Chairperson
Honourable Members of the National Council of Provinces
It is a great honour for me to present to you, the first budget vote of the Ministry for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities.
In doing so, I would like to address a few key issues.
Firstly, I would like to outline the mandate of the ministry to ensure that our debate this morning is informed by what we are committing to deliver against this mandate.
Secondly chairperson, I would like to talk about key focus areas that have been allocated to the ministry from the 12 outcome or performance areas of government. I believe that Parliament has a crucial role to play in monitoring our performance against the task assigned to us as ministers. There is also extensive work relating to our regional and international obligations as a country that I believe the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) should be aware of.
I will end chairperson with the acknowledgement of the various role players and entities that have supported and worked with us in the first year of this Ministry of which the NCOP is one such institution.
When announcing his Cabinet in May last year, President Jacob Zuma said this ministry was being created to protect the rights and enhance development opportunities for women, children and people with disabilities.
The President further magnified our role at the celebration of the National Women's Day last year where he said this ministry, and I quote: "will monitor other government departments to ensure the mainstreaming of gender, children's rights, and disability considerations into all programmes of government and other sectors. This will help government to respond to issues of these targeted groups in an integrated and coherent manner".
Again in outlining the Programme of Action of government during the State of the Nation Address this year, the President emphasised the need and again I quote: "to integrate gender equity measures into the government's programme of action [and] ensure that women, children and persons with disabilities can access developmental opportunities".
Chairperson, it is important to outline this mandate in order to appropriately locate and respond to the varying expectations with regard to the work of the ministry, which arose in our consultation with parliament and stakeholders in the three sectors those are: women, children and persons with disabilities.
Women expect us to facilitate their socio-economic development, be it through poverty alleviation programmes or fighting for gender equality at all levels of the workplace. People with disabilities want equal access to development opportunities and realisation of their social rights. Children want protection against the violation of many of their rights and an opportunity to grow to their full potential.
These are some of the expectations that have and will continue to influence our strategic direction and areas of focus as the Ministry and Department for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities. We have to carry out our mandate of oversight and mainstreaming, while at the same time responding to the challenges facing our three constituencies. I must emphasise that these challenges require immediate action on our part as the ministry.
To actualise our mandate which originate from the resolution of the Polokwane Conference of the ANC, we have over the past year focused on building systems and processes that will enable this entity to effectively carry out its mandate. The former Offices of the Status of Women, Rights of the Child and Rights of Persons with Disabilities have been incorporated into the new department.
Commission on Gender Equality (CGE) is another entity that now falls into our scope of work as the ministry. Members are aware of the serious challenges facing the CGE. We are engaging with CGE to provide the necessary leadership and support in addressing the various challenges facing the organisation. We have to ensure that CGE carry out its mandate as an important chapter nine institution focused on issues of gender.
We have made much progress in building internal system and capacity of this ministry and the department over the past year. Part of this ground work has been the mobilisation of human and other resources needed for implementation of our programme.
Our organogramm with the staff complement of 195 has been approved by the Department of Public Service and Administration. We have since advertised some of the posts that we are scheduled to be filled in the 2010/11 financial year. These include among others the posts of a director-general and three deputy directors-general responsible for each of sector specific branches. Those sectors of course are: women, children and persons with disabilities.
All the three branches of the department will put in place monitoring and evaluation systems with measurable indicators that are responsive to gender, the rights of children and persons with disabilities. This will ensure our oversight function leads to integration of sector specific equity measures in government programmes. These branches will also seek to mainstream norms and standards relating to their sector throughout all spheres of government.
We will be revising policy frameworks relevant to each sector including:
- the national policy framework for women's empowerment and gender equality
- draft national policy for the advancement of children's rights
- national plan of action for children and
- national policy on disability.
This revision is necessary to align policy framework with the changes in institutional arrangements and coordination mechanisms.
We are planning to strengthen capacity to coordinate activities of the special programmes units located in Premier's Offices in various provinces and focal points in various departments to ensure that our programmes have an impact across the country and in all sectors.
The Special Programme unit in the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) that is responsible for this work at a municipal level is being transferred to our Department to provide that critical link with local government.
Chairperson, the budget allocated to the department is limited compared to the magnitude of the task of transforming our society for the benefit of women, children and persons with disabilities. It is however, the policy of our government to mainstream the programmes throughout government system.
We ask the NCOP to approve the budget cognisant of the intention to discuss how priority programmes can be relocated to the Ministry for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities. That is the discussion which should occur at a policy level. This discussion should inform the adjustments budget process later this year, which should result in the enhanced resource allocation.
Partnerships are being strengthened with various players to make sure that these budget limitations do not hamper our ability to improve the lives of women, children and persons with disabilities. We are establishing relationships with both the business sector which has some resources, and civil society organisations that are dedicating a lot of energy into improving the plight of the vulnerable groups in our society.
Chairperson, honourable members, as you know that government has 12 outcome areas that are used to monitor and evaluate our work as ministries. I have been allocated three of those 12 outcome areas and these are:
- long and healthy life for all South Africans
- support an inclusive growth path and
- an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship.
Poverty continues to bear a disproportionately female face. Maternal and child mortality are still at a high level and women are more likely to be infected with HIV and affected by AIDS than men. We are working with the Department of Health to ensure that Government delivers on this key outcome area of a long and healthy life for all South Africans.
We will be utilising the opportunity of the review of the millennium development goals in July this year to ensure that there is stronger focus in reducing poverty and improving the health status of women, children and persons with disabilities.
The Ministry for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities therefore fully supports the HIV testing initiative as well as the immunisation campaign currently underway. We want to ensure that women, children and persons with disabilities participate in their numbers to protect their health.
We are also working with the Department of Health and other role players towards universal access to assistive devices that are essential for independent living and participation in social and economic activities. The success of our economy depends on our ability to build a healthy nation today and for generations to come.
On the second outcome, which is inclusive economic growth, we will be focusing on ensuring that there is economic empowerment for women and people with disabilities. For this financial year, we are focusing on the development of Gender Equality Bill including 50/50 parity.
It is critical that we address this matter. We have made progress in women representation in national and provincial legislatures and endeavours are being made within the public service to increase the number of women at various levels.
The reports I am receiving indicate that in the private sector and in some civil society structures, women are not making the necessary headway. The recent Census conducted by Business Women Association of South Africa indicates that by September 2009 there were still 73 companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) that do not have even a single woman in their boards of directors. At least 26 of these companies did not have a single woman at executive management level.
Prediction from the Census is that if we continue at the current rate, we will only achieve 50/50 gender parity at board level in 20 years and at executive management level, it will take us another 40 years. The concerning situation on the process of transformation is confirmed by separate findings of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) and the Employment Equity Commission.
That is why we need a legislative framework with enforcement mechanism to make sure that women participation is enhanced at all level. Amongst persons with disabilities, these efforts will focus on ensuring that the two percent employment equity target is met. We will also be working within the existing frameworks such as the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment and Employment Equity Act to ensure that current equity targets for women and persons with disabilities are met.
We will have consultations with the organised labour, private sector organisations and other stakeholders as part of our campaign to advocate for the 50/50 gender parity principle and two percent employment equity target for persons with disabilities.
We are aware that our economy is not absorbing the number of the unemployed at the pace at which we would like it to. We are therefore working towards the establishment of the empowerment fund that should facilitate the economic empowerment and development of women and persons with disabilities.
A study released by the University of Johannesburg last week once again highlights the challenges of poverty affecting persons with disabilities. It states that persons with disabilities remain excluded from the labour market and are having difficulties accessing Government social services. We have been assigned to develop a concept paper on the empowerment of persons with disabilities. We expect this paper to address issues of economic participation and strengthen social security net for persons with disabilities.
We are working together with Department of Labour in a project to create sheltered employment for persons with disabilities. This project has the capacity to create up to 2 000 permanent jobs and increase skills development for persons with disabilities.
Chairperson and honourable members, you should expect a lot of activity by our department in the area of alleviation of poverty and economic empowerment of women and persons with disabilities because that is what we have committed to through the Monitoring and Evaluation process.
The third outcome area as I said is development of an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship. Chairperson, this is area where we need massive mobilisation of all sectors of our society and an outreach to all the nine provinces of our country.
In this area, we will be focusing on the implementation of the review findings and recommendations on Domestic Violence and Sexual Offences Act.
Violence against women and girls remains a major challenge both globally and in South Africa. In line with the United Nations Secretary-Generals' Unite to End Violence against Women campaign, we are intensifying our initiative of a dedicated, comprehensive and integrated programme on the 365 days national action plan. This would include the 16 Days of Activism Campaign on No Violence against Women and Children.
We are focusing on the challenges such as rape, murder, human trafficking and forced prostitution affecting women and children. It is under this outcome area that we are crisscrossing the country addressing various issues affecting women, children and persons with disabilities.
We are very much concerned about the abuses that are being reported in schools for children with special needs. We will be conducting an audit of the situation in these schools and initiate appropriate action to stop these cases of abuse.
In view of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, we need to raise awareness on the possible risk of violation of children's rights. We are launching the Children's Rights and Responsibilities Development programme for 2010 FIFA World Cup and beyond. The launch will be held here in Parliament on 1 June 2010. We will use this launch to also commemorate the International Children's Day and the Day of the African Child.
The main objective of the launch will be to empower children and communities on children's rights and responsibilities. I would like to appeal to parents and caregivers to ensure proper supervision of children and take precautionary measures during the extended closure of schools for the mid–term holidays.
Citizens, families and communities should speak out on child abuse and neglect, and report such cases to the authorities promptly. Each one of us is bound by the Children's Act to report cases of violation of children's rights without delay.
All provinces have put in place plans to increase awareness and respond to cases of violation of children's rights during the world cup. Social work professionals will be deployed at public viewing areas and in all host cities. Activities will include establishing the joint national and provincial command centres and ensuring that child and youth care centres are able to receive emergency referrals and placements and have 24 hour services available.
The plan also includes the deployment of foreign language interpreters and stand–by professionals who will provide counselling services to victims, should the need arise. The justice system has dedicated courts and the South African Police Service personnel are also trained to ensure that the best protection is provided to children.
In addition, the safety and well being of children is the main focus of the Child Protection Week that will be launched by the President on Friday, 21 May. As part of the activities for this focus week, we will be holding walks to highlight children’s rights and other activities to raise community awareness about the dangers of human trafficking and other social problems that might affect children.
We will also be joining with municipalities to ensure that hotspot areas for violation of rights of children and women are cleared. Together with Tshwane Metro for instance, we will be establishing a park and erecting a memorial at the spot where the mutilated body of young girl was found in Soshanguve at the beginning of this year.
Chairperson, following that gruesome murder of Masego Kgomo, we had consultations which indicate that more effort is needed to better understand the motives behind some of the murders and respond to them accordingly.
We need to advocate that a person who has killed and extracted body parts for muti purposes should be sentenced firstly for murder and secondly for additional violations that have been committed. Our law should punish all those involved in this criminal value chain, from those who kill and extract body parts, those who circulate them up to those who buy and use concoctions derived from human tissues.
We cannot allow anymore women and children to lose their lives through these barbaric incidents. The right to life is the most basic right we should afford to women, children and persons with disabilities.
As we have done with the forced marriage of children to older men under the pretext of a traditional practice called uKuthwala in the Eastern Cape, we are responding to any traditional practice that is harmful to the rights and interests of women and children. All social practices have to be within the limits of our Constitution and the rule of law.
We are finalising the review of the Children's Rights Charter and incorporate the emerging challenges facing children. One of these problems is the easy access to pornographic material for children and use of children as subject of pornographic material. We have to ensure that children are protected from these harmful publications and they are not sexually exploited. It was within this context that you might have heard us opposing the launch of a pornographic channel on DSTV. In this regard, we have to commend Multichoice for abandoning this idea.
We are also focusing on the plight of children living in the street in many of our towns and cities with the aim of coordinating and consolidating existing efforts to facilitate re-integration of these children into family or move them to secure environments. This is being done in conjunction with Government entities and other partners involved in this area.
These are the things we will do this year chairperson in line with outcome area focused on developing an empowered, fair and inclusive citizenship. Whether it is the social exclusion and plight of children with albinism, homophobic attacks on lesbian women or exclusion of Caster Semenya from athletics because the questioning of her gender, we will engage with it.
On the international front chairperson, our department collaborates with a number of international and continental bodies and instruments that the country is signatory to. In this regard, we are required to report periodically on the progress made at national level on the implementation of these instruments.
We are going to ensure that all reports to these international and regional bodies are consulted on and finalised in time for submission. Furthermore we are undertaking to address the backlog in reporting and will ensure that all outstanding reports will be submitted during this financial year.
We participated in the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) which reviewed 15 year of the implementation of the Beijing declaration and its platform for action in New York in March this year. During the Women's Month in August this year, we will be holding a national conference to discuss the outcome of the UNCSW and develop a programme of action towards Beijing plus 20. This conference should also discuss the measures we need to take to ensure that we observe this decade as the Decade of an African Woman as declared by the African Union.
I am proud to add that South Africa has been able to address its ten year backlog regarding progress made in implementing Convention on the elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) with the submission of the report last year. I am led to believe that we may be requested to present to the CEDAW Committee early next year. We will be consulting widely in preparation for this process.
We will work towards the ratification of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) protocol on gender and development and ensure the domestication of this Protocol into the revised policy.
We will also be focusing on the domestication of United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Amongst other things, the convention states that parties to the convention must take appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities have access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public. It states that this shall be applicable to buildings, roads, transportation and other indoor and outdoor facilities.
While this is applicable to every building, the issue of access to facilities has arisen sharply with regard to the access to 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup for persons with disabilities. It is very disturbing that some of the newly built or reconstructed stadiums have failed to make adequate disability provisions in their plans.
We are engaging with the Local Organising Committee (LOC) and South African Disability Alliance with regard to transportation and improved space available for persons with disabilities. We also want to ensure that communication mechanisms and disaster management plans take into consideration the special needs of persons with disabilities.
Chairperson, the implementation of the Child Justice Act and Children's Act with effect from last month is one of the major steps that our country has taken in complying with the UN Convention on the Right of the Child and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. We will certainly be noting this progress in the reports to these bodies.
We will also be coordinating the observation of the commemorative days relating to our sectors which amongst others include:
- National Women's Day
- National Children's Day, the Day of the African Child and International Children's Day
- International Day for Persons with Disabilities
- as well as the 16 and the 365 Days of Activism on No Violence against Women and Children.
Honourable chairperson, in line with the mandate outlined by our president, the Department for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities will be focusing on three main areas and these are:
- oversight role
- mainstreaming of gender, children's rights and disability consideration and
- empowerment of women, children and persons with disabilities.
I would like to thank all those who have supported me in this challenging task of setting up this ministry and department over the past 10 months. The Presidency has played a central role in assisting this ministry, providing administrative and other forms of support to ensure that we establish this institution and we very much appreciate the support.
I would also like to thank my colleagues in Cabinet, the chairperson and members of the Select Committee on Women, Youth, Children and Persons with Disabilities.
My appreciation also goes to the many women's organisations, children's rights groups and organisations representing persons with disabilities who have engaged with us to ensure that we create an entity that can respond to the expectations of our sectors.
I would like to appeal to all political parties represented in this house which have sections responsible for women to engage with us and participate in the activities of the national gender machinery.
I also appreciate the support and enthusiasm with which the United Nations agencies have responded to the establishment of this Ministry. These agencies have a critical role in supporting the mandate of the ministry.
Last but not least, I would also like to thank the staff in our department and ministry and officials from other departments who have been seconded to support the establishment of this entity. Thanks to all of you for ensuring that we set up this institution to protect the rights and enhance development opportunities for women, children and persons with disabilities.
Together, let us make 2010 a year of action for women, children and persons disabilities.
Thank you
