councillors in Gauteng, Gallagher Estate
9 November 2007
In a bid to empower women councillors to take their rightful place in the
local government sphere and assert themselves, the Gauteng MEC for Local
Government, Qedani Dorothy Mahlangu will launch a Mentorship Programme for
Women Councillors on Tuesday, 13 November 2007, at Gallagher Estate.
"The second local government elections on 1 March 2006 heralded a new crop
of councillors and most are women. Of the more than 900 councillors elected in
Gauteng, 436 are women and their primary responsibility is to serve their
respective communities.
It is important to acknowledge that women councillors are in a disadvantage
situation compared to their male counterparts, hence during the Departmental
Gender Summit in 2006, I announced that there is a need to capacitate and
empower women councillors in the province in order to improve service delivery.
The issue of skills and capacity is often overlooked when looking at women in
comparison with their male counterparts.
For women to fulfil their roles as political leaders, they need to be
confident to do so as well as present leadership and professional etiquette in
running their business as political office bearers," said Mahlangu.
The MEC, who has been appointed gender co-ordinator in the province by
Gauteng Premier Mbhazima Shilowa, said it was important to empower women so
that they also implement gender programmes in their municipalities and to carry
their responsibilities aligned to their work with aplomb.
"It is well known that if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.
Therefore, this programme should not be seen in the context of skills
development. Most of these councillors assumed positions of authority without
the necessary skills or abilities to be leaders in a formal and structured
environment. They are leaders in their own right in their respective
communities where processes are less structured and have a less formal approach
to what their end goal in terms of leadership is.
"The issue of professionalism is a challenge for most of them sitting in a
stifling environment, with many rules and regulations and expectations to which
they might not have had any type of exposure before. It is therefore imperative
to equip women councillors with the much needed skills such as financial
management, human resources, management and also to ensure that they grasp the
importance of being leaders and role models," Mahlangu said.
The historic launch, to be addressed by among other, acting Premier Paul
Mashatile, will be attended by business women and women politicians including
Gauteng Legislature Deputy Speaker Sophia De Bruyn, Former Reserved Bank
Deputy-Governor, Gill Marcus renowned Independent Electoral Commission,
Chairperson Dr Brigalia Bam and about 400 women councillors.
"It is my wish to see the majority of women in our country getting involved
in the highest decision making bodies of this country to ensure that their
voice remain powerful as ever. We must make sure that we solidify the
foundation laid by our mothers and grandmothers who marched to the Union
Buildings in 1956 to protest against the brutal system of apartheid. We should
do this irrespective of race, creed or religion," said Mahlangu.
Details are as follows:
Date: 13 November 2007
Time: 18h30 to 19h00
Venue: Gallagher Estate, Midrand
Themba Sepotokele
Tel: 011 355 5111
Cell: 082 490 9869
Issued by: Department of Local Government, Gauteng Provincial
Government
9 November 2007
