal. During the time of the school opening the National Party of South Africa had a strict policy on racial segregation and the apartheid administration deemed that the school was "against the law". The school opened regardless and still operates. -
The Women's March, Pretoria
Women's March was a march that took place on 9 August 1956 in Pretoria, South Africa. The marchers' aims were to protest the introduction of the Apartheid pass laws for black women in 1952 and the presentation of a petition to the then Prime Minister J.G. Strijdom. -
The Durban Riots
In 1959, women participated in a series of uprisings, now referred to as the Cato Manor riots and outside of the city, the Natal Revolts. They rioted against the establishment of beerhalls in the City of Durban. These both endangered and competed with women’s customary roles as the producers and providers of beer for the men of their communities, which simultaneously served as the women’s source of income (Yawitch 1978). -
The first Spring Queen pageant is staged
The Spring Queen pageant is a unique event where ‘coloured’ female factory workers from the clothing and textile industry in the Western Cape of South Africa compete each year to be crowned “spring queen” of the Southern African Clothing and Textile Worker’s Union (SACTWU). -
SWEAT is founded
In the early 1990’s SWEAT was founded by Shane Petzer, a male sex worker and Ilse Pauw, a Clinical Psychologist. Together they sought to establish a safe sex education project for adult sex workers capturing the excitement and hope that went with the transition from apartheid to democracy and a constitution respecting human rights. -
The Women's National Coalition
The Women's National Coalition was founded to ensure that women participate in the making of the constitution and in the formulation of the Women's Charter that was launched in 1994. The Women's National Coalition now focuses on lobbying (of government), training (for parliamentary and local government candidates and community leaders) and plays a key role in Adult Basic Education and Gender training. -
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act
The Basic Conditions of Employment Act is revised to include domestic workers for the first time in history. -
SADSAWU
SADSAWU, the South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union is formed. -
The launch of the Huis Kombuis District Six cookbook
Not a conventional cookbook, it is rather a story about food that is deeply rooted in the cultural practice and heritage that exists in the fragile memories of those who were forcibly displaced. The recipes and biographies in the book comprise facets of a collective memory of District Six that unlock complex narratives about family histories and cultural life in the District. -
Female Circumcision is banned
December 2009, a bill is passed in Uganda that bans female circumcision. This act has been seen as the passage to womanhood for young girls and can be extremely fatal if the procedure is not done right. This procedure would be done to females as young as 10 years old. -
Convention 189
Convention 189 is adopted by those present at the 1ooth Labour Conference of the International Labour Organization, establishing the first set of global standard designed to extend labour protections for domestic workers. -
Banyana Banyana qualifies for the Women’s World Cup
South Africa’s national women’s football team made the entire country proud by making it into the Fifa Women’s World Cup in France this year. They played Spain and China, before losing to Germany on 17 June 2019. Hundreds of fans greeted head coach Desiree Ellis and her players to show their support at OR International Airport when they returned to South Africa.
