Comrades,

We gather here during Women’s Month, a time to honour the power and persistence of working-class women in our South African liberation struggle. As we commemorate National Women’s Day, we must remember that the 1956 march against pass laws was not a single moment, but the product of long, painful organising by women across the country. It was the result of years of grassroots protest, led by women who are too often erased from our history.

This erasure is part of a bigger problem. Because women have been denied leadership positions, many wrongly assume they were absent from struggle. But there have always been women leaders — in factories, farms, households, classrooms, and in the streets. Today, we speak the name of one of our great leaders, whose story cannot be forgotten: Comrade Violet Jacobeth Seboni.

Born on 18 September 1965 and raised by her grandmother and later her grandmother’s friend in the NorthWest, Violet’s life was shaped by the daily realities of poverty — the kind that so many working-class women still face today. But from that hardship came strength. Her upbringing taught her empathy, resilience, and a deep belief in building a better life for the poor and marginalised.

Violet was not just a leader in our movement. She was a symbol of strength, humility, and commitment. A single mother to two daughters, Lesego and Lesedi, she balanced the personal with the political — never compromising her love for her family, nor her love for her class.

At Madibane High School in Diepkloof, Soweto, Violet Seboni first discovered her passion for activism — a spark that would grow into a lifelong flame. Like so many young working-class women, she entered the clothing industry after finishing school. Her journey began humbly on the factory floor.

In 1989, while working at Supreme Hat ‘n Cap in Johannesburg, Violet was elected as a shop steward for the South African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union (SACTWU). From those early days, her fierce sense of justice, deep empathy, and unwavering love for workers shone through. She rose quickly through the ranks — not driven by ambition, but by her deep commitment to service, solidarity, and struggle.

Cde Violet understood that every worker is an organiser, and she was a fierce and dedicated organiser. She brought new energy and purpose to the union at a time when jobs were being lost, and wages were under attack. In 1999, she was elected the first woman Chairperson of SACTWU’s East Rand branch. In 2001, her fellow shop stewards elected her as Gauteng Regional Treasurer, and then as Second Deputy President of SACTWU at the union’s 8th National Congress in Durban.

It was that same year that Violet led one of the most significant clothing workers strikes in recent history — a two-week, industry-wide, protected strike in Gauteng. She was on the picket lines day and night. She led marches, inspired courage, and helped deliver a historic victory that changed the course of labour relations in the industry.

By 2003, she had risen to become Deputy President of COSATU, leading over two million workers. In every space — from the picket line to the negotiating table to the international stage — Violet Seboni carried with her the voices of workers, especially women workers who saw their struggles reflected in hers.

Her leadership extended beyond our borders. She served as Vice-President for Africa in the International Textile, Garment and Leather Workers’ Federation, and as a member of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU). But she always remained grounded — rooted in the realities of the factory floor, the union branch, the everyday lives of workers.

Comrade Violet was not only a union leader — she was a working-class activist. She understood that gender equality was not an optional extra for the movement, but central to our struggle for justice. She championed maternity rights, fought for women’s leadership in unions, and built working class struggles.

And as we remember her, we remember how she died — on 3 April 2009, en route to Mafikeng, where she was to address an ANC Women’s League election meeting. Violet died as she lived: serving the movement, serving her people, committed to the struggle to the very end.

In 2018, she was posthumously awarded the Order of the Baobab by the Presidency “for her excellent contribution to the struggle for the rights of workers and equality for women. She bravely took on the proverbial Goliath corporations and industries to fight for workers’ rights.”

Comrades, during this Women’s Month — let us be clear: we do not celebrate women’s resistance as history. We celebrate it as living struggle. And we say the names of our heroines not to mourn them, but to call us to action. Violet Seboni’s life is not a story to be told once a year — it is a legacy to organise by, to lead by, and to fight by.

To truly honour Comrade Violet Seboni, we must not only remember her — we must organise in her name.

Violet did not build her legacy through speeches alone. She built it through daily organising, shop floor mobilisation, strike leadership, policy negotiations, and solidarity actions across borders. She didn’t ask for permission to lead — she led because the moment demanded it. She didn’t wait for women to be included — she made space and brought others with her.

On this day, we celebrate a clothing worker who stitched together strength and solidarity, empowering countless others in the fight for workers’ rights and gender equality. Every seam she sewed was a stitch towards justice. Every meeting she led was a thread binding diverse voices into one unified call for change. Her legacy is woven in the fabric of our movement. Let us celebrate her contributions and continue the work she championed.

Let Women’s Month not be about symbolic gestures. Let it be about rebuilding our power from below, in the spirit of Cde Violet.

Let us honour her memory by fighting for:

• Equal pay for women workers.
• Representation of women in union leadership at all levels.
• Protection against workplace violence and harassment.
• A socialist future where no woman or worker is left behind.

Comrade Violet Seboni lives in the heart of every young woman who raises her voice at work. She lives in every union organiser who refuses to be silenced. She lives in the struggle for a better, fairer, and more just South Africa.

Remembering Violet means building the world she dreamed of — a socialist future with justice, dignity, and equality for all workers, especially the most marginalised.

We owe her more than our gratitude.
We owe her our organising.

Amandla!
Viva Violet Seboni, Viva!
Viva the Women’s Struggle, Viva!
Amandla!
Awethu!