Address by Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga at the public leadership for gender equality workshop, Vivari Hotel, South Africa
Programme Director
Representatives of the Global Centre for Gender Equality
Representatives of the Gates Foundation
Senior government officials
Distinguished guests
Good morning
My name is Sindisiwe Chikunga, and I have the honour of serving South Africans as the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities. I am here with my colleagues, and I wish to thank the Global Center for Gender Equality for this invitation and for your growing partnership with the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.
Section one: a historic year — the ground on which this workshop stands
Programme Director,
I wish to begin by foregrounding this workshop in its proper historical context.
This year, 2026, marks seventy years since twenty thousand women — mothers, grandmothers, factory workers, domestic workers, teachers, and nurses — marched to the Union Buildings on the 9th of August 1956. This year marks a platinum jubilee since Lilian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, Sophie de Bruyn — and the thousands whose names history never recorded — took a stand against patriarchy and racism at a time when doing so placed your life on the line. These are the women on whose shoulders we stand today.
This year also marks fifty years since the 1976 Youth Uprising, when young women and men of this country changed the course of history. Their courage is part of the same unbroken thread that connects 1956 to 1976 to the women who shaped our Constitution thirty years ago.
2026 also marks thirty years since the adoption of our Constitution and Bill of Rights — especially the commitment to the full and equal participation of women in economic, political, and social life.
Three milestones. Three generations. One unfinished struggle.
We meet at a time when South Africa is called upon to deepen the meaning of democracy — not only through what we say, but through what we deliver. Gender equality is not a side issue. It is not a ceremonial matter. It is a constitutional obligation, a developmental imperative, and a test of whether the democratic state is working for all its people.
Section two: our mandate — a continuation of the 1956 mandate
Programme Director,
Our department’s mandate is inextricably linked to the struggle of the women who came before us. We are mandated to promote and mainstream the socio-economic empowerment and participation of women, youth, and persons with disabilities through advocacy, monitoring, evaluation, and mainstreaming.
Central to this mandate is our government’s commitment, in line with the National Development Plan, to transform, empower, and transition vulnerable groups into catalysts for socio-economic change and impact.
Section three: the global center for gender equality — why this partnership matters
Programme Director,
The Global Centre for Gender Equality brings valuable experience in supporting institutions to move beyond commitments toward measurable and sustained change.
The six leadership practices that underpin this programme — the Six Ps — provide a clear and actionable framework. They help leaders to ground their work in purpose, to use data more effectively, to strengthen accountability, and to collaborate across institutional boundaries.
Section four: the sheer scale of the challenge before us
Programme Director,
The UN Secretary-General has reminded the world that:
“Everywhere, women are worse off than men, simply because they are women. Inequality and discrimination are the norm. Violence against women, including femicide, is at epidemic levels.”
South Africa is no exception. The findings of the South African National Gender-Based Violence Prevalence Study are devastating.
33.1% of all women have experienced physical violence in their lifetime.
7.9% of ever-partnered women have experienced sexual violence by a partner.
27% of women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by a non-partner since the age of 15.
These are not distant abstractions. Behind every percentage point are women with names, with families, with aspirations that have been shattered by violence.
Section five: why we support this programme — five reasons
Programme Director,
First, gender equality and women’s empowerment are fundamentally about the empowerment of society as a whole.
Second, while South Africa has a rich history of advancing gender equality, we remain far from where we should be.
Third, we see this programme as a vehicle for transformative institutional change and the equitable redistribution of power.
Fourth, we emphasise the need to understand how gender intersects with race, class, geography, and sexuality.
Fifth, the Gender-Responsive Planning, Budgeting, Monitoring, Evaluation and Auditing Framework provides the instrument to move beyond gender-neutral planning.
Closing
Programme Director,
Leadership for gender equality is demonstrated in the choices we make when plans are drafted, when budgets are allocated, when procurement decisions are made, when data is collected, when performance is assessed, and when officials are held accountable.
A gender-responsive state must be able to answer difficult questions. Who benefits from public resources? Who is being left behind? Are our programmes reaching the poorest women and girls?
These are not administrative questions only. They are questions of justice.
I do hope that when you leave this room on Thursday, you will not be the same leader who walked in on Tuesday. That is the intention.
I wish you a productive and transformative workshop, and I thank you very much.
