Programme Director,
Premier of the province in absentia,
The mayor of the District Municipality,
The mayor of Khara Hais Municipality,
Dignitaries present today,
Senior managers of the department,
Staff members of the department,
Distinguished guest,
Ladies and gentlemen.
Goeie middag, Sanibonani, dumelang, good afternoon.
Programme Director, it gives me a great pleasure to be addressing this auspicious event today. As I was entering this beautiful church, I noticed how beautifully all are dressed, particularly our women. They are the best dressed today, jealous down. The truth must be told gentlemen. In any case this is their day.
At the same time, ladies and gentlemen, we are all aware that we are hosting this event with a burden in our hearts because two days ago, our entire department was deeply shocked by the sad news of the untimely death of one of our hard-working supply chain staff member, Ms Priscilla Thekisho.
We must dedicate this event to her outstanding and sterling performance in the department. She served our people with pride and dedication, may her soul rest in peace.
The Women in Transport Awards is not only aimed at celebrating achievements of women in the transport industry, but is also geared at consolidating and concretizing their quest to make a meaningful impact moving forward into the future.
Without a doubt, we have all said over and over again that this industry has been dominated by men for a very long time and to the disadvantage of our women. We must continue to speak in one voice and say that is history, women have arrived.
Their long walk to freedom must be seen to be bearing the necessary results because they have been for years subjected to what is referred to as the triple oppression; i.e. discrimination on the basis of race, gender and class.
Throughout the history of our patriarchal society and the accompanying oppression, the most hard-hit have been our rural poor, particular its women both young and old.
I am saying this, Ladies and gentlemen, because coincidentally, yesterday was celebrated as the International Day for Rural Women. A day globally put aside to specifically highlight the socio-economic challenges faced by our women residing in rural areas.
Without discriminating against other women, these are the women I was having in mind while I was attending the SABC/New Age Business Breakfast in Johannesburg last week invited by the Minister of Transport, Ms Dipuo Peters, an event staged to raise awareness about developments in the transport sector and the role of women therein.
We are all in agreement in joining the Minister in the theme that states that: “Celebrating 20 years of delivering efficient, reliable and safe transport service”.
In line with the celebrations of these Awards today, we must acknowledge the fact that the Minister of Transport is not only a women but also the first women Minister of Transport since the dawn of democracy twenty years ago, and is from our beautiful province, the Northern Cape.
Programme Director, the mere fact that this event is in a church simply signifies that this is a blessed occasion and the future of our women in the transport industry is looking bright. All things that are done in a church never fail.
I am saying this with confidence, Ladies and gentlemen, looking at all the achievement of the ruling party, the ANC, also born in a church in Bloemfontein, 101 years ago. To all of those who will be receiving awards here today, we are saying well done.
Ladies and gentlemen, our nominations are based on two categories of excellence in as far as our women in transport award are concerned. The one focuses on ‘Women in Transport Law Enforcement’ and other on ‘Women Entrepreneur in Transport Industry’.
The Women in Transport Law Enforcement is dedicated to those women who demonstrated commitment and dedication when it comes to law enforcement on roads. These women will sometimes sacrifice their valuable time of their families and loved ones only to keep us safe on the roads.
These are selfless individual who truly lives up to our pledge of commitment to the United Nation Decade of Action to make our Roads Safe (2011 – 2020). They have actively rolled out, amongst others, programmes aimed at training and creating awareness amongst drivers, driving schools, communities and many other role-players on how to act as safe road users.
I think you will agree with me colleagues when I say that we also do this in memory of other Law Enforcement officers who passed away in the line of duty, including the late Nosipho Queency Kanzi.
But much needs to be done. The fact that women are under-represented as transport professionals and as service provider in the industry, will remain a major cause for concern.
The workforce gender segregation within transport management and operations in our province should be central in our quest of capturing women’s needs as entrepreneurs, professionals, employees and customers. There are many areas in the transport industry, particularly in the technical or engineering oriented functions, where women do not feature at all.
Ladies and gentlemen, a women-friendly transport environment in our province must be ushered in. Conducive conditions in this industry must be created to ensure that women’s skills are enhanced and a shift in corporate culture that realise the aspirations our women in transport, does find expression indeed.
I am emphasizing this, Ladies and gentlemen, because I still strongly believe in what the former Minister of Transport, Mr Jeff Radebe, said while addressing the women in transport seminar on 25 October 2007, in Midrand, and I quote him:
“We can all start by ensuring that women businesses have a fair share of this investment by ensuring that we put issues of economic empowerment of previously disadvantaged individuals and organisations at the top of our agenda.
Without a doubt, women must actively make inroads into the traditionally male dominated occupations within our sector. And business participation must rank ahead of other priorities. I believe that with the transport business opportunities sprouting up everywhere particularly with our strong investment in the economy- now is the right time for women to make such a move.”
To this end, our women must feature high on the agenda of all of our four major infrastructure projects: De Aar Warehouse, the Douglas-Belmont rail line, the Upington Cargo Hub and the Port Nolloth development.
Ladies and gentlemen, all of these four projects are regarded not only as a flagship for our department but also a milestone achievement for the entire government of the Northern Cape and its poverty-stricken communities.
In ensuring the complete success of these poverty-alleviating projects, we must strictly align them with the principles and tenets of the National Transport Master Plan (NATMAP) as contained in our National Development Plan (NDP), and must be customised to the situation of our own province.
We are putting emphasis on this, Ladies and gentlemen, because the NATMAP, as a long term plan seeks to:
- develop future infrastructure facilities.
- ensure a demand responsive socio-economic growth strategy and sectoral integrated spatial development plan.
- maximize the utilization of existing infrastructure facilities.
- develop a central land use and transportation Databank.
- promote integrated multimodal public passenger transportation.
- provide energy-efficient transport and reduce our carbon-footprint.
As I am about to conclude, Programme Director, this day and this event must indeed serve as a stark reflection on all the heroic struggles our women, both young and old, waged against the cruel system of apartheid-colonialism. You are not done a favour, you deserve it.
We completely have confidence that you will succeed as women in all of your endeavours in this challenging and trying field of transport and transport infrastructure in general.
In as far as your struggle for your total emancipation is concerned, you are definitely walking on the shoulders of our liberation heroines, who faced the hardship of this country so that you could enjoy moments like these today. Some of these struggle heroines, 32 years, formed part of the ANC’s women section conference held on 10 September 1981, in Luanda, Angola.
In his closing remarks to this particularly strategic and historic conference of oppressed women of our country, the then president of the ANC, OR Tambo, delivered this indelible statement to them as women, and I quote:
“Women should stop behaving as if there is no place for them above the level of certain categories of involvement. They have a duty to liberate us men from antique concepts and attitudes about the place and role of women in society and the development and direction of our revolutionary struggle. We need to move from revolutionary declaration to revolutionary practice.
We invite all women of South Africa, particular black women, who are oppressed and more exploited than any other section of the population, to take up this challenge and assume their proper role, outside the kitchen among the fighting ranks of our movement and its command posts.”
As a measure of taking revolutionary action in line with O.R Tambo’s clarion call, the cabinet of our province will be meeting with all the mining houses in our province on 1 November 2013, to discuss the question of them ploughing back to the people of this province. Central to these discussions will be the role of women in the mining transport network.
I have boldly reflected on this throughout the month of women, August, and I am still stating it this afternoon that it is said that: “When you develop a man you develop an individual, but when you develop a woman you develop a nation”.
I thank you!
