Abstract:
The ordinary archive of the racially oppressed in South Africa offers a critical
lens through which to interrogate notions of resistance, subjectivities and
freedom. This paper considers these questions by examining the phenomenon
that is the annual Spring Queen pageant which, for more than 46 years, has
proffered a potential real-life ‘Cinderella’ experience to the poorly-paid,
industrious women of the Western Cape’s clothing and textile trade. Initiated
by their union, the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union
(SACTWU) in the late 1970s as a response to worker agitation, the social
significance of the pageant runs incontrovertibly deeper than a one-night
spectacle. Despite a dearth of subject-specific formal research, this paper draws
on available literature analysing the impact of apartheid on culture and society
in South Africa, along with extensive relevant media coverage of the Spring
Queen pageant, and personal interviews with those involved and impacted. It
goes beyond describing the experiences of working class ‘coloured’ women
who contributed to the anti-apartheid struggle through their union activities. It
also highlights how an enduring annual gala event has afforded the ‘invisible’
clothing production line workers who underpin a multi-billion rand South
African export industry an opportunity to envision a yet-to-be realised
freedom, while reflecting the power and resilience of the ordinary to transform
in extraordinary times.
