Address by Hon. Premier TSP Makwetla at the Provincial Celebrations of National Womens Day
9 August 2007
Katjibane Village , Dr JS Moroka Municipality
Forward with the Spirit of Women Solidarity and Empowerment!
Programme Director
Minister of Health, Dr. Manto Tshabalala-Msimang
Honourable MEC's,
Honourable Members of Parliament and
Members of the Mpumalanga Legislature,
Our traditional leaders,
Honourable Mayors and Councillors,
Political Parties,
Organised Labour,
Women Organisations represented here today,
People of Mpumalanga , and women of our province in general,
Comrades and Compatriots
Today we celebrate the important and historic events of the women's anti-pass march to Pretoria in August 1956 – a legacy that sowed seeds of an even more radical change in our country, a national question of immense proportions.
Taking a decisive stand against the powerful and brutal apartheid system became an embodiment of heroism and commitment to the ideals for freedom and equality. In the struggles of our time, this day must galvanise society as a whole to nourish and protect hard-fought rights and liberties that women of South Africa are constitutionally entitled to, and continue to enjoy. This calls for society to further open up space for women to enjoy human rights and development opportunities as equal citizens, free from social marginalisation, abuse and other forms of oppression that promote gender inequalities. This occasion gives us an opportunity to pay homage to the resilient struggles of South African women at all levels of society, including rural women who have had to raise families and build this nation under extreme conditions of deprivation and poverty. This is their day too.
There is a political will and global recognition that, to create meaningful and sustainable democracies, the mainstreaming of gender issues in national policy development and implementation agenda is central to the achievement of women empowerment and equality. South Africa 's ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1995 was a major milestone to signal our commitment to gender equality. In terms of our Constitution, women rights are human rights to which all women are entitled.
The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Congress on Women in1995 represented global commitment and efforts towards addressing gender inequalities.
Through the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Declaration on Gender and Development, adopted by the Heads of State in 1997, there is evidence of political commitment and impetus to put women issues high on the development agenda.
Progressive women leaders and organisations in the political, public and private sectors of our country continue to make significant contributions to shaping the growth of the South African society by ensuring that women empowerment issues are on the national development agenda. On the occasion of commemorating Women's Day, we should reflect on progress made in the emancipation and empowerment of women, and define the desired path in the struggle for poverty eradication and equality.
What remains a challenge is to ensure that all commitments and programmes of action targeted at the emancipation and empowerment of women, are implemented at all levels of our society. South Africa 's progressive policy development in promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women is one of the best in the world. While there are institutions set up to ensure effective mainstreaming of gender issues in development, there is a need to review organisational capacities and to measure the effectiveness of the gender empowerment machinery within government and the private sector in driving policy implementation issues of gender empowerment.
We need to enhance the coordination and policy implementation oversight capacities to ensure that women empowerment policies are implemented. If these capacities exist at all levels of society, the goals for the ‘Emancipation, Empowerment, Equality and Eradication of Poverty' will be fully realised.
One of the critical areas of intervention required is accelerating the economic empowerment of women. Evidence remains of huge inequalities between men and women in terms of income levels and access to development opportunities. Access to opportunities for women in rural and peri-urban areas remains a cause for concern. Official reports show that of South Africa 's large predominantly impoverished rural population, the majority are women.
Unemployment rates among females are higher than male unemployment rates, with the unemployment rate for black women being substantially higher than black men. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) of September 2006, shows a 25,6% unemployment rate. 52.8% of the unemployed are Black women, and they constitute 90% of all unemployed women. In broad terms this suggests that African women represent 49% of all the unemployed.
To address this phenomenon of economic marginalization, it becomes central that implementation of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of SA (ASGI-SA) consciously articulates gender dimensions of inclusion for the economically marginalized women.
As a Province we are cognisant of the fact that to address poverty and unemployment it is critical to stimulate the economy so that it creates jobs and income opportunities. We have prioritised the ‘Big Five' Flagship projects to accelerate economic development and service delivery. We are confident that the prioritisation of the Moloto and Maputo Development corridors will unlock economic development opportunities that will benefit the people of the Province. We are also encouraging women-owned enterprises to position themselves to take up opportunities presented by the implementation of the flagship projects.
Given all the opportunities available for women participation in the economy, it is essential that we improve access to finance and business support to women-owned enterprises. To improve access to finance, we have launched the New Business Finance that assists SMME's in general, and women in particular, to access finance such as bridging finance and loans for expansion if they are awarded contracts by Government. In addition, the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (MEGA) has set aside funding specifically to empower the women of our Province to get involved in the mainstream of the economy.
Programme Director, the 2010 World Cup Programme presents prospects for women in the Province to benefit from opportunities that the hosting of the 2010 World Cup will bring about. The challenge is to ensure that we empower women with all the necessary resources for them to be in a position to exploit these opportunities. These include skills development and access to business and marketing support for their products and services. There are immense opportunities in the tourism and hospitality, as well as construction and service industries from which women of this Province could benefit.
In collaboration with the DTI, the Province has launched the South African Micro Enterprise – Apex Fund to provide loan finance to rural women. The fund provides loans from R50.00 to R10 000.00. This fund encourages women in rural areas to work as groups to ensure that there is access to credit to the most vulnerable groups of our society in the rural areas.
Programme Director, we encourage women to participate in the implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) so that they take advantage of job opportunities created by this programme. Part of the commitment to women empowerment is allocating a target of 40% of all job opportunities created through the EPWP, to women.
We are also creating opportunities for women to participate in construction so that we ensure that this sector does not continue to be the preserve of men. On 24-25 August this year, the Department of Public Works will host a ‘Women in Construction' Summit . We envisage that the deliberations at this conference will provide concrete plans of how we will go about in accelerating the participation of women in the construction sector.
Part of the interventions aimed at the economic empowerment of women is focusing on creating opportunities for sustainable livelihoods through agriculture, especially in rural areas where job opportunities are limited. The implementation of Masibuyele emasimini programme is aimed at promoting the use of agricultural land to fight hunger and poverty. The programme has since its inception provided support to poverty stricken farmers and households to productively use the land for agricultural production. The programme provides assistance in the form of tractors, implements, seed and fertiliser. There are many women beneficiaries in our Masibuyele emasimini programme.
On this important Women's Day, it is befitting to salute the contributions made by women to the economy through their participation in agriculture. Specifically, we would like to congratulate Mrs Linda Nghatshane, who emerged as the Provincial Female Farmer of the Year 2006, and went on to become the overall winner National Female Farmer of the Year 2007. She was also nominated the overall winner of the 2007 Shoprite–Checkers/SABC2 Women of the Year. This is an inspiring individual to all women of the Province, and we hope many among our women will continue to emulate her commitment and dedication to self-empowerment.
Programme Director, we are aware that lack of access to basic services such as water affect women, especially in rural areas where people do not have access to clean running water. The burden of walking long distances to fetch water from remote areas is on women. We believe that our implementation of the ‘ Water for All' flagship project will contribute to easing the burden in areas where women are affected by a lack of access to clean water. This flagship project focuses on providing water infrastructure and services to ensure all the people of the Province have access to clean water by 2010.
Comrades, official reports and surveys are indicating that while progress has been made in appointing women in leadership positions, there is a lot of work that still needs to be done. There are concerns that transformation in the private sector in particular is very slow, with the majority of corporate boardrooms being dominated by men. The slow implementation of employment equity in the private sector is a concern.
As a province, we have seen improvements in representation of women in political governance across the Province both at provincial and local government levels. The marked increase in the number of women councillors, Speakers and Mayors bodes well for the Province and the country in building gender balance in our political governance structures.
Within the Provincial Administration, 32% of senior leadership positions are occupied by women. We need to ensure that we continue to provide the necessary support for women leaders to succeed in performing their duties. Part of the targeted support to senior managers is the implementation of the ‘ Accelerated Management Capacity Building ' flagship project as part of our ‘Big Five' flagships project. This project is aimed at enhancing key competencies and skills for senior managers to perform at the required level. Senior female managers are participating in the Executive Development Programme (EDP) to sharpen their leadership and management skills.
Programme Director, despite all the achievements that the South African society has made in advancing a human rights culture that nurtures dignity, equality and emancipation of women, there are still challenges of gender inequalities that continue to characterise some sectors of our communities. Gender-based violence remains a repulsive aspect that dents our successes as a country. The high incidence of violence against women denies women access to the basic human right of being free from harm. Women and children continue to face sexual assaults and other forms of abuse at work, in the community and in their homes.
Just recently, a 4-year old girl child, Samukelisiwe Nkambule, was abducted by burglars from her home, raped and left to die at Avalon in Steve Tshwete municipality on July 21 this year. Gruesome acts of barbarism such as this incident need to propel collective action in building communities that cherish and value human life. Everyone has a responsibility to cooperate with the police and law enforcement agencies to protect our communities from rape, murder and abuse of women. In many instances, the perpetrators of crimes are people known to us, too often our uncles and cousins.
As women of this country, we need to say ‘enough is enough' and put a stop to the violations that are taking place in our communities. If the women in 1956 could face the mighty repressive and brutal force of the apartheid government, what could prevent women from stopping the dehumanising experiences of rape and women abuse in areas where they live?
We need to ensure that our criminal justice system works to support women who are victims of crime, especially when women are reporting cases of rape and abuse. We should discourage incidents such the one reported in Bushbuckridge, on 5 August 2007 (City Press), where a police inspector told a rape accuser that she won't win in court, and therefore she must stop wasting his time. Such attitudes are not helpful in creating a supportive environment for rape victims. Instead, this helps to undermine confidence in our criminal justice system. When this happens people stop reporting crime to the police.
Compatriots, I am pointing to these cases so that we are all alive to the realities and nuances that manifest gender-driven behaviour which seeks to undermine the human rights that women must enjoy as equal citizens.
In commemorating Women's Day, we all have a responsibility to assert gender equality in every sphere of human life so that we defend the dignity and rights of women to develop to their full potential and contribute to the growth of our nation. The legacy and contribution of South African women to democracy is there for everyone to see.
Viva South African Women Viva
Enjoy Women's Day
THANK YOU