Hon B Dlulane, Chairperson Steering Committee on Women’s Parliament
Hon L Sisulu, Minister of Public Service and Administration
Hon T Memela, Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces
Hon CN Zikalala Deputy Chairperson Multi-Party Women’s Caucus
Ministry of Women, Children and People with Disabilities
Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
Commission for Gender Equality
Human Rights Commission
Sonke Gender Justice
Women of South Africa
Today’s Women’s Parliament takes place within the context of converging historical apartheid laws, such as the Natives Land Act of 2013, that indeed dehumanised women; denied them the right to own property; along with the pass laws, against which millions of women marched, the laws that undermined and suppressed women, and, as such, their families; laws that separated and divided families, including the notorious migratory laws.
Indeed, women have endured the triple oppression of race, gender and class; they have endured the yoke of sexual harassment and become victims of civil wars; and tribal feuds in our country, the region and the continent. Women have at all times remained the face of hunger and oppression.
In the many years of struggle and resistance we also note the 30th anniversary of the formation of the United Democratic Front that broke the backbone of the apartheid system. We must salute the role of women in all our various struggles.
Indeed the onset of a democratic Parliament saw a review and repeal of all the oppressive laws that subjugated the African people to serfdom and dictated how we live.
While we celebrate many laws that have been passed to improve the conditions of women, we are the first ones to accept that a lot needs to be done.
We stand here today celebrating the success of our struggles for a free, non sexist and democratic South Africa.
The courts are becoming more gender sensitive and more responsive to the needs of the women however the conviction rates leave less to be desired. The Constitution protects the most vulnerable and weak (women and children).
More girl children can access better education, we can also boast about achievements of the MDG goal to ensure that we have achieved universal enrolment of all seven year-olds of school-going age.
As we move towards the end of the fourth parliament we must declare that a lot more has been done and achieved; equally it cannot be business as usual.
While there is an increase of women representatives at various levels of leadership, fewer women are at decision making levels; women do not control most of the prominent and leading companies in the private sector.
We are the first to acknowledge that the increasing gender based violence leaves much to be desired; these levels of violence and atrocities, if left to go on, will indeed undermine the democratic achievements of our young democracy.
What, then, must women organisations in communities do, what is it that women parliamentarians should do, what must women in church and in all walks of life do?
We must ignite the spirit to fight these many atrocities, continue to improve the lives of ordinary women, mobilise in the same manner to fight and triumph over the ills that are emerging in our communities.
“The oppressor has, at best, a lesser duty to liberate the oppressed than the oppressed himself. The struggle to conquer oppression in our country is the weaker for the traditionalist, conservative and primitive restraints imposed on women by man-dominated structures within our movement, as also because of equally traditionalist attitudes of surrender and submission on the part of women.” OR Tambo, Sept 1981
