Some inspiring messages for women
Women's Day commemorates August 9, 1956 where about 20 000 women marched to the Union Buildings to stand against pass laws and the move to include black women within the regulations.
Staged by human rights group the Black Sash, women of all race groups including Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Raheeda Moosa and Sophie de Bruyn participated in the country's first mass action carried out by women.
Some influential figures took to Twitter to recognise the day.
See messages of Women's Day here.
Investing in women says @phumzileunwomen lifts the next generation. It has been shown.
— Ferial Haffajee (@ferialhaffajee) August 11, 2015
— Phumzile Mlambo (@phumzileunwomen) August 10, 2015
Happy Women's Day, South Africa. Let us continue struggle for equality so that we need not commemorate this day. #WomensRights #HumanRights
— Lindiwe Mazibuko (@LindiMazibuko) August 9, 2015
Being a woman is a gift... We have strength, kindness, and love. We are women. We are magic. Happy Women's Day🌸 pic.twitter.com/3mc9KMLBtf
— Rolene Strauss (@RoleneStrauss) August 9, 2015
Below, are quotes from struggle heroines that were instrumental in the foundations of August 9.
"Will women find themselves in the same position they have always been? Or do we see liberation as solving the conditions of women in our society?... If we continue to shy away from this problem we will not be able to solve it after independence. But if we can say that our first priority is the emancipation of women, we will become free as members of an oppressed community." Ruth Mompati
"Men are born into the system, and it is as if it has been a life tradition that they carry passes. We as women have seen the treatment our men have - when they leave home in the morning you are not sure they will come back. We are taking it very seriously. If the husband is to be arrested and the mother, what about the child?" Lilian Ngoyi
"I felt a lump in my throat when I looked at this large army of women: dignified women, courageous women. I felt so humbled to be part of such bravery." Sophie de Bruyn
(File photo: AFP)