Rooted in Ruth: A Legacy of Resistance and Rise Some names don’t just echo in history, they grow roots in us. Ruth Mompati is one of them. Born in 1925 in the small town of Vryburg, Ruth’s life might have looked ordinary on the outside — a teacher, a secretary, a mother. But behind that quiet strength was a woman whose courage would help shape the course of South African history. In the 1950s, apartheid tightened its grip , curfews, pass laws, police brutality. Women were expected to be silent, compliant, invisible. Ruth? She did the opposite. She joined the African National Congress (ANC) and became one of the few women trusted to help run its underground operations. She wasn’t just present - she was powerful . And then came 1956 . Ruth was one of the leaders of the historic Women’s March , when over 20,000 women walked to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest pass laws. They sang, they stood in silence, they said: enough. But her resist...