Lesotho celebrates “African Woman’s Day - Letsatsi la Mosali oa Mo-Afrika”
By Nthatisi Bulane
As one of the young democratic nations on the African continent, South Africa’s journey to freedom has been a rocky road, leaving behind a painful past as well as extremely painful memories of audaciously heroic freedom fighters. Luckily, today these memories can be retrieved from the annals of history and serve as a signpost to forge the way forward. To paraphrase some historians, history is not the story about the past but a guide to point us to the future. It is indeed. Thebe e sehelloa holima e ‘ngoe!
As we begin this new year, we want to look back at one important date for South African women, August 9th. Historical annals remind us that on the 9th of August 1956 about 20,000 South African women from different walks of life, creed and colour hit the streets of Pretoria. Their "anti-pass march" was headed towards the Union Building in Pretoria to request the abolishment of the pass law practiced by the apartheid regime of the day. The law required black South African women to carry passes and permits to prove their legal existence in the cities which were then the “whites only” residential areas. This law was yet another means to limit the movements of black South Africans, particularly of their women and ostracize them from the rest of the population.
The women of Africa have taken up this date to commemorate, honour, and celebrate this historic day and uphold the slogan of the day as a force to reckon with - “Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo! You strike a woman, you a strike a rock!” Today the month of August in Lesotho is declared as the “African Woman’s Day - Letsatsi la Mosali oa Mo-Afrika,” with the 9th earmarked as the culmination of all celebrations.
In 2023, the Lesotho Association of Teachers (LAT) chose the overarching theme “Giving Back to the Community.” So, the 9th August sparked ten beacons of lights which the LAT teachers shone around the country as they celebrated giving back to their communities in their own various and contextually meaningful ways :
Maseru chose the day to honour the founder of the association, Mr. Chimombe and eight (8) of his contemporaries. Mohale’s Hoek opted to come to aid one of the teachers who had lost his house to a fire. Mafeteng and Qacha’snek chose to honour the day by giving food packages to handicapped children in Mafeteng and to underprivileged children in Qacha’s Nek. Berea, Leribe and Butha-Buthe pooled their resources and gave school uniforms and food packages to learners in special needs schools.
In Quthing, the teachers chose to help the most vulnerable learners. The celebration took place in Sixondo, one of the remote areas of the district. From the ten (10) schools in the area, the teachers chose three learners (3) from each school. A total of thirty learners each went home with a package of four (4) back-to-school gifts, thanks to individuals, local business people and the association’s contributions.
This truly a testimony that E hlagano ge madla! Hopefully, such initiatives will continue in the future and challenge other organisations to reach out more to their communities in diverse ways.
Rea leboha bo-’m’e ba batle - Seya leboka bo mma la bahle - Siyabonga bo mama a bahle!