15 February 2006
The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Elizabeth Thabethe will deliver a
keynote address at a consultative workshop on the draft strategy on gender and
women's economic empowerment at the Uncle Tom Community Centre in Orlando West,
Soweto on Monday, 20 February 2006, from 9h00 to 16h00. The workshop is hosted
by the Gender and Women Empowerment Unit of the Department of Trade and
Industry (the dti). The media is invited to attend. Deputy Minister Thabethe is
scheduled to speak at 10h00.
The purpose of the workshop is to get input from businesswomen and the
general public of Soweto, Johannesburg, and Mogale City on the draft strategy.
The strategy provides guidance and specific recommendations for the support
that is required to ensure women's full participation in the South African
economy.
According to the head of Gender and Women Empowerment at the dti, Ms
Mmabatho Matiwane, the dti is committed to address gender equity and economic
growth as part of its business mandate.
"Gender equity is an economic issue is critical to fast-track South Africa's
economic growth. The strategy is therefore, an important milestone in the
economic emancipation of women in South Africa," she said.
The workshop will also double up as an information-sharing session where
officials from the dti units and the Council of Trade and Industry Institutions
(COTII) will provide information on their products and services. These include
Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) Khula Institutional Support,
Co-operatives Unit, South African Micro-finance Apex Fund (Samaf) and the
Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office (Cipro).
For further information contact:
Bongani Lukhele
Tel. (012) 394 1643
Fax: (012) 394 2643
Cell: 083 291 8689
E-mail: blukhele@thedti.gov.za
Customer Contact Centre: 086 184 3384
Donavan Jacobs
Tel: (012) 394 1641
Fax: (012) 394 2641
Cell: 082 751 1078
E-mail: DJacobs@thedti.gov.za
Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
15 February 2006
