On the 17 September 2015 Members of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Women, led by Committee Chairperson Honourable Thandi Memela, will attend a community outreach event and a Legal Clinic to be conducted by the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE). This event will take place at Tivumbeni Education Multipurpose Centre, in the Greater Tzaneen Municipality, Nkowankowa in Limpopo Province.
The Community Outreach event and Legal Clinic under the theme “promoting gender equality and access to justice”, is part of CGE’s Constitutional and Legal mandate to render legal advice to community members and assist them with challenges they may be experiencing. Amongst the issues that will be discussed on the day are Maintenance, Customary Marriages, Domestic Violence, Estates, Widowhood, etc.
The visit to the Limpopo Province by the Portfolio Committee is part of its oversight work, and comes at an opportune moment, as they will observe for themselves how CGE engages with community members and assist them in their complaints. Members of the Committee will also utilise this opportunity to engage directly with local community members as part of their oversight work and assess the extent to which such issues of concern are being addressed by local government.
Representatives of the Greater Tzaneen Municipality, local church leaders, traditional leaders, civic organisations, gender activists and non-governmental organisations are expected to attend the event. The CGE is therefore inviting members of the media to be part of this event, as Portfolio Committee Members will be expected to address community members and local authorities on issues to be identified for possible policy responses and intervention.
The CGE’s constitutional mandate is to promote respect for gender equality and the protection, development and attainment of gender equality. The Community Outreach and Legal Clinic will therefore serve as an opportunity for the CGE and Parliament’s Portfolio Committee to jointly receive gender related complaints and other developmental issues that need the attention of Parliament.
Date: 17 September 2015
Time: 9h30 to 16h00
RSVP:
Javu Baloyi
Cell: 083 579 3306
E-mail: Javu@cge.org.za
