In the run-up to the elections, we’re celebrating #21Sheroes – some of the women who fought a racist, apartheid state to help win our freedoms. Their resistance, courage & protest inspired a legacy we honour in Freedom Month. They also remind us never to take our political rights for granted. Follow #21Sheroes for more. 

Francis Baard was as a domestic worker who become an iconic activist, trade unionist & workers’ champion. As a member of the ANCWL & SA Congress of Trade Unions, she fought against oppression & exploitation. Imprisonment & solitary confinement did not deter her from that struggle. The women who contributed to our trade union history remind us to take an active role in protecting our rights & freedoms.