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Women power for Women's Day August 5, 2004 By Chandrea Gerber WOMEN'S Day on 9 August marks the day, in 1956, when 20 000 women marched on the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against one of the cornerstones of apartheid - the pass laws. Now, 48 years later, the Gauteng provincial government and the City of Johannesburg are holding a conference on women empowerment - in memory and honour of those women. The 'Women Empowerment Cum Women in Dialogue Conference' will consist of five sessions running over three days, from Friday, 6 August to Sunday, 8 August, at the Eskom Conference Centre in Midrand. The topics are: Setting the scene - with a welcome address by Barbara Creecy, MEC for sports and recreation, and Khosi Masondo, wife of Johannesburg mayor; Challenges facing women in the City of Johannesburg - with 10 groups holding dialogue sessions; Women in dialogue - with a poetry session; Celebrating women in local government - with guest speaker Dorothy Mahlangu, MEC for local government, and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela; and Women in dialogue developing a desired future - with various speakers from city departments speaking on the role of women. The conference seeks to give women from all walks of life an opportunity to share their experiences and skills in addressing the common challenges they face. Organisers hope to identify key areas for a local programme of action to make Gauteng a better place for women and local government will report on how the rights of women are being advanced in Johannesburg. Dialogues will be held between women to help each other learn and develop skills to deal with pressing problems such as HIV/Aids, domestic violence and how to develop skills for economic empowerment. Issues highlighted at last year's Women in Dialogue Conference such as women's rights, economic development, sustainable communities, skills, health care and gender-based violence and HIV/Aids will also be addressed. There will also be a report-back on the South Africa Women in Dialogue Conference held at the end of June. The history of Women's Day The Federation of South African Women organised a march to the Union Buildings on 9 August, 1956, to hand over a petition against the extension of pass laws, proposed by amendments to the Urban Areas Act of 1950. On that day, some 20 000 women joined in, singing "Wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo" - You have struck the women, you have struck a rock". Earlier pass laws had been introduced restricting the freedom of movement of African men, who were forced into a system of migrant labour with their wives and families being left behind as they sought work in the cities. Permission to use web site material Publishers may use material from this site free of charge, as long as: Credit is given to either the "City of Johannesburg website (www.joburg.org.za)" or to "Johannesburg News Agency (www.joburg.org.za)"; If the article is used online, a link is provided to the original article on this website; The name of the article's author is acknowledged; The webmaster is informed of how and where the material is used (fill in this brief online form). Johannesburg News Agency is operated by BIG Media at 011-484-1400 Print this Page E-mail this article to a friend Help using Joburg.org.za