Programme Director
Honourable Deputy Minister of Human Settlement, Ms Zou Kota-Fredericks
Honourable Minister of Public Service and Administration, Ms Lindiwe Sisulu
Honourable Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms Nomaindia Mfeketo
Honourable Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Ms Thandi Memela
Honourable Members of Parliament
Honourable Members of the Provincial Legislatures
Leaders of Women’s Organisations
Ladies and gentlemen
Malibongwe igama lamakhosikazi!
It is an honour and a privilege for me to welcome you to this year’s Women’s Parliament, and to join in the celebration of the women of South Africa.The struggle for the liberation of our country was a struggle for freedom and equality, not only for racial equality but also for gender equality.
The emancipation of the women was an important and integral part of our struggle because women suffered the most, both under the apartheid system and under the restrictions of a patriarchal society.
The petition delivered by the brave women of the 1956 women’s march ended with a warning to then Prime Minister Strijdom that: "African women shall not rest until all pass laws and all forms of permits restricting our freedoms have been abolished. We shall not rest until we have won for our children their fundamental rights of freedom, justice and security."
This year’s Women’s Parliament theme “A centenary of working together towards sustainable women empowerment and gender equality” is a call for us to celebrate and honour the legacy of our mothers, sisters and daughters who fought for women’s rightful place in our society.
It must be a call for us to find answers for the many challenges and barriers that still persist in our society today against the full realisation of gender equality and empowerment of women.
The 1956 women’s march to the Union Building was a culmination of many years of protests and struggles by South African women against the harsh conditions of the apartheid system. As early as 1913 Charlotte Maxeke led women in the Free State to protest against having to carry identity passes.
There were many other protests and campaigns by women all around the country to fight the injustices of the apartheid system, and the right to live as free emancipated people in the land of their birth, the land of their forefathers since time immemorial.
Programme Director
This parliament is fortunate to have as its member one of the surviving leaders of the 1956 women’s march, Ms Sophie de Bruyn.This must be an inspiration for us in parliament to honour her and all the veterans of our women movements by demonstrating our gratitude to their legacy by continuing the fight for women empowerment and gender equality.
Our beloved country will never be free when half of the population – the women are not free.The Women’s Parliament is one such programme for us to provide a platform for women to raise directly with parliament issues affecting them and for us to assist in finding solutions to address their challenges.
We must ensure that the recommendations emanating from the Women’s Parliament are incorporated in the parliamentary processes for us to engage with the relevant government departments as part of our oversight function.
Programme Director
Our young democracy has made remarkable progress in many areas. These include, amongst others, restoring the dignity of our people, improved access to services such as housing, water, electrification and social security.
We are however witnessing the scars of distress in the implementation of various laws that prohibit unfair discrimination against women and gender violence in that they have not necessarily resulted in full empowerment and protection of our women.
We continue to witness and hear many harrowing and disturbing stories of abuse of women and children in our communities, including the corrective rape and murder of lesbian women.
The question that we need to ask is what parliament, and all of us, can and should do to ensure that we eradicate this scourge from our society and provide a better quality of life and protection for our women and children. We should remember that we are here to make a big difference to their lives, and the lives of all our people.
We need to re-double our efforts and ensure that we do all that we can, in the best way we can, to empower our women, promote gender equality in all our communities and more importantly eradicate violence against women from our society.
The song “Wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo” needs to once more reverberate in our country to send a strong message to those who still abuse our women, mothers and sisters that they will be crushed.
Programme Director
Let me take this opportunity to once more welcome you to parliament and wish you success in this year’s Women’s Parliament. I urge you to ensure that the voices of our women find expression in the work of parliament and are translated into tangible results for the betterment of their lives.
Let me echo the words of Nelson Mandela when he said and I quote: “I pay tribute to the mothers and wives and sisters of our nation. You are the rock-hard foundation of our struggle. Apartheid has inflicted more pain on you than anyone else”.
Permit me on my own behalf, and on behalf of parliament, to present to our veteran heroine, Ms Sophie de Bruin, this gift as a token of our appreciation for her contribution to our struggle for freedom.
Malibongwe!
I thank you.
