EKURHULENI Metropolitan Municipality’s executive mayor Clr Mondli Gungubele, together with the premier of Gauteng, David Makhura, on Wednesday unveiled the life-size statue of Mama Bertha Gxowa in honour of her selfless contribution to the transformation of the country, particularly women.
Scores of women from all over the country converged at Keditselana Cultural Village in Katlehong to honour the struggle stalwart’s life after her death at the age of 76 in 2010.
A bronze statue of Mama Bertha, as she was affectionately known, raising a triumphant clenched fist, symbolising her solidarity with the courageous women of 1956, stands erect at the Cultural Village.
“The only way in which the future can make sense is when its foundation, which is history, is properly organised and documented. Unveiling this statue is a symbol of recording our authentic history,” said Gungubele during the unveiling ceremony.
As the nation observes the month of August as Woman’s Month, Gxowa is remembered as a philanthropic figure who championed women’s agendas, politically and socially. In fact, she was one of the key figures in the organisation of the historic march to the Union Buildings, which ultimately led to the emancipation of women from the bondages of the apartheid regime.
“She was part of all the major historical campaigns in our history, from the Defiance Campaign of Unjust Laws in 1952, the formation of the Federation of South African Women in 1954, the adoption of the Freedom Charter in 1955, the staging of the historic Women’s March to the Union Buildings in 1956 and the 1957 Treason Trial,” said president Jacob Zuma at her funeral in 2010.
Gauteng MEC for Sport, Arts and Culture, Molebatsi Bopape, said: “It is our responsibility, as women, to play our role in the community, not just in the kitchen but by being at the centre of the economy, that’s the ideal Mama Bertha fought for.”
Gxowa was born and bred in the old Germiston location and died in November 2010. Her gravesite, situated at the Thomas Titus Nkobi Memorial Park, in Boksburg, was declared a Heritage Site by the Provincial Heritage Resource Authority of Gauteng in 2014.
