T Makwetla: Provincial celebrations of National Women's Day

9 August 2007

Malibongwe igama lamakhosikazi, Malibongwe!
Viva the Spirit of Women Solidarity and Empowerment Viva, Viva!

Programme Director,
Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang,
Honourable MECs,
Honourable Members of Parliament,
Members of the Mpumalanga Legislature,
Our traditional leaders,
Honourable Mayors and Councillors,
Political parties,
Organised labour,
Women organisations represented here today,
People of Mpumalanga and women of our province in particular,
Comrades and Compatriots

Our commemoration of Women's Day should remind us of the immense
contributions that women have made over the years in the struggle for freedom
and the democratisation of our country. Today we celebrate the important and
historic events of the women's anti-pass march to Pretoria in 1956.

Taking a decisive stand against the powerful and brutal apartheid system
became an embodiment of heroism and commitment to the ideals for freedom and
equality. In the struggles of our time, this day must galvanise society as a
whole to nourish and protect hard-fought rights and liberties that women of
South Africa are constitutionally entitled to, and continue to enjoy. This
calls for society to further open up space for women to enjoy human rights and
development opportunities as equal citizens, free from social marginalisation,
abuse and other forms of oppression that promote gender inequalities.

This occasion gives us an opportunity to pay homage to the resilient
struggles of South African women at all levels of society, including rural
women who have had to raise families and build this nation under extreme
conditions of deprivation and poverty. This is their day too. There is a
political will and global recognition that, to create meaningful and
sustainable democracies, the mainstreaming of gender issues in national policy
development and implementation agenda is central to the achievement of women
empowerment and equality. South Africa's ratification of the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (Cedaw) in 1995 was a
major milestone to signal our commitment to gender equality. In terms of our
Constitution, women rights are human rights to which all women are
entitled.

The Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World
Congress on Women in 1995 represented global commitment and efforts towards
addressing gender inequalities. Through the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) Declaration on Gender and Development, adopted by the Heads of
State in 1997, there is evidence of political commitment and impetus to put
women issues high on the development agenda.

Progressive women leaders and organisations in the political, public and
private sectors of our country continue to make significant contributions to
shaping the growth of the South African society by ensuring that women
empowerment issues are on the national development agenda. On the occasion of
commemorating Women’s Day, we should reflect on progress made in the
emancipation and empowerment of women, and define the desired path in the
struggle for poverty eradication and equality.

What remains a challenge is to ensure that all commitments and programmes of
action targeted at the emancipation and empowerment of women, are implemented
at all levels of our society. South Africa's progressive policy development in
promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women is one of the best in
the world. While there are institutions set up to ensure effective
mainstreaming of gender issues in development, there is a need to review
organisational capacities and to measure the effectiveness of the gender
empowerment machinery within government and the private sector in driving
policy implementation issues of gender empowerment.

We need to enhance the coordination and policy implementation oversight
capacities to ensure that women empowerment policies are implemented. If these
capacities exist at all levels of society, the goals for the 'Emancipation,
Empowerment, Equality and Eradication of Poverty' will be fully realised.
On of the critical areas of intervention required is accelerating the economic
empowerment of women. Evidence remains of huge inequalities between men and
women in terms of income levels and access to development opportunities. Access
to opportunities for women in rural and peri-urban areas remains a cause for
concern. Official reports show that of South Africa's large predominantly
impoverished rural population, the majority are women.

Unemployment rates among females are higher than male unemployment rates,
with the unemployment rate for black women being substantially higher than
black men. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) of September 2006 shows a 25,6%
unemployment rate. 52,8% of the unemployed are black women, and they constitute
90% of all unemployed women. In broad terms this suggests that African women
represent 49% of all the unemployed.

To address this phenomenon of economic marginalisation, it becomes central
that implementation of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South
Africa (AsgiSA) consciously articulates gender dimensions of inclusion for the
economically marginalised women.

As a province we are cognisant of the fact that to address poverty and
unemployment it is critical to stimulate the economy so that it creates jobs
and income opportunities. We have prioritised the 'Big Five' flagship projects
to accelerate economic development and service delivery. We are confident that
the prioritisation of the Moloto and Maputo Development corridors will unlock
economic development opportunities that will benefit the people of the
Province. We are also encouraging women-owned enterprises to position
themselves to take up opportunities presented by the implementation of the
flagship projects.

Given all the opportunities available for women participation in the
economy, it is essential that we improve access to finance and business support
to women-owned enterprises. To improve access to finance, we have launched the
New Business Finance that assists small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs)
in general, and women in particular, to access finance such as bridging finance
and loans for expansion if they are awarded contracts by government. In
addition, the Mpumalanga Economic Growth Agency (Mega) has set aside funding
specifically to empower the women of our Province to get involved in the
mainstream of the economy.

Programme Director, the 2010 World Cup Programme presents prospects for
women in the Province to benefit from opportunities that the hosting of the
2010 World Cup will bring about. The challenge is to ensure that we empower
women with all the necessary resources for them to be in a position to exploit
these opportunities. These include skills development and access to business
and marketing support for their products and services. There are immense
opportunities in the tourism and hospitality, as well as construction and
service industries from which women of this Province could benefit.

In collaboration with the Department of Trade and Industry (dti), the
province has launched the South African Micro Enterprise Apex Fund to provide
loan finance to rural women. The fund provides loans from R50.00 to R10 000.00.
This fund encourages women in rural areas to work as groups to ensure that
there is access to credit to the most vulnerable groups of our society in the
rural areas.

Programme Director, we encourage women to participate in the implementation
of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) so that they take advantage of
job opportunities created by this programme. Part of the commitment to women
empowerment is allocating a target of 40% of all job opportunities created
through the EPWP, to women.

We are also creating opportunities for women to participate in construction
so that we ensure that this sector does not continue to be the preserve of men.
On 24 to 25 August this year, the Department of Public Works will host a 'Women
in Construction' Summit. We envisage that the deliberations at this conference
will provide concrete plans of how we will go about in accelerating the
participation of women in the construction sector.

Part of the interventions aimed at the economic empowerment of women is
focusing on creating opportunities for sustainable livelihoods through
agriculture, especially in rural areas where job opportunities are limited. The
implementation of Masibuyele emasimini programme is aimed at promoting the use
of agricultural land to fight hunger and poverty. The programme has since its
inception provided support to poverty-stricken farmers and households to
productively use the land for agricultural production. The programme provides
assistance in the form of tractors, implements, seed and fertiliser. There are
many women beneficiaries in our Masibuyele emasimini programme.

On this important Women's Day, it is befitting to salute the contributions
made by women to the economy through their participation in agriculture.
Specifically, we would like to congratulate Linda Nghatshane, who emerged as
the Provincial Female Farmer of the Year 2006, and went on to become the
overall winner National Female Farmer of the Year 2007. She was also nominated
the overall winner of the 2007 Shoprite–Checkers/SABC2 Women of the Year. This
is an inspiring individual to all women of the province, and we hope many among
our women will continue to emulate her commitment and dedication to
self-empowerment.

Programme Director, we are aware that lack of access to basic services such
as water affect women, especially in rural areas where people do not have
access to clean running water. The burden of walking long distances to fetch
water from remote areas is on women. We believe that our implementation of the
'Water for All' flagship project will contribute to easing the burden in areas
where women are affected by a lack of access to clean water. This flagship
project focuses on providing water infrastructure and services to ensure all
the people of the Province have access to clean water by 2010.

Comrades, official reports and surveys are indicating that while progress
has been made in appointing women in leadership positions, there is a lot of
work that still needs to be done. There are concerns that transformation in the
private sector in particular is very slow, with the majority of corporate
boardrooms being dominated by men. The slow implementation of employment equity
in the private sector is a concern.

As a province, we have seen improvements in representation of women in
political governance across the Province both at provincial and local
government levels. The marked increase in the number of women councillors,
speakers and mayors bodes well for the Province in building gender balance in
the political governance structures of the province.

Within the provincial administration, 32% of senior leadership positions are
occupied by women. We need to ensure that we continue to provide the necessary
support for women leaders to succeed in performing their duties. Part of the
targeted support to senior managers is the implementation of the 'Accelerated
Management Capacity Building' flagship project as part of our 'Big Five'
flagships project. This project is aimed at enhancing key competencies and
skills for senior managers to perform at the required level. Senior female
managers are participating in the Executive Development Programme (EDP) to
sharpen their leadership and management skills.

Programme Director, despite all the achievements that the South African
society has made in advancing a human rights culture that nurtures dignity,
equality and emancipation of women, there are still challenges of gender
inequalities that continue to characterise some sectors of our communities.
Gender-based violence remains a repulsive aspect that dents our successes as a
country. The high incidence of violence against women denies women access to
the basic human right of being free from harm. Women and children continue to
face sexual assaults and other forms of abuse at work, in the community and in
their homes.

Just recently, a four-year-old girl child, Samukelisiwe Nkambule, was
abducted by burglars from her home, raped and left to die at Avalon in Steve
Tshwete municipality on 21 July this year. Gruesome acts of barbarism such as
this incident need to propel collective action in building communities that
cherish and value human life. Everyone has a responsibility to cooperate with
the police and law enforcement agencies to protect our communities from rape,
murder and abuse of women. In many instances, the perpetrators of crimes are
people known to us, too often our uncles and cousins.

As women of this country, we need to say 'enough is enough' and put a stop
to the violations that are taking place in our communities. If the women in
1956 could face the mighty repressive and brutal force of the apartheid
government, what could prevent women from stopping the dehumanising experiences
of rape and women abuse in areas where they live?

We need to ensure that our criminal justice system works to support women
who are victims of crime, especially when women are reporting cases of rape and
abuse. We should discourage incidents such the one reported in Bushbuckridge,
on 5 August 2007 (City Press), where a police inspector told a rape accuser
that she won't win in court, and therefore she must stop wasting his time. Such
attitudes are not helpful in creating a supportive environment for rape
victims. Instead, this helps to undermine confidence in our criminal justice
system. When this happens people stop reporting crime to the police.

Compatriots, I am pointing to these cases so that we are all alive to the
realities and nuances that manifest gender-driven behaviour which seeks to
undermine the human rights that women must enjoy as equal citizens.

In commemorating Women's Day, we all have a responsibility to assert gender
equality in every sphere of human life so that we defend the dignity and rights
of women to develop to their full potential and contribute to the growth of our
nation. The legacy and contribution of South African women to democracy is
there for everyone to see.

Viva South African Women Viva

Enjoy Women's Day

Thank you

Issued by: Mpumalanga Provincial Government
9 August 2007