Feminism in South Africa has been shaped by struggles for political and racial equality as well as by national and transnational struggles for gender equality. Through the country's transition to democracy in the mid-1990s, South African feminism contributed to the process of reconstruction, striving for a nonracist, nonsexist society. However, feminist activism and radical transformational politics were largely diluted in the process. Contemporary South African feminism continues to engage with questions of the role of feminism within broader national and international struggles for class and racial equality.
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Women's suffrage and political office
In South Africa, adult white women were given the right to vote in 1930. The first general election at which women could vote was the 1933 election.
Asian and coloured women in South Africa gained suffrage in 1983.
In 1933, Agnes Bussinné Leila Wright (or Leila Wright), wife of Deneys Reitz, was elected as the first female Member of Parliament.
Today, South Africa is ranked among the top five African countries that have high representation of women in the national legislature.
Equal pay
According to the South African Revenue Service, South African women earn on average 28% less than men. This statistic is calculated across the job field, so it includes the disparity between more entry level positions and the higher management positions disproportionally held by men, as well as the total hours worked. It is illegal in South Africa to pay either gender more or less for the same work per hour or per annum.
Anti-discrimination laws
On August 9, 1956, some 20,000 women held a protest march at the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against passes for women. The march was organised under the banner of the Federation of South African Women (FSAW). This day later became National Women's Day in South Africa.
After the country's first democratic elections in 1994, many discriminatory statutes in South Africa were scrapped and replaced with the Domestic Violence Act of 1998.
Persecution of activists
During the 1950s, activists from the Federation of South African Women (FSAW) were placed on trial for treason, alongside members of the African National Congress (ANC), the South African Communist Party and other organizations.
Challenges
According to research on the history of the Federation of South African Women, initially, the struggle of women in South Africa was seen as a two-pronged issue: firstly, the issue of apartheid, which discriminated against nonwhites, and secondly, the issue of laws and institutions that discriminated against women. For several decades, anti-apartheid causes and protests took precedence over gender equality initiatives. Following the abolition of apartheid in 1991 and a transition to multiracial democracy in 1994, more attention was devoted to womens' rights.
Some have argued that feminism in South Africa was often associated with white, middle class women. For black South Africans, feminism may often be a highly charged position to take up; it has been seen as a colonial importation, white and middle-class.
Organizations
While there is no peak body organisation for women in South Africa, what passes for the women’s movement is a collection of disparate NGOs such as People Opposing Women Abuse, Sonke Gender Justice and Progressive Women’s Movement of South Africa.
Other organisations that have played a historical role in promoting the rights and privileges of South African women include:
Other national and regional organisations include: