Ramaphosa asks families to help identify 20,000 women who marched in 1956

President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on families and communities across South Africa to come forward with the names and stories of women who took part in the historic 1956 Women’s march, saying the country’s history cannot be complete while thousands of the marchers remain unnamed.

Speaking at the 70th anniversary commemoration of the Women’s March at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Sunday, Ramaphosa urged families who have stories, photographs or memories of the women who marched to submit them to the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and the Sophie & Henry De Bruyn Legacy Foundation.

“I call on every family and everyone who knew anyone of those women who marched, who took part in that march to come forward and present their story, their memory to these two foundations so that we can complete the roll call of courage and honour. So let us do so,” said Ramaphosa.

On August 9 1956, an estimated 20,000 women marched to the Union Buildings to protest against apartheid pass laws for Black women.

The march became one of the defining moments of South Africa’s struggle against apartheid with women delivering petitions against the pass laws to then prime minister JG Strijdom.

Seventy years later, the identities of many of those who participated remain unknown.

Ramaphosa said efforts by the two foundations to identify the women were helping restore an important part of South Africa’s history.

“We know the names of some, but we do not yet have the names of all of them. We therefore welcome the work that is being done by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and the Sophie & Henry De Bruyn Foundation through the Write Her Into Story campaign. We thank you because through the campaign you have started, you are restoring the names and the stories of the women of 1956 to our national memory,” he said.

Ramaphosa said he had personally encountered one of the women who had taken part in the march and whose story demonstrated that the historic protest was driven not only by prominent political leaders but also by ordinary women who made the decision to participate.

We know the names of some, but we do not yet have the names of all of them. We therefore welcome the work that is being done by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation and the Sophie & Henry De Bruyn Foundation through the Write Her Into Story campaign.

“I once met one of them who had worked in Helen Joseph’s home, and she took time to tell me her own story, how she, of her own volition, decided to join the march. She was a domestic servant, and she felt motivated to be part of that march. And I know that there will be many others across our country who may well have similar stories,” he said.

He urged South Africans to ensure that these stories were preserved for future generations.

“So let us collect all those stories and write the true history of our country because that march was not only historic, it was impactful. Let us ensure that history remembers not only the leaders who were in the forefront but that it remembers the thousands who gave the march its strength. So let us come forward with whatever names,” said Ramaphosa.

The call was echoed by Sophie de Bruyn, one of the surviving leaders of the 1956 Women’s March who was 18 when she helped lead the historic protest.

Seventy years later De Bruyn used the commemoration to make a special appeal for the names of women whose contributions have not been formally recorded.

“I would like to make a special plea. There were many women who courageously took part in the march on August 9 in 1956,” said De Bruyn.

She pointed to a group of surviving women attending the commemoration and said their presence served as a reminder of the importance of recording the names of those who participated.

“There are those whose names must be recorded in the annals of our history. We honour them by name. This could be your grandmother or any of your relatives. If you know any of those courageous women, please kindly submit their names to the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation. And we want all of them to be remembered. And we really need to honour our unsung heroines,” she said.

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The renewed call comes as the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation continues its “Who Were the 20,000 Women? Write Her Into History” campaign launched in 2020 to identify the women who marched to the Union Buildings and restore their stories to the public record.

The foundation’s Roll Call of Honour is a growing record of the women who participated in the march with the initiative seeking to move them from being remembered collectively as “the 20,000 women” to being recognised individually by name.

In April 2026, the foundation announced several new names submitted following its latest public appeal.

The names included Sekeleni Jane Maphutha, Ama Naidoo, Ramnie Dinat, Thailama Pillay, Sinda Pillay, Zaibunnisa Bhyat and Mary Benson.

The latest appeal formed part of the Women of Fortitude commemoration held on August 1 and 2 2026 in partnership with the Sophie & Henry De Bruyn Legacy Foundation.

The campaign continues to urge South Africans to search family archives, photographs and memories for information that could help identify the women who took part in one of the country’s most significant acts of resistance.