Programme director
eThekwini Mayor, Cllr J Nxumalo;
The Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Minister L Xingwana Captains of Industry
Esteemed delegates
Members of the media;
Ladies and gentlemen
All protocol observed
On behalf of the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government, we wish to thank you for participating in this important occasion in which we are not only celebrating the gains made by our women compatriots in the economic field, but we are also expected to identify possible blockages that undermine efforts to bring about visible socio-economic empowerment of the majority section of our population - the women.
Critically, when emerging after this two day event we should be able to enlist possible solutions to challenges experienced in our campaign towards affirming women in the country’s economy.
This year’s national value statement to commemorate the National Women’s Month calls for 'Working together to enhance women opportunities to economic empowerment’ and this gathering should be a real reflection of our unwavering commitment to the national sentiment as we are fully aware of the importance of women in our society in general and economy in particular. Nations that put women empowerment in their national agenda are at the apex of development and hence we have to emulate them as we want to be a dominant force in the global affairs.
Pleasingly, our government is not just preaching gender equality, but is demonstrating through inclusion of women in the running of the country as it is reflected in the increasing number of women in our national parliament – now standing at 44% and strengthened by 43% in cabinet. This is against the backdrop of many years in which women had been denied opportunities to exercise their rights of access to opportunities to engage in their country’s politics and decision making process in their communities and the economy.
Our country is not only leading by example when it comes to the issue of women empowerment in all fields of human endeavour, but even super powers such as the USA can learn a thing or two from us. When Nancy Pelosi was appointed as the speaker of the United States House of Representatives a lot of hooha was made out of the development. Little did they know that South Africa had started the trend when it appointed its first woman speaker of parliament in Frene Ginwala in 1994.
Over and above this, South Africa enjoys the distinction of being one of the few countries in the world which have a woman as its reserve governor. The fact that there are few women who are central bankers is an anomaly when one looks at the fact that women control more than $20 trillion or about 70% of global consumer spending but account for only about a tenth of the voting power on the world’s key interest rates.
Programme director, the recent report by the Commission for Employment Equity has painted a rather gloomy scenario about the pace of transformation, particularly in the private sector where the level of blacks at top and senior management respectively is still embedded at 16,9% and 35,9%. This is a disturbing situation considering the effort put in place by government in creating legislative and policy framework to encourage change in our society.
More frightening is that while some progress is taking place in the process of empowering women through the government sector, the private sector, seemingly, is resisting change – with African women occupying management positions clocking a meagre 8%. Really, there could be no convincing justification for such a close to zero women empowerment in the business sector and hence there is a need for an honest national introspection which should be appended with serious action steps to reverse the current situation.
As we celebrate this year’s Women’s Month, we should acknowledge that the concept of women empowerment is a global phenomenon, which impressively in this country forms part of the bigger government strategy – designed to affirm all the historically-disadvantaged sections of our society to actively participate in all spheres of the nation’s life – especially in the economy.
It is in the main, intertwined with our effort to redress the socio-economic disparities perpetuated by the apartheid governments that legislatively promoted racial segregated development that deprived the black majority opportunities to play any practical role in the economy.
Women, particularly those from black communities had suffered multiple oppressions compounded by amongst others, cultural patterns and hence today even when some progress is being made to extricate black communities from the rigours of poverty and other social ills, many women are still far behind in terms of enjoying freedom.
The declaration of August as the National Women’s Month was a carefully considered move designed to provide an avenue in which the nation would take stock of the progress made in transforming our society to acknowledge the role of women – whilst noticing challenges experienced when attempting to achieve women economic empowerment objectives.
This gathering is therefore a testimony to our collective responsibility to bring about socio-economic equity in our society which is essential in ensuring that the country realises its full potential both continentally and globally. Women economic empowerment, therefore, is not just a moral move to address the historical injustices, but should be seen as one of the vehicles to accelerate real economic development and growth.
With our fully packed programme for the two days gathering, we are optimistic that we will emerge with practical resolutions that effectively locate women at the core of our economy. We have to ensure that equitable access to economic opportunities is translated from statutory books to feature prominently in the board rooms and other decision making forums in both government and private industry.
Women economic empowerment, just like other empowerment initiatives, has been so entrenched in our lexicon that we hardly think about its meaning anymore. The stark reality, however, is that we have not fully implemented it.
This is despite the fact that, compared to global trends, South Africa is doing well in terms of women being appointed to senior management positions. In March this year, for example, the business consultancy, Grant Thornton reported that this country had scored 27% in terms of women now in senior management – surpassing the global average of 20%. However, until these pretty figures are inclusive of all our racial groupings where the majority of women are black in relation to the demographics, we have no reason to celebrate.
Presenting its research findings during the International Women’s Day, the agency acknowledged that this positive move was mainly attributed to government’s transformational policies. But it was noted, though, that significant improvements were in mainly in the public sector as many private organisations were still slow in addressing gender equity in their top management echelons – with only 3% of the country’s companies with women chief executive officers compared to the 8% globally.
Even the 27% score of women in management positions was watered down by revelations that the incumbents were still concentrated in the so-called soft disciplines such as human resources, marketing and financial services – while male counterparts continued to fill highly technical managerial positions. This conference should come up with practical ways in which we can reverse these trends.
This we have to achieve through various interventions which include encouraging women into various professional fields to prepare them with requisite skills for equitable participation across all economic sectors. While some glimpses of success are being acknowledged, it is true that many of our women entrepreneurs are still mired in what we could call `periphery or second stream of the economy’ – which is susceptible to heightened levels of instability compared to the advanced first economy.
This often exposes women entrepreneurs to unsustainable economic practices that eventually condemn them to poverty and other social hardships that have a ripple effect on the overall social order.
But, programme director, a point needs to be made that women economic empowerment is not a luxury but a necessity for our global competitiveness. In the first instance, for liberation to find practical expression, the potential of all sectors of society should be unleashed.
It just does not make sense that, as we grapple with the challenges of poverty and unemployment, there is a huge percentage of our country’s population that is economically-dormant. Secondly, if we do not preoccupy ourselves with women economic empowerment, then we will miss the opportunities that are promised by the rapidly-globalising world.
It does not take rocket science to see that those countries who are able to utilise the advantage of numbers, including China, India and Brazil, are fast becoming the world economic giants. In the context of South Africa, which is the biggest economy within the Southern African Development Community (SADC), this means that where about fifty million people would be competing within the region, only about 50% of that number are competing.
This means that we have not begun to tap into the potential that exists within our country. Taken to its logical conclusion, this means that, with the rapidly-approaching regional economic integration, South Africa will lose its status as a leading economy within the region. The ripple effect of this will be felt in fora such as India Brazil South Africa (IBSA) and Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS).
In a nutshell, if we do not take women economic empowerment as an urgent project, necessary for our economic survival, then we would lose the stature and the esteem in which we are held in multilateral fora. Women economic empowerment is an urgent and critical project for all of us.
In order to accelerate women economic empowerment, we need to revisit our approach to this very important project. Critically, all social partners need to come on board and not look at this project as the baby of government.
For example, preferential procurement is one of the strategies that have been used effectively to empower women. However, and precisely because government does not cover the whole value chain in procurement, there are areas that could still be improved within this strategy. Every service provider, after landing a contract, requires capital to fulfil her obligations.
We do not, for example, observe mainstream financial institutions coming up with funding packages that are tailor-made for emerging women entrepreneurs. In cases, where such products exist, the barriers to entry are so high that it does not make business sense to enter into such agreements.
Ultimately, the emerging woman entrepreneur is left with no alternative but to farm out her tender to an established, usually, male outfit. Clearly, from this example, the financial services industry, as well as other sectors, needs to come to the party because this is not about individuals who happen to be women but about the future of our country’s economy.
Programme director, it is the government’s vision to ensure that women do feature in all sectors of the economy. We must move from the mindset where women empowerment is confined to street side stalls, cleaning, catering and spaza shops. Working together as social partners we must ensure that women become big players in such sectors as telecommunication, energy, construction, manufacturing, mining and logistics.
Critically, any introduction of women in these sectors should be accompanied by skills development in levels to ensure their meaningful and broader participation to fulfil the socio-economic equity targets. It should be our mission to create women entrepreneurs that can hold their own in any global market. This means that we must invest the necessary resources and make sacrifices to ensure that this becomes a reality.
Skills will further be a foundation to guarantee quality products and services capable of standing the test of time in the stiffly-competitive global market. We cannot continue with women still operating on the fringes of the economy whilst their male counterparts are basking in the most profitable business terrains.
Our province, programme director, has invested heavily in the logistics sector. Over and above the two world-class harbours, in the form of Durban and Richards Bay, we have invested more than R8 billion in the Dube Trade Port which, among other things, boasts the King Shaka International Airport, a cargo terminal, a cyber port and an agri-zone.
This infrastructure is not for certain companies but for all those entrepreneurs who feel that it makes business sense for them to use it. It is definitely not only for males. However, women entrepreneurs and professionals will have to stand up and be counted in this regard. Nothing will come to women on a plate. Just as women led the struggle for our liberation, so must they lead the struggle for their own emancipation.
Finally, ladies and gentlemen, while women economic empowerment is being recited, we must not forget that rural women are still lacking access to many opportunities and therefore it’s essential that when developing strategies we take their plight into account. Many of them are still lacking access to education to prepare them to benefit from opportunities created by our government.
We have to work collectively to eliminate cultures that seem to add to their suffering – and this could be achieved through continuous interaction with them through projects directed at empowering them whilst our education system could assist in preparing girls for more challenging and leadership responsibilities in the society. In other words decisions taken should encompass both urban and rural developmental needs of the women as we want to have a completely transformed and empowered society.
In the final analysis, programme director, this conference is about the beginning of a new movement for women economic empowerment. In line with the changing global conditions, women of KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa should position themselves to exploit the opportunities that are brought about by the changing global order.
This conference has a task to move beyond laments and philosophical positions but should be a catalyst for women to take their destiny into their own hands. If women do what they are supposed to do, then the economic future of our province, country, region and continent will be bright. The critical question is: Are our women ready to stand up and be counted?
I thank you.
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development and Tourism
