Women in South Africa took to the streets wearing miniskirts to protest increased group harassment by men. Visibly excited men were taunted to experience the fury of the women.

By Thuso Khumalo, Johannesburg

“You strike a woman, you strike a rock and you shall surely die.” It is the battle cry of hundreds of South African women in miniskirts, as they descended on Johannesburg’s two biggest taxi stands.

Women, largely from the Women’s League of the ruling African National Congress, were protesting against the increased incidents of women who are being harassed for wearing their miniskirts.

They sang, danced and exposed as much as they could of their God given assets to taxi drivers who became visibly excited.

The perpetrators are suspected to be taxi drivers and other men.

First miniskirt victim
The first miniskirt victim was Nwabisa Ngcukana. The 29-year-old, whose traumatic experience in 2008 caused a national outcry, was the centre of attraction at the miniskirt march.

“I was at Noord taxi rank to board a taxi like everyone else. All of a sudden these taxi drivers and hawkers started jeering and throwing insults at me for wearing a miniskirt. One of them grabbed me while others groped my breasts, thighs and bum while tearing off my clothes,” Nwabisa said.

Sixty men on two girls
The abuse of two girls, aged 18 and 19, in December last year at the same taxi rank ignited the miniskirt march. Jabulile Ndlovu, who witnessed the incident, describes it as disgusting and barbaric.

“The two girls were surrounded and followed by up to sixty men. Some men were pulling at their tops trying to expose their breasts while others groped them all over their bodies. Others were busy lifting up their dresses to expose their underwear.”

“What irritates me most is that some of the women in the crowd were also jeering and laughing,” recalled Ndlovu.

Arrest the perpetrators
But Meiki Sithole, who has also been verbally abused by men for wearing her miniskirt, complained that even with these two prominent cases which had the whole nation talking, no arrests have been made.

“Both incidents were captured by closed circuit TV surveillance cameras. Shouldn’t the abusers be identified, arrested and jailed?” asked Sithole.

Premier Miniskirt
Gauteng province’s iron lady, Premier Nomvula Mokonyane, led the procession wearing a tight miniskirt and dared the taxi drivers to touch her and experience the fury of a woman. “As women of South Africa, no men should tell us where to go and what to wear. We will arrest and jail those men harassing women for wearing miniskirts,” she said.

Lulu Xingwana, Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, did not mince her words to the dozens of taxi drivers who watched the proceedings from the roof of the taxi rank.

“If you dare touch one more woman for wearing their miniskirts we will close this taxi rank,” she threatened.

Not just pretty faces
Speaking on behalf of the protest organisers, African National Congress Women’s League spokesperson Troy Martens said the march’s ability to bring Johannesburg’s central business district to a standstill is evidence that South African women are refusing to be treated as objects.