When Women Who Work Win

A lot of months tend to lose their significance as we look forward to the time off, the long weekends and the break from our everyday routines. But some months carry stories that deserve more than a public holiday.

August is one of those months.

On 9 August 1956, more than 20,000 women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against the extension of pass laws to women. Women from different racial, cultural and social backgrounds came together, organised and stood together against a system that sought to restrict their freedom. The march was led by Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa and Sophia Williams-De Bruyn.

Their message was bigger than that single day.

It showed what can happen when women stand together.

But when we look deeper into history, we realise that women have always been putting in the work. They have challenged systems, opened doors, created businesses, developed inventions, entered professions where women were not expected to belong, educated communities and, often quietly, made life easier for the people around them.

For many women, especially Black women, that work was not always recognised. Women's contributions have often been overlooked in historical records, while the achievements of men received greater attention.

There are also women whose scientific and creative contributions were overlooked, undervalued or, in some cases, credited to men.

This is not a post about comparing the struggles of women from different racial or social groups. Those histories are important and deserve their own conversations.

This is about something that connects those stories:

What happens when women see each other, support each other and lift each other up?

At Tlotlego Smiles Foundation, we have experienced this firsthand. Our organisation has been built and strengthened by women, from our founder, to volunteers, to women working in organisations that have supported our programmes and opened doors for us.

We have seen what happens when you are on your knees and someone extends a hand to lift you up.

Sometimes that hand comes in the form of funding.

Sometimes it is an introduction.

Sometimes it is an opportunity.

Sometimes it is simply someone saying, “I believe you can do this.”

And sometimes, it is a woman who has already walked through a door turning around and holding it open for the woman behind her.

That is the spirit we want to celebrate this Women's Month.

Women Who Opened Doors, Solved Problems and Changed the Way We Live

In honour of women across South Africa, Africa and the world, we have put together a list of women who became firsts in their fields, challenged what was considered possible, created things that made life easier, or whose contributions were not always properly recognised.

1. Charlotte Maxeke: Education and Women's Leadership

Charlotte Maxeke was one of South Africa's earliest Black women pioneers in higher education. She graduated from Wilberforce University in the United States and became the first Black South African woman to earn a university degree.

But her contribution went far beyond education. She was also a pioneer in women's organising and helped establish the Bantu Women's League in 1918.

She did not simply enter a room that had never welcomed women. She helped create rooms for other women to enter.

2. Lilian Ngoyi: Political Leadership

Lilian Ngoyi was one of the four key leaders of the historic 1956 Women's March.

She became the first woman elected to the executive committee of the African National Congress and became a powerful organiser in the women's movement.

Her story reminds us that leadership is not always about having the loudest voice. Sometimes it is about bringing thousands of voices together.

3. Rahima Moosa: Organising and Activism

Rahima Moosa was one of the four women who led the 1956 Women's March.

A trade unionist and activist, she played an important role in mobilising women against discriminatory legislation.

Her story is a reminder that ordinary working women can become extraordinary leaders when they decide that something needs to change.

4. Sophia Williams-De Bruyn: Youth and Activism

Sophia Williams-De Bruyn was one of the leaders of the 1956 Women's March and was among the youngest leaders involved in the historic protest.

Her life demonstrates that age does not determine the size of the contribution a person can make.

5. Helen Joseph: Standing Together

Helen Joseph was another of the four leaders of the 1956 Women's March.

Born in England, she became a committed South African anti-apartheid activist and stood alongside women from different racial and cultural backgrounds.

Her story is a powerful example of solidarity. Sometimes lifting women means standing beside them even when their experiences are not the same as yours.

6. Zainunnisa “Cissie” Gool: Breaking Political and Professional Barriers

Zainunnisa “Cissie” Gool became the first woman to serve on the Cape Town City Council and represented District Six for more than a decade.

She was also a pioneer in South African political and social life, particularly in the struggle against racial discrimination.

She did not allow one achievement to become her final achievement.

She kept opening another door.

7. Refilwe Ledwaba: Aviation

Refilwe Ledwaba became South Africa's first Black female helicopter pilot.

Her journey into aviation challenged assumptions about who belongs in the cockpit and demonstrated what is possible when determination meets opportunity.

Sometimes becoming the first matters because someone else can finally see themselves doing it too.

8. Alice Ball: The Black Chemist Whose Work Was Taken From Her

Alice Augusta Ball was a young Black chemist whose research led to a groundbreaking treatment for Hansen's disease, formerly known as leprosy.

At just 23 years old, she developed a method for making chaulmoogra oil derivatives usable as an effective treatment. Her work became the basis of what was later known as the “Dean Method”, named after Arthur Dean, who had been her university colleague and later president.

For decades, Dean received recognition for work that had built upon Ball's research, while Ball's contribution was largely forgotten. Her rightful place in the history of science was only restored many years later.

Alice Ball's story is important because it reminds us that recognition is not always given to the person who did the work.

Sometimes history has to be corrected.

9. Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner: Making Menstrual Hygiene Easier

Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner was a Black American inventor who developed an adjustable sanitary belt that helped keep sanitary napkins securely in place.

Her invention addressed a very practical problem for women.

But being a Black woman inventor came with barriers. A company initially expressed interest in her invention but withdrew after learning that she was Black. Kenner eventually received her first patent in 1957 and went on to receive several patents for inventions that addressed everyday problems.

Her story is a powerful reminder that sometimes the barrier is not the idea. It is whether society is willing to give the person behind the idea a chance.

10. Sarah Boone: Improving the Ironing Board

Sarah Boone, a Black American inventor, patented an improved ironing board in 1892.

Her design improved upon existing ironing boards by creating a narrower, curved board that made it easier to iron sleeves and the bodies of women's clothing.

The ironing board is something many people rarely think about.

But that is the beauty of practical innovation.

Someone sees an everyday problem and thinks, “There has to be a better way.”

11. Sarah E. Goode: The Cabinet Bed

Sarah E. Goode was a Black American businesswoman and inventor who received a patent in 1885 for a folding cabinet bed.

Her design allowed a piece of furniture to serve more than one purpose, something particularly useful for people living in small spaces.

Long before modern space-saving furniture became common, Goode was thinking about how to make limited space work harder.

12. Dr Patricia Bath: Changing Eye Care

Dr Patricia Bath was an American ophthalmologist, inventor and humanitarian.

She invented the Laserphaco Probe, a device and technique for cataract surgery that used laser technology to remove cataracts more precisely.

She became the first Black woman physician to receive a medical patent in the United States.

Her work did more than advance technology. It was driven by a belief that access to sight-saving treatment should not depend on race, gender or income.

13. Marie Van Brittan Brown: The Woman Behind the Home Security System

Marie Van Brittan Brown was a Black American nurse who, together with her husband Albert Brown, developed an early home security system.

Working irregular hours and living in a neighbourhood where emergency response could be slow, Brown wanted a way to monitor who was outside her home and communicate with someone remotely.

Their 1966 patent described a system involving cameras, a monitor and a two-way communication system.

Many of the concepts she helped develop can be recognised in modern home security systems.

She saw a problem in her own life and created a solution that would influence technology far beyond her home.

14. Hedy Lamarr: The Inventor Behind Technology That Helped Shape Wireless Communication

Hedy Lamarr is often remembered as a Hollywood actress.

She was also an inventor.

Together with composer George Antheil, Lamarr developed a frequency-hopping communication system during World War II. Their patented work later became part of the technological foundations that influenced modern wireless communication, including technologies associated with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.

For many years, her contribution was largely overlooked.

Her story reminds us that people can be more than the role society assigns to them.

15. Margaret E. Knight: The Paper Bag Machine

Margaret E. Knight invented a machine that could automatically cut, fold and glue flat-bottom paper bags.

Her invention transformed the production process and helped make mass production of the bags possible.

When a man attempted to claim that he had invented the machine, Knight successfully defended her invention by demonstrating that she had created the design.

She went on to hold numerous patents.

Her story shows that sometimes women have had to prove not only that their inventions work, but that they were the ones who invented them.

16. Stephanie Kwolek: Kevlar

Stephanie Kwolek was a chemist whose research led to the development of Kevlar, an exceptionally strong synthetic fibre.

Kevlar has since been used in protective equipment and numerous industrial applications.

Her work demonstrates that changing lives does not always mean creating something that sits in a kitchen or garage.

Sometimes innovation happens inside a laboratory through years of research, patience and persistence.

17. Katalin Karikó: mRNA Research

Katalin Karikó spent decades researching messenger RNA, work that helped establish the scientific foundations for mRNA-based medical technologies.

Her story is a reminder that groundbreaking work can take years before the world understands its importance.

Sometimes the woman doing the work has to keep going long before anyone is ready to celebrate the result.

The Women We Are Still Learning About

There is something important about these stories.

We cannot celebrate women only after history has finally recognised them.

We need to ask why it sometimes took decades for their contributions to be acknowledged.

Why were some inventions dismissed?

Why were some women not given access to funding?

Why were some discoveries published under the names of others?

Why did race and gender determine who was believed?

And how many women are still missing from the history books?

Women have contributed to science, education, medicine, engineering, business, technology, politics and community development for generations.

Some became famous.

Some became “firsts”.

Some changed entire industries.

And some simply solved a problem in front of them.

But all of them worked.

And Then There Are the Women We Don't Know By Name

There is another category of women who deserve recognition.

The woman who starts a small business to feed her family.

The teacher who stays after school to help a struggling learner.

The mother who encourages her daughter to apply for university.

The volunteer who gives her Saturday to a community project.

The woman who recommends another woman for an opportunity.

The manager who gives a young woman her first chance.

The grandmother who teaches skills that cannot be found in a textbook.

The woman who quietly pays someone's registration fee.

The woman who says, “Try again. You can do this.”

They may never appear in history books.

They may never have a street named after them.

They may never be called pioneers.

But they are part of the same story.

The Question Is: Who Are You Lifting?

Women's Month should not only remind us of what women have achieved.

It should challenge us to think about what we are doing for the women coming after us.

Who are we mentoring?

Who are we recommending?

Who are we encouraging?

Who are we introducing to an opportunity?

Who are we giving a seat at the table?

Who are we helping when they are on their knees?

Because progress is not only about being the first.

It is also about making sure you are not the last.

At Tlotlego Smiles Foundation, we believe that communities become stronger when people support one another. Our work is built around that belief.

This Women's Month, we celebrate the women who marched, the women who invented, the women who led, the women who taught, the women who created opportunities, the women whose contributions were overlooked, and the women who simply refused to give up.

Perhaps most importantly, we celebrate the women who reached back and lifted someone else up.

Because when a woman rises, she should never have to rise alone.

As Women’s Month comes to an end, we celebrate the women who continue to work, create, lead, challenge, support and lift others.

May the work continue long after August ends.

May we continue to build a world where women do not only break barriers but hold the door open for those coming behind them.

WHEN WOMEN WHO WORK WIN, WE ALL MOVE FORWARD.