I am choosing to write about this today because yesterday I received my Identity Document book for South Africa. The history and metamorphosis of this book is long and carries with it a stigma of the past oppression during the struggle of apartheid. Receiving this felt like a huge milestone for me after 55 years. I am now a citizen of South Africa, something I know my parents would be rejoicing and I have the infamous pass book revised many times to now be called an Identity Document.
During the fifties the apartheid government was continually introducing new means to surpress the liberation struggle. The longest battle and the most bitter of them the ANC fought was against the Pass Laws.
Pass laws were designed to control the freedom of movement of Africans under apartheid. Imposed by the Dutch and British in the 18th and 19th century slave economy of the Cape colony. The 19th century saw a change in the regulation to ensure a reliable cheap supply of African Labor for the mines, predominantly gold and diamond.
And in 1952 a reference book was mandated for all African males over the age of 16 . This contained employment history and personal information.
Initially it was only men who had to carry a pass book by law. The pass book said you were allowed to work and where you could work. You could not get a job without this book. The police could stop you at anytime and ask to see this book. If you did not carry it on you, it resulted in arrest. Then in the early fifties the government made black women carry pass books as well.
The federation of South African Women was a non racial organization which mobolized women in protest against apartheid in general, and the introduction of passes for women in particular. It was formed in 1954 the year our family left South Africa, by women in the Congress alliance. One of its many aims was to combat sexism within the various Congress Alliance organizations.
In 1956 20,000 women marched in protest to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on August 9 to campaign against the imposition of pass laws on women. This day is now a national holiday in South Africa, Womens Day. The Federation of South African Women was never banned but as a result of its formation many of its members were forced into exile, or detained in the 1960s.
The violation of this law was frequent, as Africans sought work to support their families and finally they protested these humiliating laws which fueled the apartheid struggle. The defiance Campaign (1952-54)the massive women's protest in Pretoria (1956)to the burning of passes at the police station at Sharpville where 69 protesters were massacred (March 21, 1960)when police opened fire on approximately 300 unarmed peaceful demonstrators, many were women who were protesting about the pass laws.
The 1970s and 1980s saw a radical stance around violation of pass laws. Many Africans were stripped of citizenship, and deported to rural homelands, already poverty stricken. 17 million arrests had been carried out by the expensive and ineffective pass laws that were finally repealed in 1986!
The pass laws, the massacres were more gross violations of human rights during the Apartheid regime. It is a tribute to my parents to know that I can return and more importantly, want to return again and again to the homeland where I can now should I wish "lay my hat" for all those who were exiled and could not return, those who were or arrested, those who died, or like me did not want to return.
Inkululeko (Freedom)
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