海角大神

Nearly sixty years ago, a group of female activists led one of the largest demonstrations in South African history, an anti-apartheid march of 20,000 women, to the steps of the country's seat of power in Pretoria. 听

Wathint鈥� abafazi, wathint鈥� imbokodo, they sang as they climbed the stairs to their prime minister鈥檚 office.听You strike a woman, you strike a rock.

For decades afterwards, however, those women and others听in the anti-apartheid movement found themselves tucked into the margins of South African history, playing supporting cast to male freedom fighters like Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko, Desmond Tutu.

In recent weeks, South Africa has been roiled by mass student protests over the prohibitive cost of university education in recent weeks.听And the young leaders at the fore of the #FeesMustFall movement are largely women. This time around, they say, they won鈥檛 let their gender push them to the margins of the story.

Since the protests erupted two weeks ago, gender has been a visible and vocal rallying point for many female demonstrators, who have held signs reading 鈥渢he patriarchy must fall with the fees鈥� and听鈥渂lack women 鈥攜ou are power.鈥�

Their signs听served as a reminder that the students' protest movement is about much more than university tuition. Instead, it has quickly become a way to put a finger on the pulse of discontent over the sluggish pace of social change here since the end of apartheid two decades ago.听

And for young women in particular, it has become a forum for expressing their frustrations about growing up in a country that, despite having one of the world鈥檚 most progressive constitutions, struggles with a deeply entrenched patriarchy. In 2013, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development ranked South Africa 90^th out of 148 countries on its social institutions and gender index, which measures discrimination against women in social institutions.

鈥淚 think these young women have reached a point where they鈥檙e saying, 鈥榶ou know what? I鈥檓 getting tear-gassed alongside you, I鈥檓 being hit with rubber bullets alongside you, so I think my equality is an important part of this movement too,鈥欌�� says Kagure Mugo, a University of Cape Town alumna who has .

鈥淩ather than saying they鈥檒l wait for the battle to be over to call out misogyny, this generation is saying we have to deal with this now, during the fight.鈥澨�

A new female leader

But nearly as soon as they began,听these calls for equality were met with skepticism from other demonstrators who accused the women of attempting to divert the momentum of the protests for their own ends, says Pontsho Pilane, a reporter for听The Daily Vox听in Johannesburg who covered the movement extensively.听

鈥淎s I tweeted about听[the call for gender equity]听鈥� as I tweeted about everything I witnessed throughout the protest 鈥� I was repeatedly told that I shouldn鈥檛 try to 鈥渉ijack鈥� the protest and make it about what it was not,鈥� she wrote in a 苍别飞蝉辫补辫别谤.听

That call 鈥� to avoid muddling a protest movement with calls for gender equity 鈥� is familiar and painful to many South African women, who faced similar demands in the struggle to end apartheid.听

"Women were important as wives, mothers, girlfriends and sisters, in fighting a common struggle against a common enemy," wrote black consciousness activist Mamphela Ramphele in the 1990s of her time protesting in the mid-1970s. "Scant regard was given to their position as individuals in their own right."听

But the generation who have come of age today say there is no longer time for that kind of patience.听听

鈥淲e are saying as the generation that is supposedly 鈥渂orn free鈥� that we are alive, and radical, and ready to take it to the streets,鈥� Nompendulo Mkhatshwa, student body president at the University of the Witwatersrand, told a large crowd gathered听at the ANC headquarters in downtown Johannesburg last Thursday.听鈥淭his is only the beginning.鈥澨�

With her trademark green-and-gold headwrap 鈥斕齭een bobbing at the front of many demonstrations 鈥擬s. Mkhatshwa herself has become something of an iconic figure in the movement, helping to inspire a trending hashtag based on the old liberation song of the 1956 women marchers which refers to powerful women: #MbokodoLead.听

鈥淢y daughters will know about the leaders of the听听肠补尘辫补颈驳苍,鈥� above a set of photos of Mkhatshwa and her student body president predecessor, Shaeera Kalla. 鈥淢ay they continue to inspire.听鈥�.

Witwatersrand is one of听South Africa鈥檚 top universities and where the first protests took place.听

Changing South Africa

But many activists say it鈥檚 not enough to simply have women on the front lines.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a real tendency in this country to window dress,鈥� says Mbali Matandela, a student protestor and feminist activist at the University of Cape Town. 鈥淲e have some powerful women in our public spaces, in our political spaces, but it doesn鈥檛 mean anything if they are not also part of the important strategizing that happens behind closed doors, or if their voice is taken away from them there.鈥澨�

Women make up 42 percent of lawmakers in South Africa's parliament, among the highest in the world.听At the same time, the Democratic Alliance鈥檚 parliamentary leader, Lindiwe Mazibuko听was in parliament.听

Still, Ms. Matandela says, increasing visibility can only be a good thing. And last Friday, as students made their own march on the Union Buildings, hundreds of media cameras snapped shots of the movement鈥檚 female leaders walking literally in the footsteps of the women of 1956, tracing their path back to the president鈥檚 front door (today's equivalent of prime minister.)

Back then, as the demonstrators climbed the building鈥檚 steep steps, a photographer snapped an iconic image of their four leaders 鈥斕鼿elen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, Sophia Williams (De Bruyn) and Lillian Ngoyi听鈥斕� as the crowd fanned out behind them.听

Fifty-nine years later, a different photographer captured an equally emotive shot of Ms. Kalla and Mkhatshwa in virtually the same position 鈥斕�, their gazes fixed on the halls of power in front of them.听