Q Mahlangu: Launch of Women’s Month

3 August 2006

Programme Director;
Colleagues from Exco;
Women organisations;
Members of various religious denominations;
The people of Gauteng;
Ladies and gentlemen

Introduction

The president of World Bank, James Wolfensohn once retorted that, “The
empowerment of women is the secret weapon of development in Africa.”

How ironic it is that these words were not uttered by a woman, but by a man
who believes that women empowerment is the key. Allow me therefore, to pay
tribute to our heroines who took the bull by the horns and marched to the Union
Buildings on 9 August 1956 as part of their fight for liberation and freedom.
As we formally launch the Women’s Month today, women are fully aware of the
role played by our mothers and grandmothers in bringing apartheid into its
knees.

President Thabo Mbeki and Premier Mbhazima Shilowa have on countless
occasions reaffirmed their commitment to women empowerment. This is not just a
talk-shop. If you take a cursory look at our national Cabinet and the Gauteng
Provincial Government, more women have been appointed as Ministers, Deputy
Ministers and MECs.

In our municipalities, the African National Congress (ANC) led the
government and also backed its words with action by appointing six women
mayors. The appointment of female mayors was mooted before the local government
elections whereby the ANC advocated 50/50 representation of councillors.
Women’s empowerment is one of the main priorities of South Africa’s democratic
government and as a result, gender rights form the core of many pieces of
legislation, government programmes and projects.

In reaffirming his commitment to women's empowerment in February this year,
the Premier remarked that, “We will make every effort to ensure that women are
prioritised as we deliver services, fight poverty, build infrastructure and
transform government and the economy.

“As part of our commitment to improve the lives of women and to ensure easy
access to capital, entrepreneurship and overall participation in economic
activity, we will accelerate women's empowerment in construction, project
management, the corporate sector and small, medium and micro enterprises (SMME)
management.

“The provincial government is strengthening the participation of women as
professionals and developers, as well as beneficiaries. Over 50 percent of
households benefiting from housing subsidies are headed by women. In 2006,
Gauteng launched the On-site Construction Contact Centres designed to assist
with the training and empowerment of particularly women in the construction
industry. Women will also benefit more from contracts awarded by the provincial
government and special training will be provided to women in this regard. Our
constitution affirms the equality of all.” Based on the Broad Based Black
Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) strategy adopted in the province:

* 70 percent to be set aside for black people
* 15 percent for women owned, controlled and managed companies
* 15 percent for young people.”

The Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) is taking practical steps to put
this constitutional equality into practice, by making sure that all women's
rights to equality become a living reality. Women's rights are human
rights.

Women and economic empowerment

Women, especially black women, are given preference in employment
opportunities within government. Other Gauteng government programmes that give
women economic opportunities include:

* the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) and projects providing
short-term jobs and skills training for women
* development programmes and the implementation of employment equity programmes
in the public service
* bursaries to ensure that young women have the opportunity to rise to greater
heights within the economy, especially in the fields of maths, science and
technology
* the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller, which supports women-owned small, medium
and micro businesses through targeted training and support interventions
* 5 000 artisans (boilermakers; welders; bricklayers etc) 2 500 of which will
be women. Registration takes place in different construction centres as well as
in the Multi Purpose Centres (PCC).

The GPG has set aside more than R25,7 billion to spend on infrastructure
development over the next three years. This will cover the maintenance and
upgrading of existing infrastructure and provision of new infrastructure.

An amount of R3 billion will be invested in 20 major townships in Gauteng to
build better communities and upgrade local, social and economic infrastructure.
The initiative will not only change the face of "these cities of the future"
but will also boost short-term jobs through the EPWP as more economic
opportunities will be created through tenders and contracts that prioritise
youth, women, people with disabilities, unemployed graduates as well as SMMEs
and local entrepreneurs.

Women's Awards

There are many unsung heroines who have dedicated their lives to social
progress. To honour women in Gauteng who are making a contribution to the
development of our democracy, socially and politically, the Premier introduced
the annual Women's Awards for Outstanding Women Achievers.

The Department of Local Government will host the Women in Local Government
Seminar on 24 August to discuss the role of local government on women
empowerment and gender related issues. We will also hold regional
dialogues.

Gender policy

Gender equality and development is also being entrenched through the
allocation of budgets to women's empowerment and services aimed at improving
the lives of women.

Poverty alleviation

Fighting poverty remains a top priority for the Gauteng government. Economic
growth and job creation strategies are essential in rooting out poverty in the
medium to long term. Through the Social Development Department, government
provides immediate relief to the most vulnerable, particularly women, children,
and the elderly, people with disabilities and people infected and affected by
HIV and Aids.

The provincial government’s Social Development Strategy will play a key role
in empowering women. Our approach is to ensure people-centred and sustainable
development working in partnership with communities and non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) to support and empower people who are unable to work and
have special needs, such as the most vulnerable, women, youth in distress,
children, the elderly and those affected and infected by HIV and Aids.

Gauteng has developed over 80 projects across the province to establish
homestead food gardens. Women will directly benefit from an additional 150
community food garden projects.

Service delivery: We need ensure that women have access to clean and safe
water; access to electricity as well as proper sanitation.

Women and education

Gone are the days when education was seen as unimportant for girls. Girl
learners in Gauteng are increasingly benefiting from the provincial
government's efforts to give every girl-child access to quality public
education. An important part of this is the Gauteng Education Department's
strategy to improve maths, science and technology education.

A girl-learner mathematics and science project will maximise the
girl-child's learning in this critical area. This includes the opening of the
Oprah Winfrey School for Girls in 2007, which will focus on maths, science and
technology. This school will be a full board, full tuition, residential
institution designed to grow the next generation of women leaders.

Girl learners and women in general will benefit from a range of Gauteng
government programmes to provide quality education, including Gauteng Online,
which is turning the digital divide into digital opportunity by introducing
computers and access to email and the internet to all public schools over the
next few years.

Adult Basic Education: A programme meant to respond to illiteracy problems
caused by the apartheid regime. Women in their numbers should register and
study in order improve their quality of life.

Health issues

The Gauteng health department places a great emphasis on improving services
for women and is confident that this is having a positive effect. The following
areas are some examples of initiatives to improve women's health.

* Antenatal care: This is available at no cost throughout the province.
Postnatal services are also available to all women and their babies up to six
weeks after delivery. 95 percent of women access this service in Gauteng.

* Prevention of maternal deaths: There has been a 33 percent decline in the
proportions of early pregnancy related deaths since 1999. In Gauteng the
maternal mortality rate is 112 out of 100 000 live births, down from 129 in
2001.

* Cervical cancer: Cervical cancer has been one of the most common causes of
death amongst women. A province-wide cervical cancer screening project has been
introduced at all clinics, offering three PAP smears at 10-year intervals to
all women between the ages of 30 to 60 years.

* Contraceptive services: More than 2,7 million (60,9 percent) of women in
the reproductive age group in Gauteng use public health facilities to access
free birth control services. The aim of the contraceptive policy is to reduce
unwanted pregnancies with a special focus on disadvantaged groups and
adolescents.

* Caring for survivors of violence: Gauteng has 48 designated clinics for
survivors of violence, as well as victim empowerment centres at all police
stations.

* Prevention of mother to child transmission programme: The programme to
prevent pregnant mothers from transmitting the HI virus to their babies at
birth has been strengthened considerably. From health centres which started
offering the service in May 2001, the programme has now been expanded to all
hospitals and 48 clinics in the province. Services offered in the programme
include voluntary counselling and testing for HIV, advice on the use of milk
formula, continuous counselling, education and support for 18 to 24 months.

* HIV and Aids: In addition to programmes on the prevention of
mother-to-child transmission and post-rape prevention treatment for possible
HIV infection, the provincial government runs and funds a wide range of
programmes to prevent HIV and Aids, encourage voluntary counselling and
testing, prevent discrimination and provide treatment and care for those
infected and affected by HIV and Aids. These programmes all have a considerable
impact on women.

Demand for the HIV/AIDS comprehensive care, including provision of
antiretroviral treatment (ART) programme has grown since its inception in 2004.
Over 350 000 patients had been assessed by March 2006 and over 170 000 CD4
tests had been conducted.

Treatment was provided to over 41 000 people, including 6000 children and
the number of facilities offering ART increased to 33. All sites provide
nutritional supplements to people on ART.

Violence against women

Stamping out violence and abuse against women and children is high on the
provincial government's agenda. Women continue to face sexual assault and other
forms of abuse at school, at work, in their communities and at home. The
provincial government's safety plan promotes partnerships between communities
and the police to help stamp out social crimes including domestic violence. A
training and development programme in partnership with the South African
Management Development Institute and the South African Police Service is
underway to deal with this scourge.

Hundreds of police officials have been trained to deal with domestic
violence cases. Gauteng has also established Victim Empowerment Centres at
police stations across the province to provide health, social development and
legal support to victims of violence and abuse. The provincial government also
works with "Men for Change" to capacitate men to deal with gender issues,
including men's socialisation, violent behaviour, sexism and domestic
violence.

These programmes support men to respect and speak out against women and
child abuse. They encourage men to be part of the solution to deal with gender
violence at home, at the workplace and in society. Educational and awareness
programmes focusing on women's rights and services to empower women are run in
partnership with community-based organisations, churches, business, civics,
academic institutions and other stakeholders.

Ikhaya Lethemba (Home of Hope) was set up by the Gauteng government to
create a safe and nurturing environment for the victims of domestic violence
and sexual abuse to enable effective prosecution of perpetrators and facilitate
re-entry of survivors into society. Every year, the province mobilises
communities to mark the 16 days of activism campaign from 25 November to 10
December. The Gauteng housing department builds 16 houses in 16 days for
victims and survivors of various forms of abuse.

Women in sport and culture

The Department is embarking on a mission to develop the 32 sporting hubs in
the province to identify their needs and challenges, particularly in line with
the province's seven priority sporting codes – athletics, cricket, rugby,
boxing, swimming, football (including women's soccer) and netball. In addition
to these are also indigenous games.

Women are given priority in arts and culture development. As part of a
strategy to empower women, at least half of the participants in arts and craft
exhibitions are women. The provincial government also promotes emerging women
musicians and artists by facilitating opportunities for them to perform.

Women and democracy

Women in Gauteng are given an opportunity to directly influence government
programmes and ensure the mainstreaming of gender issues in government through
the provincial and regional women's dialogues and women's izimbizo. Women also
played a pivotal role in the consultations to review the province as part of
the African Peer Review Mechanism process. Women play a key role as Community
Development Workers (CDW) and in Ward Committees across the province. Recently,
we held a graduation ceremony of CDWs, and it was impressive to see a high
number of women taking to the podium – that was true women empowerment.

This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Women March and we
rededicate ourselves to making Gauteng an even better place for women. As we
celebrate today let us rededicate ourselves towards building a strong women’s
movement in the province. Together we should forge ahead in fostering
transformation in the private sector i.e. business; media; arts and culture as
well ensuring that there are women in decision making structures.

I thank you

Issued by: Department of Local Government, Gauteng Provincial
Government
3 August 2006