Members of the Legislature

Members of Executive Council

Executive Mayor of Gert Sibande Municiplaity, Cllr Kgotso Motloung

Executive Mayor for eMkhondo Municiplaity, Cllr Bheki Mtshali

Councillors from various municipalities

Traditional Leaders

Women Formations

Distinguished Guests

Members of the media

Ladies and Gentlemen

Ngithanda ukubingelela futhi kumphakathi wonke wase Mkhondo sanibonani!! Egameni lesiifunda saseMpumalanga, ngithanda ukuthatha lelithuba ukubonga wonke umuntu ohlanganyelenathi namhlanje kulomcimbi obaluleke kangaka  owaziwa ngokuthi, usuku lokukhumbula iqhaza nendima eyadlalwa amakhosikazi ngo 1956 kanye nendima edlalwa amakhosikazi namhlanje. Esilubiza ngokuthi usuku lamakhosikazi,, Women’s Day. Indeed, multitudes of our people are observing the Women’s Day celebration in all corners of our country. The National Women’s Day will be celebrated in Limpopo Province at the Peter Mokaba Staduim where the Honourable President; Jacob Zuma will deliver his keynote address.  

The importance of this day cannot be undermined as it marks a watershed moment in the history of our country, Indima eyadlalwa amakhosikazi emzabalazweni!

The theme for Women’s Day is: “Working together to enhance women’s opportunities to economic empowerment”. This theme challenges both the private and public sectors into evaluating themselves as to whether as a country we are making positive strides in the realization of this objective.  It further put questions on us as to whether we are meeting the needs of women be it socio or economic. One can proudly say that as Mpumalanga Province evidence to this has been met this morning at Mkhondo when this government handed over to women houses, food parcels, sewing machines and wheel chairs amongst others as part of uplifting their socio economic status.

As government, we have made a conscious decision to commemorate the heroic deeds of a generation of courageous women who refused to succumb to the oppressive regime which was preoccupied with undermining the rights of our people more in particular women. We recognize the triumphant manner in which women from all walks of life contributed to the emancipation of all our people and today as we observe this day, no one could undermine efforts that our women undertook to usher freedom and democracy in our land and they continue to record milestones in improving the lives of our people.

Today’s generation could without any doubt learn from the heroines of our land who confronted the apartheid regime throughout the liberation struggle and waged wars that shook the regime and brought it to its knees. It was in August 1956 where women decided that” enough was enough” and tackled the regime in a manner that had not been witnessed before as they were united and determined to fight the oppressive government with all that they have hence the slogan ‘Wathint’ abafazi want’ intimboko’.  Even today this slogan remains a powerful force in uniting South African women from all angles of the country.

 

Indeed that march to the Union Buildings by women against the oppressive pass laws and other draconian legislations forced the apartheid government to think twice, it shock them to their knees forced it to rethink their discriminatory tendencies. It is from their efforts that today we are a society that is free from racism, discrimination, sexism and all other forms of violation of human rights.

Today we are a country that prides itself in values enshrined in our constitution and as we reflect about various struggles against apartheid, we are forever reminded of gallant struggles that were led by women and no-one can in his or her wisdom dare not recognize the role women played in the attainment of our Freedom.

Not long ago our Country paid farewell to one of our heroines/stallwards of the liberation struggle, uMama Albertina Sisulu. Her passing left a lot of scars in our hearts, and we have profound memories of her since she was one of our own who we looked up to and we need more women of her caliber so that our country could benefit from wise and correct advises in advancing the revolution.

South Africa is indeed proud to be blessed with so many heroines whom our history is full of their names, these includes freedom fighters like; Lillian Ngoyi, Elizabeth Mafikeng, Getrude Shope, Ruth Mompati, Mitta Seperepere, Bertha Mkhize, Albertina Sisulu, Helen Joseph, Ida Mtwana, Ruth First, Florence Mophosho, Florence Matomela, Kate Molale, Hettie September, Sophie DeBruyn, Bertha Gxowa, Phyllis Naidoo, Violet Weinberg, Ray Alexander, Francis Baard, Dr. Goonam Naidoo, Hilda Bernstein, Adelaide Tambo, Cissy Gool, Amina Cachalia, Epainette Mbeki, Annie Silinga, Winnifred Mangoane Nkobi, Tiny Nokwe, Regina Nzo, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Ama Naidoo, Dora Tamana, Dorothy Nyembe, Nokuthula Simelane, Nomoya Masilela and many, many others. The list is endless!!!

 

The good news is that our present Government is a champion to gender equality, which seeks to continue with the struggle of women. Today our National Parliament has managed to surpass the 50/50 gender ratio. The gender equity is a powerful vehicle to address social challenges that continue to affect our people and we need everyone private and the public sector to partner with us so that we can avail more opportunities to women in all sectors. We are mindful as government that the challenges facing women today cannot be won by government alone but other stakeholder’s need to come to the fore. 

 

We also strive as government on our policies that are very clear on gender issues, and needs to be implemented as such in order to address the scourge faced by women. It is against this background that government has taken initiatives to address challenges that are still predominantly faced by women and that there are institutions that have been set as agents that will guarantee equality from all fronts and our message to those who continue to discriminate against women is that they should completely refrain from such behavior.

The ANC-led government has identified an important mechanism to advance the cause of women by establishing for the first time a Ministry of women, people with disabilities and children and this shows our commitment to uplift and empower women in all fronts. This ministry will help our course of rewriting the historic wrongs of our past where women were often overlooked for position of power. As a Province we need to share with the all of you   that our Provincial Government has attained a 50/50 representation of women in different spheres of government both at a provincial level, municipal and the legislature. ALIBONGWE!

The Millennium Development Goals speaks to child mortality rate which is alarming. Bomama kubalulekile ukuthi ni xale uhambise a bantwana ku maclinics. It also talks to high rate of poverty amongst rural women. We therefore need an economic vehicle for rural women so that they can establish themselves economically. This will also assist in halving unemployment and poverty.

 

 

As the country, we have set aside the month of August as women’s month and we should ask ourselves if we had indeed addressed challenges that are faced by women including abuse and other violations of their rights.

It cannot be correct that 17 years into our democracy, women are still subjected to painful violations of their rights where they are not treated equally by their partners and also at the workplace and where these incidences raise their ugly heads, they need to be uprooted without hesitation and those who violate the rights of women in any forms should face the full might of the law.

We need to see more women benefitting from procurement contracts in both the public and private sectors so that they could also be empowered economically and it is during this month of August that we need to double our efforts and set ourselves achievable targets that would afford more women economic opportunities. We must see women being active participants in the mainstream economy and we therefore need to encourage them to be organized so that they could speak in one and strong voice.

 

Programme Director, we must pause and think of women in rural areas who still do not have access to opportunities and our programmes must seek to alleviate their plight so that they could themselves also enjoy the fruits of democracy and this could be achieved by bringing them closer to much needed skills and as government we are addressing this by implementing various programmes in rural areas.

 

 As the province, we have the Community Rural Development Programme (CRDP) where we target certain municipalities and identify initiatives that will take our people out of a life of poverty and women are also beneficiaries of this programme. We therefore need to renew our pledge today and commit ourselves to address women empowerment so that indeed we could realize goals that we have set ourselves where we have said that women should be active participants in various sectors of our democracy.

 

We come a long way since that historic march in 1956 but the struggle continues and we need not fold our arms and say we have arrived, as together; we must work towards empowerment of women from all walks of life. On behalf of the provincial government, I want to take this opportunity and wish all women in the province a successful Women’s Day that will yield positive changes into their lives.

 

Malibongwe igama lamakhosikazi!