Did you know that the length of a woman’s skirt was once directly linked to the water level of the Vaal Dam? Let’s rewind to the 1960s—the era of hippies, psychedelics, and revolution abroad… but here in South Africa? Verwoerd, Vorster, apartheid, and “verkramptheid”.
Enter the mini skirt—or as an Afrikaans magazine called it, the “Eina Rokkie”. For non-Afrikaans speakers, “eina” means “ouch!” — and boy, did this fashion trend sting the conservative crowd.
By 1967, miniskirts were banned at universities like Pretoria and Potchefstroom. Even Wits—usually a liberal hotspot— cracked down. But the further south you went, the shorter the skirts got. Cape Town and Stellenbosch? Mini-friendly zones.
Then came Reverend Arthur Sexby — yes, that was his real name — who refused to hold church service until women in miniskirts left. He even founded the National Association for Public Morality and Welfare to ‘crush the evils of the mini.’
But here’s where it gets really South African. A man named Gert Yssel claimed that miniskirts weren’t just immoral—they were drought-inducing. He declared: “Until the shameful parts of women are covered, God will not fill the Vaal Dam!”
“Eina Rokkie”: Proof that fashion is the real force of nature
Video by Al Prodgers.
Main image source: Emily <3 / Salazar, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
