Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Sindisiwe Chikunga has expressed concern over the use of alcohol in an advertisement referencing the historic 1956 Women’s March.
In a statement on Friday, Minister Chikunga said the use of alcohol in the marketing campaign trivialises the historic and ongoing struggle of South African women for freedom, equality, dignity and justice.
She stressed that the Women’s March of 1956 was not a commercial slogan or marketing opportunity, but a defining moment in South Africa’s liberation history.
On 9 August 1956, about 20 000 women marched to the Union Buildings in protest against apartheid pass laws.
“The struggle of the women of 1956 cannot and must not be reduced to a marketing gimmick. Their courage, sacrifice and resistance were about freedom, dignity, equality and justice.
“It is deeply concerning when that historic struggle is appropriated to sell products, particularly products such as alcohol that continue to have devastating social consequences for many women, children and families,” Minister Chikunga said.
The Minister emphasised that alcohol was never a symbol of the women’s struggle for freedom and should not be retrospectively presented as such for commercial purposes.
The whisky brand referenced in the advertisement has since apologised and removed the social media post.
As South Africa commemorates 70 years since the historic Women’s March, Chikunga said the anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on the gains made since 1956 while confronting persistent challenges that continue to undermine women’s safety, dignity and economic and social wellbeing.
She cautioned that the normalisation and glamorisation of alcohol consumption cannot be separated from broader social challenges facing South African communities.
Alcohol abuse and harmful drinking, she said, can exacerbate gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF), family instability, child neglect, interpersonal violence and other forms of social harm.
“We cannot celebrate the courage of the women of 1956 while simultaneously commercialising and trivialising their struggle. The legacy of these women demands that we advance a society in which women are safe, empowered, economically independent and treated with dignity—not one in which their historic struggle is packaged as a commodity for profit,” Chikunga said.
She said the 70th anniversary of the Women’s March must serve as a reminder that the freedom enjoyed by South Africans today was secured through sacrifice, courage and collective action.
The women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956, she said, were not fighting for commercial recognition or corporate branding, but for the liberation of a nation and the dignity of generations to come.
“We have a responsibility to ensure that younger generations understand that our democracy was not handed to us. It was built through struggle, sacrifice, courage and the collective action of ordinary South Africans, particularly women who stood at the forefront of resistance.
“Civic education must therefore become a deliberate instrument for preserving our history, strengthening democratic values and ensuring that the sacrifices of those who came before us are never forgotten or reduced to commercial symbolism,” the Minister said.
Chikunga said her department remains committed to ensuring that the legacy of the women of 1956 is preserved, respected and translated into meaningful action towards achieving substantive equality and advancing the rights and empowerment of women and girls. – SAnews.gov.za
