Welcome to this beautiful province of Gauteng those of you have traveled from far places. A special word of welcome goes to all of you who have decided not to see today as just another holiday or shopping day. You have sacrificed many family commitments and decided to spend the day remembering our women and what they mean to us as a nation.
Today is an important day.
It is a day to remember the heroic struggles of women in South Africa. Armed only with their passes which they were going to dump at Strydom's door, their courage and determination uprooted Strydom out of his sit to flee away with his armed troops in fear. They displayed rare courage by marching to demand the scraping of the pass laws in the face of brutality and the possibility for torture and the likelihood of life imprisonment. Accordingly we have to honour them as we are doing, because today many of us are reaping the fruits of their heroic struggles. This monument shall serve to remind not only those who took active part in the struggle or even those who were mere spectators as well as the perpetrators of oppression about the struggles of women.