Membathisi Mdladlana at Indlela
10 August 2007
Programme Director
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
"The older I get the more I realise the part women play in this life on
earth. She hasn't been acknowledged enough, the spiritual effect on the world,
the expression of strength that is unique to her; it is so many times
overlooked. We all need to open our hearts as well as our eyes to feel this
critical contribution to humanity." (Dave Holden)
The struggle for gender equality, women emancipation and women empowerment
is a struggle as old as the struggle against slavery, the struggle for
political freedom, the struggle against colonialism. Let me start my address by
visiting the centuries-old scholarly work of one of the renowned women's rights
pioneers, Lucretia Mott, who was an anti-slavery and women's rights leader in
her times. These words are extracted from the speech she delivered back in
December 1849, pioneering a course for women's rights:
"The question is often asked, 'What does a woman want, more than she enjoys?
What is she seeking to obtain? Of what rights is she deprived? What privileges
are withheld from her?' I answer, she asks nothing as favour, but as right, she
wants to be acknowledged a moral, responsible being. She is seeking not to be
governed by laws, in the making of which she has no voice. She is deprived of
almost every right in civil society, and is a cipher in the nation, except in
the right of presenting a petition.
In religious society her disabilities, as already pointed out, have greatly
retarded her progress. Her exclusion from the pulpit or ministryâher duties
marked out for her by her equal brother man, subject to creeds, rules and
disciplines made for her by himâthis is unworthy her true dignity. In marriage,
there is assumed superiority, on the part of the husband, and admitted
inferiority, with a promise of obedience, on the part of the wife. This subject
calls loudly for examination, in order that the wrong may be redressed. Customs
suited to darker ages in Eastern countries, are not binding upon enlightened
society. The solemn covenant of marriage may be entered into without these
lordly assumptions and humiliating concessions and promises."
Much has happened since these words were uttered. But they cannot be simply
wished away as reflecting or capturing centuries-old times. In many respects,
these words are still relevant as they reflect some subtle unequal gender
relations and practices. Despite significant progress that has been made in
improving gender relations and attempts to eliminate gender discrimination in
many aspects of our lives, we continue to observe persistent gender-biased
social ills in our communities and throughout the entire world.
Thus the struggle for gender equality and women empowerment is still at the
centre of efforts of international organisations and national governments. In
South Africa, challenges associated with the struggle for women emancipation
have always been compounded by the historical racist regimes, concerned only
with the well-being of the white minority. Women struggles were worse off
during those days, as women had to fight various forms of oppression, more than
men.
Even among the progressive movements, women were not better off, as they
were relegated to play secondary roles in the struggle for liberation. However,
in 1990, the ANC National Executive Committee (NEC) released a statement on the
emancipation of women, recognising this weakness in its operations, applauding
South African women for the role they played and continue to play in the
struggle for liberation, acknowledging that it (ANC) is a microcosm of our
society and is therefore not immune from its social ills:
"The prevalence of patriarchal attitudes in South African society permeates
our own organisations. The absence of sufficient numbers of women in our
organisations, especially at decision-making levels and the lack of a strong
mass women's organisation has been to the detriment of our struggle. As a
consequence the particular concerns of more than half of our people is hardly
heard when we define our strategies and determine our tactics."
After our historic achievement in 1994, when we first smelt an aura of
democracy, we ensured that our Constitution embraces not only equality between
men and women, but goes as far as outlawing the artificial boundaries and
spaces created separately for women. This Constitution laid the basis for the
transformation of social relations, including gender relations, and broadly
provided a fertile ground for the advancement of the struggles against all
forms of oppressions, including political, cultural and economic forms of
exploitation and oppression.
This Constitution heeded the call of the ANC NEC in 1990 that the struggle
for women emancipation is a struggle in its own right, secondary to none. It
ought to be linked with other struggles for liberation, but not to tail them. I
quote the statement:
"The experience of other societies has shown that the emancipation of women
is not a by-product of a struggle for democracy, national liberation or
socialism. It has to be addressed in its own right within our organisation, the
mass democratic movement and in the society as a whole."
Democracy cannot automatically bring an end to women and child abuse. The
legislative framework we developed to address these unpleasant situations is as
good as a piece of paper written on it if it is not translated into an
implement able plan of action to address these social ills. I therefore call
upon and urge all the women of South Africa to come together to fight violence
against women and children, rape, and women abuse. Since the attainment of our
democracy in 1994, we have not made a significant dent on the reduction of
these crimes against women.
According to the crime statistics released by the South African Police
Services (SAPS) in July this year, rape incidents decreased by 5,2% between the
2005/06 and 2006/07 financial years. While this is an improvement, it is
evident that a lot still has to be done to create safer communities in our
country. Since 2001, there has been a fluctuation in the incidents of rape
reported. These fluctuations confirm the statement that we still have a long
way to go and that what President Thabo Mbeki said in 1995 at the National
Conference on Women Abuse and Domestic Violence is still very relevant today:
The President said, and I quote,
"This scale of violence and abuse against women and children demands that we
give full appreciation to the fact that this form of oppression is a human
cancer which affects all sectors and all levels of society. As a result, the
struggle against women oppression and child abuse should be situated within the
broader struggle for political, constitutional, social, cultural and economic
emancipation."
As we continue to raise the bar in women empowerment in the continent, it is
very important that we do not leave behind the masses of our women in rural and
poor communities. We need to work hard to dispel the myths that women
empowerment in South Africa is elitist.
As we receive the progress reports in implementing employment equity
annually, we find that it is mainly a certain quarter of women benefiting,
white women. However, we continue to get calls from mainly white and
male-dominated parties that we must scrap our employment equity legislation.
Women empowerment lies at the heart of our poverty alleviation strategies for
women.
The National Policy Framework for Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality
has put in place a policy and institutional arrangement that gives an
opportunity to all women across all provinces to participate in government
programmes. We need to assess how these institutions are working and improve on
the co-ordination of their activities. Women in poor and rural communities have
to be reached in order for them to participate meaningfully in various economic
opportunities that will empower them. We will not enjoy the fruits of the
aspirations of women activists like Lillian Ngoyi and Ellen Khuzwayo, if women
in rural and poor communities do not benefit from this empowerment.
We have made much progress in improving the position and status of women in
our society since 1994. Our national and provincial legislatures have
significant numbers of women representing different political parties, and we
have a bigger number of women in senior positions in government. We continue to
implement the commitments made by signing the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), particularly MDG three which aims to address gender equality.
This government shall continue to champion women empowerment, gender
equality and poverty reduction as the main ingredients of any development
strategy. This should further remind us of a famous phrase: you educate a
woman, you educate a nation. The achievement of gender equality has proven to
be one of the best approaches to improve the quality of life of people.
Let us today pay tribute to women activists likes Charlotte Maxeke, who
pioneered women's rights in the 1930s, when no one dreamt of a non-sexist,
non-racist South Africa. Today, these principles form the cornerstone of our
Constitution. It is women like Charlotte Maxeke who founded and led the Bantu
Womenâs League in 1919, whose leadership is sorely missed. We pay tribute to
all the women of South Africa, past and present, and assure them that as the
African National Congress, we are together with them in their experiences and
deeds in the struggle for the emancipation of women. Let me conclude with a
rendition of a poem by Maya Angelou, a renowned poet and African scholar which
I think is still relevant and should be part of our lives as women:
And Still I Rise
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
I thank you.
Enquiries:
Zolisa Sigabi
Cell: 082 906 3878
E-mail: Zolisa.sigabi@labour.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Labour
10 August 2007
Source: Department of Labour (http://www.labour.gov.za)
