Address by Minister of Women in The Presidency, Susan Shabangu on the occasion of the Pricewaterhouse Coopers breakfast conversation to celebrate and commemorate Women’s Month, PwC Business School, Sunninghill
Programme Director,
We thank you for inviting us to this breakfast celebration of Women’s month.
You have invited us here to discuss the role of the Department of Women in advancing the recruitment and retention of women into executive positions.
Indeed, our department is positioned and mandated for the single task of ensuring that the state is defined as a site of social justice that has the structural capacity to institutionalise demands for the empowerment of women.
We cannot even begin to discuss this without acknowledging that until we have as many women as men in executive positions both within the public service and the private sector, our work is nowhere near completed.
Our biggest challenge, of course, are sex hierarchies in the work environment.
Until there is increased representation of women in decision-making bodies and structures, our task is incomplete.
This task is made particularly challenging by the fact that institutional and organizational structures remain fundamentally gendered.
When we say that all organisations are gendered we mean that the power relations and actions within these workplaces are patterned in terms of a distinction between male and female, in such ways that masculine principles dominate structures of authority, even in women-predominant organisations.
Our biggest challenge is to transform these stereotypes.
Everywhere in our society, whether it be in the private sector, in civil society organisations and in the public sector, women who are in executive positions still have to struggle against patriarchal norms and systematic obstacles.
The ideal worker is still a strong man who is technically competent. He is attractive, has a family, and has his emotions under control.
Women, on the other hand, are perceived as emotional, dramatic, requiring mentorship, , seeking publicity and almost always untrusted with independent executive decisions.
Such discourses within organisations promote cultures that devalue women’s presence and relegate them to inferior statuses.
Our other main challenge is that women’s voices within organisations are often constrained by internal operations. Not only are there penalties for publicly voicing opinions that differ from convention, major decisions are made by Executive Committees, which are predominantly male. This is how, in practice, women are limited by the structural relations of power and dominance within organisations.
For centuries and for decades, male domination has been maintained and enforced by organisational norms. We cannot, therefore, expect those who have held power for so long to champion a struggle that could result in the loss of their privileges. The men and women who benefit from the marginalisation of women’s issues strive to see the status quo maintained.
True and meaningful social transformation can only occur as a result of platforms like these that the Price Water House Coopers group has created. If we are to end gendered oppressions, we need courage and we need to support each other as women. We also encourage men who care for a transformed world to also join us as we seek to change our world.
If we are to envision change, we must also be able to imagine the total dismantling of the structures that maintain unjust gendered divisions.
Our role as the Department of Women is to recognise this work, to support it, and to champion the struggle further.
For this reason, the central goal of our work is to develop a language capable of describing gendered oppression.
The consequences of silence on these matter are incomprehensible.
The question that remains relevant for all of us is whether companies with women in executive positions really perform better than those run purely by men?
The answer to this question is that it shouldn’t even be asked. Women’s access to executive positions should be on the basis of competence, in the same way that it is for men.
There still many people who believe that women in executive positions are an experiment – it is always a joy to see their disappointment when they realise that women are as competent as men.
Our discussions on women’s access to executive positions is not just about having women in corporate boards for the sake of it. It is about women as executive directors involved in day-to-day operations of a business.
It is the position of this government that it is only through the full engagement of the talents and skills of women in the workplace that we can change the world.
I also wish to acknowledge the increasing number of women in higher places.
Recently, President Zuma appointed Judge Mandisa Maya to become South Africa’s first female President of the Supreme Court of Appeal.
We wish her well and success in this critical role in one of the three branches of our Constitutional Democracy. This should inspire young female law students, advocates and attorneys.
Consistent with our Gender Mainstreaming objectives, we remain committed to changing the very fabric and outlook of gender disparity in our economy.
It is encouraging to note increases in Black directorship of JSE-Listed companies for both men and women. We are also pleased to see the efforts that PriceWaterhouseCoopers has done over the years within its global group to improve the representation of women in senior and executive management levels.
It is our objective to see more women represented. Since January this year, it is now mandatory for all listed entities to have a policy of promoting gender diversity at board level, as well as disclosure of how they are performing against this policy.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution will affect women as workers are replaced by robots. Women will be the first to be replaced. We have to be forward thinking and consider how we can prevent women from suffering as a result of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We need to guard against the reversal of the gains we have made for women in the workplace and ensure that they are not disproportionately affected.
In the face of these challenges, we must celebrate our gains but also be hard at work to think about creative ways in which we can advance the status of women further. We must be relentless in our efforts to ensure access to justice; economic opportunities; employment; equal pay for work of equal value; paid maternity leave; access to health care and health services for women.
This morning’s event is special as it contributes to the ongoing agenda of this month, to increase our dialogues and conversations about what we can do together, not separately, to advance the socio-economic status of women.
I thank you, PriceWaterhouseCoopers for your contributions, and encouraging us to work even harder, united, in changing the workplace environment.
Once again, thank you.
