The women of 9 August did not change history because they shouted the loudest, it’s because they changed history based on their ability to connect with the people’s need on the ground.
They understood that lasting transformation begins by moving hearts before policies, minds before institutions and communities before governments. They marched against the extension of pass laws to women, not with violence, but with extraordinary courage, discipline and unity.
The contemporary women of today who enters a boardroom does not enter an empty space.
She enters an environment shaped by decades of organisational culture, informal networks, power relationships and leadership conventions that were largely established when women were absent from decision-making.
For many women, the challenge is therefore not simply getting into the boardroom. It is remaining influential once they get there.
Arguably those women in 1956 faced more or less the same challenge because the leadership in their political climate was primarily men.
Nevertheless, those women on 9 August did not march because they sought privilege, they marched because their emotional intelligence sought and demanded dignity.
Their actions transformed South Africa and created opportunities that generations of women continue to build upon today.
Nearly 70 years later, however, we must ask ourselves an uncomfortable question:
Have we completed the revolution they began, or have we merely opened boardroom doors while expecting women to lead according to models that were never designed to embrace the full diversity of women's leadership?
Emotionally intelligent leadership
The women who marched on 9 August 1956 may never have used the term emotional intelligence, yet their actions exemplified what leadership scholars today recognise as emotionally intelligent leadership. Faced with oppression, humiliation and injustice, they transformed emotion into purpose, pain into unity and frustration into one of the most disciplined acts of peaceful resistance in South African history.
The Matriarch leadership in 1956 was not passive leadership, it was rather an emotionally intelligent leadership. It required self-awareness to remain focused on the cause rather than personal anger.
It required empathy to unite women across racial, cultural and social divides. It required resilience to stand peacefully before a government that denied their dignity. Above all, it required courage to believe that collective action could reshape the future for generations they would never meet.
Their legacy challenges us to ask another important question:
If emotionally intelligent leadership changed the course of South African history, why is it still too often women are undervalued due to their emotional intelligence in today's executive boardrooms?
South Africa's 26th Commission for Employment Equity Annual Report (2025/26) provides part of the answer. Women occupy only 27.5% of Top Management positions, while men continue to hold 72.5%. At Senior Management level, women account for 38.6%, compared with 61.4% for men. These figures tell two stories.
The statistics tell us who occupies leadership positions.
They do not tell us whether organisations genuinely value the distinctive leadership that women bring.
Too often, women entering executive leadership are expected to adapt to cultures where authority is associated with command, competition and control, while empathy, collaboration, relationship-building and emotional awareness are dismissed as "soft skills."
This expectation creates what we describe as the Scar of Emotional Leadership. The scar is not created by emotion. It is created when women feel compelled to suppress the very qualities that often strengthen their leadership.
Many women leaders have experienced rejection, exclusion, unconscious bias and the relentless pressure to prove themselves beyond the standards expected of others. These experiences leave invisible scars, not because women are incapable, but because leadership systems have historically rewarded conformity over authenticity. Yet those same experiences have produced remarkable leaders.
Carrying the torch
Leaders who recognise that sustainable organisational results are built through relationships as much as strategy. As we celebrate Women's Month, it is fitting that we also celebrate women who continue to carry the torch lit by those who marched in 1956.
One such woman is Mama Yvonne Chaka Chaka. For decades she has been celebrated internationally as an award-winning musician and humanitarian. Yet one of her most inspiring achievements has received far less attention.
At a stage in life when many would be content to reflect on past accomplishments, she chose to return to higher education, completing a Postgraduate Diploma in Business Administration (PDBA) at Henley Business School Africa and continuing her academic journey by pursuing a master's degree. Her commitment to lifelong learning while simultaneously advancing global humanitarian work and advocating for women's empowerment demonstrates that leadership never stops evolving.
She reminds us that influence is strengthened by continuous learning, that age should never become a barrier to education, and that leadership is enriched by intellectual curiosity as much as experience.
Across South Africa and the African continent, countless other women—many whose names may never appear in newspapers or history books—continue to break barriers every day. They lead infrastructure projects, manage businesses, conduct scientific research, educate future generations, strengthen communities and create opportunities for others. Their collective contribution is shaping a new generation of leadership.
Through more than two decades in South Africa's public sector, particularly in the rail and transport industry, I have contributed to railway infrastructure programmes, operational readiness and the quality assurance processes supporting the acceptance of new-generation trains into service within one of South Africa's State-Owned Enterprises. Working in an industry historically dominated by men has reinforced my belief that women do not strengthen organisations by becoming different people instead they strengthen organisations by bringing different perspectives.
Acceptance that emotionally intelligent leadership is not the opposite of high performance, it is one of its foundations. The women of 1956 fought for our right to have a seat at the table, and it has become apparent that the revolution is unfinished due to the state of the table that we are sitting around. The responsibility of today's generation is to transform the table itself.
The true measure of transformation will not be the day women occupy half the seats in the boardroom. It will be the day no woman feels she must leave part of her leadership identity at the boardroom door to be accepted. Only then will the revolution of 9 August truly be complete.
* Galetlolwe Semenya is the Founder and Advocate for Matriarch Professional Associates and wrote this article in her personal capacity.
**The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Media Group.