Skip to main content
Menu
♥ Donate
eventREF E-0148882Verified

Event record

Afrikaner women march to the union buildings in protest of SA's involvement in WW2

Updated
22 Aug 2019
Afrikaner women march to the union buildings in protest of SA's involvement in WW2

About 10 000 Afrikaner women, led by Mrs H.C. Steyn, wife of former President M.T. Steyn, marched to the Union Buildings to protest about the South African involvement in World War 2 on the side of Britain. Mrs H.E.C. Armstrong, one of the organisers, wrote a letter to Prime Minister J.C. Smuts, in which she set out the reasons for the protest. A further 3 968 women sent telegrams to Smuts, while 3 829 signed petitions, which were handed to him. They were all united in their request that South Africa should withdraw from the war. The first Afrikaner women march took place on 4 August 1915, to request the release of Gen. C.R. de Wet, an Anglo-Boer War 2 hero.

Search events by date

What happened on your birthday?
View more events from this day
Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2019, August 22). Afrikaner women march to the union buildings in protest of SA's involvement in WW2. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0148882

South African History Online (2019) 'Afrikaner women march to the union buildings in protest of SA's involvement in WW2', South African History Online, 22 August. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0148882 (Accessed: 16 August 2026).

South African History Online, Afrikaner women march to the union buildings in protest of SA's involvement in WW2 [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0148882, (accessed 16 August 2026).

"Afrikaner women march to the union buildings in protest of SA's involvement in WW2." South African History Online, 22 Aug. 2019, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0148882. Accessed 16 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "Afrikaner women march to the union buildings in protest of SA's involvement in WW2." South African History Online. August 22, 2019. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0148882.

Further reading

Oyster Bay Place

Oyster Bay

Oyster Bay or “Oesterbaai” in Afrikaans, is a small coastal hamlet and resort located about 22.5 kilometres (14.
Popular Content
Mooivallei, Dairy Farm Place

Mooivallei, Dairy Farm

Mooivallei Suiwel is a cheese and butter producer based at Bonnievale, a town in the Breede River Valley in the Western....
Popular Content

SAHO is free because readers fund it. Donate →

Contribute to this record0 comments

Comments are reader contributions. They are not part of the archival record.