L Xingwana: Joint Women's and Heritage Day celebrations

25 September 2006

Programme Director,
Honourable Ministers responsible for agriculture and livestock breeding,
South African Ambassador to Senegal, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea, Bissau and
Mauritania, Mr Majola and embassy staff,
Top Senegalese government officials present here today,
Manguinuyu jigewnu Senegal (Greetings to the women of Senegal),
Ladies and gentlemen:

It really does not matter how well travelled one is. Every time some of us
have to traverse the world to new places, we are sometimes reminded of Titus
Plautus the Roman playwright said "no guest is so welcome in a friend's house
that he will not become a nuisance after three days". I stand here in front of
you and solemnly swear that we shall not in any way abuse the hospitality that
the Senegalese people have extended to us.

Ladies and gentlemen,

What a coincidence that the people of Senegal are celebrating their Women's
and Heritage Day during the month of September while we back home in South
Africa had just done the same last month. It is my wish that some day, common
sense will prevail and the worldwide "Women's Day" will finally be celebrated
on the same day just as is the case with "Workers' Day, World Food Day"
etc.

While the Senegalese women definitely fight their own unique battles
peculiar to this country, I am sure that, as women the problems facing us are
in more ways than one mutual and interlinked.

Tonight as we celebrate this day let us also remember our ancestors who in
their own humble way shaped our history. It is in this spirit that we remember
heroines such as Alesitoe Diatta, Queen of Casamance, Dieumbeut Mboj, Queen of
Walo Province and many others.

As we remember these figures in our history let us not forget that some of
them were reluctantly catapulted to the forefront of the struggle against
systematic discrimination of their fellow women. Over the centuries women have
been systematically excluded from owning property whether land, a home, a
business and even their own children!

This travesty of justice even extended to matters of inheritance as only
males were eligible to inherit the family jewels. In short, they were treated
as if they were non-existent. Just like the cousin who exists in every family
but nobody really wants to talk about.

We were and still are excluded from the mainstream of the economy.

This is often done under the guise of so-called "cultural values" as well as
blatant sexist notions. Apart from cultural exclusion, in my homeland South
Africa, women had to deal with the notorious Black Administration Act which
kept us as perpetual minors. This is one of the reasons our women marched to
our administrative capital Pretoria in 1956. This is the March whose 50th
anniversary we have just commemorated last month.

For centuries women have been the principal cultivators of the land.

Today they still comprise a sizeable percentage of those who substantially
contribute to household food security. Most of these women reside in the large
rural areas of Africa.

It is therefore astonishing that they still do not have access to:

* land
* basic infrastructure for their farming enterprises
* markets
* finance
* education.

The list could be extended. This is all the greater reason that we as
politicians have to address these anomalies if Africa is ever to have the
ability to feed its citizens.

Ladies and gentlemen, since its independence in 1960, Senegal has been a
bastion of democracy and political stability. South Africa cannot suffer
self-induced amnesia of the role that this country played in its contribution
in bringing apartheid to its knees, specifically when you facilitated the
historical meeting between a group of South African emissaries and exiled
members of the African National Congress (ANC) on Goree Island in 1987.

Agriculture has always been and will continue to form the back-bone of most
economies in Africa. This sector contributes a sizeable percentage of the Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) of this continent. It provides employment to dozens of
thousands of people.

It is in this context that South Africa regards Senegal as a strategic
partner in the development and rehabilitation of African agriculture.

As part of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) prescripts,
it is our wish that the agreement on agriculture and the agreement on livestock
breeding and health will be signed as soon as both parties have agreed on a
suitable date.

These agreements will address areas of research, livestock improvement,
skills development, rural extension and agricultural information and
documentation, animal production, soil fertility and promotion of contracts
between the relevant public and private enterprises and organisations and any
other fields that have been agreed upon.

In the not so distant future, I am expecting reciprocal visits such as this
one by Senegalese officials to South Africa as members of the joint management
committee which will oversee the implementation of identified priority
programmes.

I also look forward to continuing with the technical exchange visits which
will explore the possibility of establishing joint actions particularly in the
area of exchange programmes where students from both countries can visit with
the intention of building capacity in areas regarded as strategically
important.

The main focus of bilateral relations between these two countries is on the
promotion of economic ties. Sanitary and phytosanitary issues can therefore not
be ignored if the two countries are to proceed appropriately concerning trade
matters. It is therefore in the interest of both countries to find appropriate
ways of harmonising our sanitary and phytosanitary issues. This will go a long
way in our endeavour of the continental integration as envisaged by the African
Union (AU).

I am in the process of ascertaining the extent of progress made so far after
the discussion on the possibility of facilitating the twinning of
agriculture-based provinces. I am also aware that officials from the Free State
Province visited your province in 2004, where they held meetings with several
senior officials from the Senegalese government and they are willing to assist
in this process.

Senegal has, amongst others, the two geographical areas in Senegal which
have the potential to make huge contribution to the countries agricultural
production and through economic growth and food security. We acknowledge the
Senegalese government's drive to develop the economy of Casamance as part of
its effort of incorporating it more in the economic life of Senegal.

The role of women in South African agriculture cannot be overemphasised
because when we discuss the poorest of the poor, women are at the forefront of
the face of poverty in Africa (South Africa included), especially women and
children.

We are also in the process of reviewing the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) World Food summit commitments, where we committed to halving
the number of food insecurity by the year 2015, the target we are increasingly
beginning to realise we may not achieve if women's issues are not
addressed.

In trying to respond to this challenge we, among other things, are
organising the World Congress on Rural Women in South Africa which takes place
in April next year. We hope this congress will attempt to assist us (Africans)
to prioritise women's problems in attempting to address poverty in Africa.

I thank you!

Issued by: Department of Agriculture
25 September 2006
Source: Department of Agriculture (http://www.nda.agric.za/)