Creating a system that provides quality education and training for all -young and old, regardless of race, class, or gender-is probably greatest developmental challenge facing South African government today. Women (and girls), particularly those of African origin, have been largely excluded from analyses of South African education. This article seeks to address this gap in literature by examining South Africa's educational progress generally and that of its women specifically, especially African women, along with a discussion of factors affecting education of women in South Africa and possibilities for future redress. INTRODUCTION Many in international community and in South Africa itself are still amazed by that country's transition from an apartheid regime to a multiparty, democratic state. Local and international leaders agree, however, that battle has only just begun. South African leaders currently face challenge of transforming their society into one in which all segments of population have truly equal access to resources and can fully participate in democratic process. Education is one of critical areas in need of change. Under apartheid regime, basic elementary and secondary education was not widely available to all. Indeed, with 19 redundant administrative structures, separate-but-unequal education was norm. As Republic of South Africa Department of Education (1995) notes in its first White Paper on Education and Training, post-democratic election period marks the first time in South Africa's history that government has mandate to plan development of education and training system for benefit of country as a whole and all its people (p. 2). Thus, it is not surprising that task of developing equitable educational policies is currently of primary significance. As South Africa's educators and educational policymakers wrestle with vestiges of a bureaucratically unwieldy and racially biased educational system, they must also strive to create a system that provides quality education and training for all South Africans-young and old, regardless of race, class, or gender. Indeed, redress of educational inequities is probably greatest developmental challenge facing South African government today. Gessler Nkondo, vice chancellor of historically Black University of Venda, has argued that process of empowerment for nation's African students should occur as a result of changing content of curricula, rather than on symbolic changes of structures. As he notes, [Only] having a few Africans in positions of power without changing rules of game would only guarantee frustration (quoted in Khosa, 1996, p. 5). A similar argument must be made for introduction of curricula that are gendersensitive, particularly in sciences, where presence of women' is minimal. In addition to inequities created by apartheid, gender-based discrimination has confronted Black women. This represents a trend that bears careful watching, given that it could easily lead to a system of gendered apartheid. To counter this trend, present article considers three broad areas of research on education for African women in South Africa: (a) primary and secondary education; (b) higher education; and (c) relationship between gender, education, and occupational opportunities. The available literature on first dimension is rather limited. Until recently, researchers practically excluded consideration of Black South Africans' early educational experiences, much less that of Black girls. The literature on higher education is more abundant, although likewise constrained by its focus on race and its near-exclusion of gender. In this area, several scholars have provided excellent critiques of inequities between South Africa's historically Black and historically White universities, but few have explored double jeopardy Black women have experienced in South African institutions of higher education. …