The aim of this paper on race and the law in post-1994 South Africa is to understand the common sense nature of the continued invocation of racial classification and race thinking in South African legislation despite the country’s long history of racial segregation and discrimination both before the start of ‘official apartheid’ in 1948 and during Nationalist Party rule. It relates to several themes addressed in this volume, but in particular speaks to race classification practices today and the resilience of race in legislation, even in the post-1994 era. This paper accordingly intends to highlight the irony of the perpetual use of apartheid-era race classifications (in the absence of definitions of each race group) notwithstanding the Constitutional and legislative framework which envisages an equal and non-racial society.

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The feminist movement is often described as a political movement that advocates radical social change. Consistent with this description, this issue of Agenda is intended to tap into those "hidden sources of power from where true knowledge and therefore, lasting action comes" (Lorde, 1984:37). Our aim is to eradicate those spaces that stifle and suppress women. As portrayed in the title, there is no reason why women cannot be "kings" (Needham and Aidoo, 1995). We wish to tell the stories of prolific women throughout Africa, both those in the limelight and those working diligently in the background locating the contribution of women within collective movements for social justice in their respective spheres. The purpose is to credit women as innovators, pioneers and history makers with agency, autonomy and determination. Accordingly, the narratives of these phenomenal women are addressed though the following main themes: oppression and suppression of women activists; feminism; sexual minorities; and women's participation in government and governance structures.

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