Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai urges SA to stand with Afghan women against ‘gender apartheid’

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai has called on South Africa to use the legacy of its women’s liberation movement to stand with Afghan women and girls facing what she described as “gender apartheid” under Taliban rule.

Speaking at the National Women’s Day commemoration at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Sunday, Yousafzai reflected on the 70th anniversary of the historic Women’s March, when about 20,000 women marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 to protest against apartheid pass laws.

She said the courage displayed by South African women decades ago continued to inspire women around the world.

“I am so honoured to join you in celebrating this historic moment in South Africa’s history, the 70th anniversary of the Women’s March, when 20,000 brave women took to the streets to protest against apartheid and demand equal education, pay and rights. It took incredible courage to speak out in 1956, four decades before the end of apartheid. And the risks were greatest for black South African women, as they still are today, who faced not only the racial discrimination of apartheid, but the added burdens of being women in a patriarchal society,” said Yousafzai.

Yousafzai, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014 at the age of 17 for her advocacy for children’s education, drew parallels between her own experiences growing up in Pakistan and the struggles of South African women under apartheid.

Her Nobel Prize was awarded for her “struggle against the suppression of children and young people and for the right of all children to education”.

Born in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, Yousafzai became an international advocate for girls’ education after the Taliban took control of the region and imposed restrictions on girls attending school.

She began documenting life under Taliban rule in a diary published by BBC Urdu in 2009.

In 2012, she was shot by a Taliban gunman while travelling on a school bus after being targeted for her activism.

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

She survived the attack and later moved to the UK, where she continued her campaign for girls’ education.

Reflecting on her journey, Yousafzai said South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle had provided her with inspiration during some of the darkest moments of her childhood.

“My own fight as a child in Pakistan. When the Taliban took control of our town and forced girls out of school, I fought against them. And for that, they tried to kill me. In those dark times, I took comfort in reading about Nelson Mandela, how his courage outlasted those who tried to silence him,” she said.

Yousafzai said her understanding of South Africa’s liberation struggle had since expanded beyond Mandela’s contribution, highlighting the collective efforts of ordinary people who fought against apartheid.

She also acknowledged the international solidarity that contributed to the fight against apartheid.

“It was also the support from students, athletes, artists and citizens around the world who refused to profit from injustice and governments who sent aid and imposed sanctions on the apartheid regime,” Yousafzai said.

Yousafzai, who is visiting South Africa for the second time, said she had returned to the country because of the lessons its liberation history offered to women facing oppression elsewhere.

“They chose to lead and demanded to be seen. It is their legacy of courage that brings me back to South Africa today,” she said.

Turning to Afghanistan, Yousafzai warned that women and girls had been systematically excluded from public life since the Taliban returned to power five years ago.

“Since the Taliban took control over Afghanistan in August 2021, they have controlled courts, the police and public administration, and they have used their power to abuse women and girls. Today in Afghanistan, girls are not allowed to attend school past sixth grade. Women, who five years ago were doctors, politicians, engineers and artists, are not allowed to go to university or pursue a career,” she said.

“For women, even speaking in public is a crime. For those who defy the Taliban orders, there’s punishment, beatings, imprisonment, and death.”

Yousafzai said her recent visit to Constitutional Hill in Johannesburg, where she honoured women such as struggle stalwarts Albertina Sisulu and Lilian Ngoyi, had reinforced the parallels between South Africa’s past and Afghanistan’s present.

She also pointed to South Africa’s response to gender-based violence and femicide, saying the country had an opportunity to extend its advocacy beyond its borders.

Yousafzai condemned the Taliban’s treatment of women rejecting attempts to justify the restrictions on women through culture or religion.

“For five years, the Taliban have been erasing women and girls from public life, excusing these abuses under the banner of culture or religion.

“This is not culture. It is not religion. It is a system of segregation and domination. We must call the Taliban regime by the name Afghan women have given it, by its true name, gender apartheid,” she said.

We look to South Africa once again to inspire the world with your courage and conviction to help us make gender apartheid a crime

Yousafzai said the words of the women who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 remained relevant to the struggle of Afghan women today.

She recalled the declaration made by the women during the march: “An insult to African women is an insult to all women.”

“This is exactly the solidarity we seek for Afghan women and girls,” she said.

Yousafzai urged South Africa to once again show the world the power of solidarity by supporting efforts to have gender apartheid recognised as a crime.

“We look to South Africa once again to inspire the world with your courage and conviction to help us make gender apartheid a crime. To show that as you remember those who sacrificed for your freedom, you will also stand with your Afghan sisters who are suffering today,” she said.

She ended her address with a vision of freedom for Afghan women and girls inspired by the legacy of South Africa’s own liberation struggle.

“With South Africa by our side, I believe we will all see a day like this one in Afghanistan. A day when silence is no longer the price of survival, when women’s voices can be heard on the street, in the classroom, and in government, when one generation’s fight becomes the next generation’s freedom,” said Yousafzai.