Programme director,
CGE Chairperson, Commissioner Mfanozelwe Shozi;
Minister in the Presidency, Collins Chabane
CGE Commissioners; Former Commissioners;
SAHRC and ICC Chairperson, Laurence Mushwana;
Resident Coordinator of UN Systems Dr Augustino Zacarias;
UN Family;
Representative of Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor’s office;
Gender Activists;
Government officials;
Ladies and gentlemen;
Good morning to you all,
The attainment of democracy and freedom 20 years ago brought for the first time, the promise of gender equality and the dream an equal society where men and women, black and white are able to each make a meaningful contribution to building a better South Africa.
Today when we look back we can attest that, despite the many hills and valleys that still lie ahead in this journey of gender equality and women empowerment, there is generally a good story to tell, especially if you consider where we come from.
Colonialism, cultural and religious practices promoted patriarchy and the oppression of women. Apartheid further entrenched discrimination based on gender and introduced policies and laws that oppressed women keeping them hostage in their own motherland.
Today we salute our veterans of 1913 such as Charlotte Maxeke, Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Rahima Moosa, Sophie De Bruyn, Dorothy Nyembe, Albertina Sisulu, Ruth Mompati, Victoria Mxenge, Mmadinoge and Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, and many others who fought against discrimination and the total emancipation of women in South Africa. I am sure that wherever they are they are smiling on us.
In 2011 more than 1000 women from different sectors in the country attended the first ever National Women’s Conference held for four days in August. The intention was to review the progress made in the implementation of gender equality and women’s empowerment measures in pursuit of a national gender agenda in the country.
The conference which was addressed by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe was a resounding success. It was attended by young women and the girl child, women with disabilities, rural-based women, women in the informal sector of the economy, elderly women, women in media, women in informal settlements and townships, professional women, unemployed women, women in business, women in small, medium and micro-enterprises, women in politics, women living with HIV and women in sport, among others.
At least fifteen (15) members of the Executive including Cabinet Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Premiers addressed the conference. Broad commitments were made at the conference which encapsulated the following; addressing job creation, promoting of education and skills development for women and girls, advancing the empowerment and development of rural women, decreasing maternal mortality and fostering the implementation of the “four zeroes” to address women’s health issues and the combating and eradicating of all forms of gender-based violence.
The hosting of this National Gender Summit comes at a critical time in the history of our country. Firstly, the masses of our people will be heading for the polls on May 7 to democratically elect a government of their choice.
Secondly, the year 2014 represents a historic milestone of twenty years of freedom and democracy in our country. It is therefore an occasion to reflect on what has been achieved in our country over the past two decades, by South Africans working together.
Programme director, The 20 Year Review: South Africa 1994 to 2014, released by President Jacob Zuma, recently, provides us with undeniable evidence of progress in socio-economic transformation and major advances in gender equality that has been achieved since 1994. The report is also frank about the enormous work that still needs to be done to move South Africa forward.
The path towards the mainstreaming of gender equality was paved by the late former President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela; who, 20 years ago, during his Inaugural State of the Nation Address, stated that “freedom cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression”.
Madiba made a call that the condition of the women of our country must radically be changed for the better and that they must be empowered to intervene in all aspects of life as equals with any other member of society.
We remember him particularly today given his commitment to women’s empowerment and gender equality in the country, particularly with regard to promoting women’s leadership especially in the public arena. Under his leadership, South Africa jumped 10 fold from a mere 3% representation of women in Parliament under the Apartheid Regime to 27% following the first democratic elections under the ANC led Government.
Today under the leadership of President Jacob Zuma there are 44% women in the National Parliament, 42% women in the Cabinet, 38.2% women in local government level and 39% women in the Senior Management ranks in the Public Service. We are committed to achieving 50% by 2015.
However, we are not doing well at the Private sector level, where there is about 5% women on corporate boards and as chairpersons, and 17% women directors within management and decision making levels.
As a country we are proud of the caliber of women leaders we have produced who are representing not only South Africa but the continent as a whole by occupying global leadership positions, such as the Executive Director of UN Women Dr. Pumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka; Chair of the AU Commission Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma; Special Gender Envoy of the African Development Bank, Ms. Geraldine Frazer-Moleketi; Special Rapporteur on Violence, High Commissioner for Human Rights, Judge Navi Pillay; among many others. South Africa’s success in this regard is well celebrated worldwide as more and more of our women are recruited and appointed into key strategic positions.
Pre-1994 women were mainly confined to magistrate positions. No black woman held a judge position. Today, we are seeing women judges in the judiciary. We now have also a woman judge president and two women occupying seats at the Constitutional Court. We regret that we have not fast-tracked the appointment of more women in the judiciary.
However, we still believe that we have a good story to tell because today women now have equal rights before the law which did not exist before 1994. South Africa has adopted significant legislative reforms and has developed policies and programmes based on the National Constitution and its Bill of Rights (Act 108 of 1996) which seek to promote and protect women’s rights in the home, in the community and in the workplace.
There are also increasing numbers of women looking for work, due to advances in gender equality, which is another achievement of democracy and freedom.
Progress has been noted in many areas in particular addressing the economic empowerment of women through establishment and creation of women cooperatives, support of women in agriculture and farming, in energy particularly in green economy projects and solar energy, mining, Expanded Public Works Programmes and grants and funds through the dti, DED, DRDLR, IDC, SEDA, and other agencies.
Strides are also being made in the employment of women within different areas of work with marked emphasis on the training and learnerships and internships for young women. These cover mainly areas previously dominated by men.
The country has also initiated some programmes towards ensuring that girls and young women are encouraged to take up science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields of study. The Technogirls programme is the case in point where girls in their final years of schooling engage in job shadowing. The private sector, parastatals and government has been very cooperative in this project and we look forward to engaging with other sectors.
Following up on the 2011 Conference the we have been able to establish the National Council against Gender-Based Violence (NCGBV) in December 2012 bringing together key multi- stakeholder base to begin to holistically address the scourge.
Government further established the Interdepartmental Task Team on Hate Crimes under the Minister of Justice addressing issue affecting the LGBTI community, and even an Inter- Ministerial Committee to identify the root causes of gender based violence.
The re-establishment of the Sexual Offences Courts within the judiciary and the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Units within the South African Police Service has been a major boost in accelerating the conviction for rape and other sexual offences as we address the scourge gender-based violence.
As a result of the impact of HIV and AIDS, South Africa’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR) worsened during the first decade of democracy. MMR increased from 150 per 100 000 in 1998 to 310 per 100 000 in 2008.
However, MMR began decreasing steadily in the second decade, as a result of government’s interventions, including the massive HIV Counselling and Testing campaign, initiation of ART for all pregnant women living with HIV with a CD4 count of less than 350, and provision of treatment to all other pregnant women living with AIDS at 14 weeks of pregnancy. In 2010, South Africa’s population-based MMR was 269 per 100 00060 and the facility-based MMR was 146.7 per 100 00061.
In line with the commitment to decrease maternal mortality rate, South Africa in 2012 adopted the African Union’s Campaign on the Accelerated Reduction of Marternal and Child Mortality in Africa which consists of interventions at community and health facility level.
Programme director, While poverty levels and the depth of poverty, inequality, unemployment and hunger are declining challenges still remain, particularly for women and children. The gendered nature of poverty results in women being continually subjected to abuse, hence the continued violence against women.
As a result of the gap in the current legislative framework to elevate women’s economic empowerment and access to justice, South African women have advocated for the development of a law that will facilitate implementation of existing legislation to meet their needs.
We also looked at and audited our machinery looking at the Gender Focal Points and the Offices on the Status of Women and the levels where they are place where they are unable to influence police and decision making in government and in the provinces. We have therefore resolved that we need a law that will assist us to legislate and enforce the mainstreaming of gender in the public and private sector.
The National Parliament, therefore, is finalizing its processes for adoption of the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill. Once enacted, the Bill will accelerate the implementation of other legislation, policies, strategies and programmes to advance the empowerment of women and the achievement of gender equality.
The Bill will also look at the level of Gender Focal Points in departments, provinces and municipalities to make sure they are able to influence the shaping of policy.
It makes specific reference to the empowerment of women with disabilities and women in rural areas, a minimum of 50% representation and meaningful participation of women in all decision-making structures, including in corporate boards; on religious and traditional councils and in political parties, to holistically and cohesively address issues of women’s leadership, participation and representation.
It affirms the commitments to the promotion of gender equality and prohibition of discrimination on the basis of gender as provided for in the Bill of Rights in the Constitution and the International Instruments that South Africa has signed and ratified, such as CEDAW, the MDGs, Beijing Platform for Action, the AU Protocol and the SADC Gender Protocol.
I am happy to report that last in March we attended a successful 58th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York. We reached agreed conclusions that are holistic and tranformatory that includes the stand alone goal on gender equality and the mainstreaming of gender in all other future goals in the post 2015 agenda.
We achieved this under the leadership of Dr. Pumzile Mlambo- Ngcuka the former Deputy President of South Africa. We have a clear mandate from the women of African and the women of the World in terms of the report to the head of states when they meet in September to deliberate on the Post 2015 Agenda.
Indeed Women empowerment is a precondition to a flourishing economy for all!
In conclusion, the empowerment of women in South Africa is dependent on many initiatives; including strengthening the positive relationship between women and men as well as change in men’s perception on women’s role in families. What remains of concerns are those persisting barriers to advancing women, many of which are systemic, structural inequalities that are patriarchal in nature. Identifying these and then overcoming them remains part of the work ahead for the country.
I want to wish the summit very successful deliberations believing that the challenges we face are not insurmountable. I believe that working together we can move South African forward.
I thank you.
