Opening remarks on Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities's response to the public comments on the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill by Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Ms Lulu Xingwana before the Portfolio Committee sitting in Cape Town
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee, Dorothy Ramodibe, MP;
Portfolio Committee Members;
Officials from my Department led by DG Veliswa Baduza and
Members of the media,
Chairperson, thank you for affording us as the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities an opportunity to respond to the many comments, concerns and recommendations that were made by organisations and members of the public on the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill (WEGE Bill).
One of the most beautiful things about our democracy founded on the supreme law of the Republic, the Constitution, is that all citizens irrespective of their persuasion are assured of the right to have their voices heard.
Indeed, we are encouraged and humbled that many participants; from women in rural areas to research institutions took advantage of the parliamentary public participation process to ensure that their views are considered as we work on finalising the WEGE Bill.
I can attest that the enthusiasm with which presenters advocated for the consideration of their concerns, during the public hearings that were held here last week, was echoed many times more when this Department held it’s consultative meetings on the WEGE Bill across all nine provinces.
What has become clear is that, irrespective of whatever reservations some people may hold on the WEGE Bill, many agree that despite the transformative laws that have been passed by this government which advocate for the advancement of women, there is a need for an intervention to bridge the gap between policy and realities of women on the ground. The WEGE Bill is intended to do just that.
As expected there were a number of critical points that were made and as a department we spend a great deal of the last five days carefully considering all the submissions.
Key among the issues raised was the concern that the WEGE Bill in its current form posed a duplication challenge with other laws and the functions of the Commission on Gender Equality; the lack of implementation of existing legislation, and the failure of the Bill to incorporate the inter-sectionality of different factors that disadvantage women such as race, gender, LGBTIs, sex work and unpaid labour.
I can assure this committee that I have already engaged various Ministries such as Justice and Constitutional Development, Labour, the Department of Trade and Industry and others to iron out areas of concern and we have agreed to cooperate so that we do not create unnecessary reporting processes for the designated bodies.
The department will shortly, give a detailed response to this committee on the submissions and public hearings to the Portfolio Committee.
I thank you.