Programme Director,
Ministers, David Mahlobo in absentia The Director General of SSA,
The Inspector General of Intelligence The Coordinator of National Intelligence Acting Chair of Services Council
All members of State Security here present
Ladies and gentlemen and colleagues
Good day, it is an honour and pleasure for me to speak to you today on the celebration of women’s day in the State Security Agency, (SSA).
Thank you to women who presented us a memorandum on their demands and recommendations coming out of their Dialogue in SSA. For me, it set the tone for this occasion.
In 1956 about 20-thousand women marched to the Union Building to confront the evil system of apartheid and its tentacles of triple oppression against women.
At the dawn of our democracy, the late President Nelson Mandela made this undertaking “Freedom cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression. To this end, we have acknowledged that the objectives of our reconstruction and development cannot be realised unless we see in visible and practical terms that the conditions of women in our country has radically changed for the better, and that women at every level have been empowered to intervene in all aspects of life as equals with any other member of society. My government is committed to a reallocation of resources to ensure the achievement of this objective”.
This year, 2014, the President, His Excellency, Jacob Zuma, outlined the progress achieved since Madiba’s undertaking in his address on the celebration of Women’s Day at Umlazi, Kwazulu/Natal. Currently the representation of women in the National Assembly is at 41 percent compared to 2,7 percent before 1994, there are 15 women Cabinet Ministers & 17 Deputy Ministers in contrast to 20 male Ministers and Deputy Ministers.
There are now 61 women Judges in the judiciary of which 48 were black. Women have proven without doubt that given equal opportunity and the drive to claim their place in society; they were equals, if not superior in many fields, to their men folk. Many hold senior managerial positions in both the public and private sector, many have broken what had been naturalised gender roles by driving busses and taxis, some are leading entrepreneurs in their own right, including in the construction sector.
This is of course against the backdrop that women are the majority in our population as the latest census counted 26.6 million women, comprising 51, 3% of the total population, while men accounted for the 25, 2 million comprising 48, 7% of the total population.
Above anything else, our achievements in advancing women’s agenda have ensured that the voice of women in the development of our democratic state and its progress is heard.
Our government’s progressive policies and programmes on gender equity and women empowerment has contributed immensely to, among other things, the improvement of the educational levels of women and employment opportunities, access to social grants as well as free basic services and access to sexual and reproductive health services – all of which continue to contribute to improving women’s quality of life.
Colleagues,
While we acknowledge the major strides in the past 20 years and these are buttressed by the Bill of Rights in the Constitution which guarantees gender equality and non-discrimination, we recognise, sadly, that poverty, unemployment and inequality still disproportionately affects women and female-headed households. These conditions are illustrative of the need for more pronounced transformation that specifically targets opportunities for women.
Indeed, the month of August is not solely about statistics, numbers are meaningless on their own. That our government designated this period to galvanise and inspire women’s ambitions and aspirations is the hallmark of our democracy. And in particular, this is not an ordinary celebratory month. It comes against the backdrop of profound milestones in our history as a nation.
It comes at a time when we are celebrating 60 years since the signing of the Women Charter in 1954, which preceded the Freedom Charter and subsequently the adoption of the 1994 Women’s Charter for Effective Equality.
Women’s month is without doubt a very important and significant period in the calendar of our country as an affirmation of women’s rightful place in a developmental state. Thus it is against this background that SSA celebrates the Women’s day annually.
Since the dawn of our democratic dispensation, SSA has celebrated Women’s month. This time of the year allows us to reflect on the achievements of women of the SSA and the challenges that still face us.
In doing so, we do not only pay homage to their resilience and dedication to break gender stereotypes, but also to underscore their inner strength as the indispensible pillars of this institution. These are women who continue to achieve exceptional performance in Operations and they serve as role models in their different communities. Among other achievements, let me highlight the following:
Preface: that the status qoua during amalgamation
- Shortly after amalgamation of former statutory and non- statutory intelligence structures, females accounted only for 30% of the total civilian intelligence membership and as far as management positions were concerned less than 5% of managerial positions were occupied by females and the highest job level that a female had was that of a General Manager.
- Although the representation of women is currently at 45% of the total post establishment, there is marked progress in ensuring that equity targets are met by appointing women in senior management positions.
- In 2001 Minister Lindiwe Sisulu was appointed as the first woman Minister of Intelligence.
- In 2011 five female Deputy Directors General were appointed, in itself a milestone as these were in the area of Operations.
- In August 2012 Ambassador (Adv) Faith Radebe was appointed as the first Inspector General of Intelligence.
- Thirty percent of our missions abroad are headed by women.
- In August 2013 Ambassador Sonto Kudjoe was appointed as the first female Director-General of SSA.
- The 2013-14 cadet recruitment drive targeted female candidates. To date, 60% of the cadets are female.
Colleagues, ladies and gentlemen.
It is indeed pleasing that institutionally, we understand that the path towards solid women empowerment does not end with lamenting our impressive targets or statistics. This path is a continuous journey as was illustrated by the gathering of our 150 women on the 8th of this month engaged in a Women’s Dialogue.
reflecting and formulating ideas on how our work environment can be improved to all our benefit, in particular women. The Dialogue provided women from all occupational groups and levels in the SSA to talk openly about issues that impact on them in the workplace and finding durable solutions that will spur them on to contribute meaningfully to the SSA Vision and Mission.
As such, three Commissions were facilitated and they responded to simple yet fundamental questions, namely; what are the issues impacting on women in the SSA, what are the barriers of development for women and what are solutions to move women’s agenda in the SSA? The debates revealed the need for major changes in Policy and Regulations, Leadership and Development, Career Management, Training and Development, Working Conditions, and Diversity.
This engagement was pursued further by the convening of a joint seminar by the Intelligence Academy and the North West Provincial Office on the 14th August 2014, attended by both women and men. The Seminar deliberated on topics such as, Women in Leadership, Women and Finances as well as Women’s health.
These engagements produced clear and, I believe, unambiguous recommendations, such as, among others:
- A need to review some of the policies to meet the needs of women.
- The Gender Desk to be located in the Office of the DG.
- The establishment of a Women’s Forum that will define an SSA Women’s Charter.
- Continued Women’s Dialogues to respond to pertinent issues.
- Women participation in Corporate Social Responsibility (Adopt an orphanage).
- A standing agenda item in Chief Directorates’ meetings to highlight or address pertinent women issues.
- Facilitate quarterly awareness sessions of gender related topics i.e. Sexual Harassment, Stress Management etc.
- Implement a Women Development Programme - Coaching and Mentorship.
- Implementation of Employment Equity quotas and objectives.
- Implementing the National Women Development strategies e.g. take a girl child to work.
Based on the outcome of the Dialogues, the SSA Women’s Forum will be established to consistently oversee that appropriate attention is given to all these matters and monitor progress on a quarterly basis.
In moving the Agenda of Women at the SSA; today we launch the Gender Desk and the Women Development Programme. The Gender Desk will develop a programme for women empowerment and gender mainstreaming and report annually on progress.
Future commemoration of national events will be celebrated on a rotational basis among our provincial offices so that we foster a spirit of inclusion and ownership.
Last but not least, I trust and hope that women and men alike of the SSA will work side by side towards the development and empowerment of women as espoused in the National Development Plan to achieve Vision 2030.
Malibongwe Igama Lamakhosikazi !!!
