Trade and Industry to host national consultation conference on gender
and women economic empowerment in Women’s Month, 3 - 4 Aug

31 July 2006

The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) will host a national
consultation conference on the draft Strategy on Gender and Women Economic
Empowerment at The Forum, in Bryanston, Johannesburg from 3 to 4 August 2006.
Three hundred women from all the country’s provinces are expected to attend the
conference which will be held under the theme Women Entrepreneurship, the
backbone of the second economy.

According to Mmabatho Matiwane, head of Gender and Women empowerment at the
dti, the purpose of the conference is to present inputs that the department
gathered during the provincial and regional consultative workshops that were
held throughout the country from October 2005 to March this year.

“The strategy provides guidance and specific recommendations for the support
that is required to ensure the full participation of women in the South African
economy. The department drafted the strategy, and consultative workshops were
held throughout the country to give women in business an opportunity to give
their inputs on various issues affecting them. These included access to
finance, capacity building, access to markets, and mainstreaming the informal
and rural women’s enterprises. The inputs were then incorporated into the
strategy which will be finalised at the national consultative conference before
being submitted to cabinet for approval,” says Matiwane.

“the dti has made a commitment to support women in their drive towards
greater economic empowerment and to ensure that women in business are actively
supported through incentives, information sharing, trade missions, improved
access to finance, business support and, where appropriate, other
opportunities,” says Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Elizabeth
Thabethe.

The department will also host a cocktail function on 3 August 2006, to
launch the Akhona South Africa Women’s Entrepreneurs National Directory 2006.
Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka will deliver a keynote address at the
launch. The directory is one of the interventions recommended by participants
at the workshop on engendering the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for
South Africa (AsgiSA) that was held at the dti in January this year. The
directory will be distributed to all government departments for procurement
purposes.

Enquiries:
Bongani Lukhele
Tel: (012) 394 1643
Fax: (012) 394 2643
Cell: 083 291 8689
E-mail: blukhele@thedti.gov.za

Henriette van der Merwe
Tel: (012) 394 1640
Cell: 082 572 8184

Bethuel Mnguni
Tel: (012) 394 1647
083 624 8888

Donavan Jacobs
Tel: (012) 394 1641
Cell: 082 751 1078

Issued by: Department of Trade and Industry
31 July 2006