Johannesburg - "Facebook stop deleting our pictures."
This is how one of the placards held by maidens marching through the streets of Johannesburg read.
The placards were carrying a strong message to media giants Google and Facebook.
The maidens marched from the Pieter Roos Park in Parktown to the Beyers Naude Square in the CBD.
Braving the scorching heat, the maidens said they want Google and Facebook to stop deleting pictures of them in traditional attire.
They drew the attention of motorists and some people watched from their offices.
Women ululated and cheered the girls on.
Bare-breasted and showing pride in her culture, Zinhle Sibaya, 16, said she was unhappy that the media companies would not allow them to come into their offices and deliver an invitation to the march.
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"We were blocked from the door which I did not like. We were treated like criminals," she told about 200 maidens who joined the march from various parts of the country.
Organiser Lwazi Dlamini said they were tired of being bullied.
"We are not only fighting for South Africa but all Africans. This needs to stop," he said.
The maidens also decried being abused on the streets when they walk around wearing their traditional attire.
They also accused taxi operators of abusing them by touching them inappropriately.
"My breasts are not inappropriate. Our breasts are not sexual objects," read other placards.
@smashaba