The Department of Water and Sanitation in the Free State will celebrate this year’s Women’s Month by taking women on a Health Walk to Naval Hill in Bloemfontein as “an enactment of the Historic Women March of 1956” and as a symbolic gesture of a “long walk to freedom (Equality)”. Taking a “long walk” to the Mandela statue is metaphorical of conquering life’s adversity. The aim is to promote awareness of the efforts of the march/walk whilst at the same time promoting a healthy lifestyle.
The month of August was declared Women’s Month by the democratically elected government of South Africa in 1994. Since then, the government, civil society organizations and members of the public have commemorated the various roles women continue to play in their own lives and in society.
The theme for the 2016 women’s month was: “60th anniversary Women’s Month”: with the slogan: “Women united in moving South Africa forward”.
In addition to celebrating the women’s struggle stalwarts, the month serves as an opportunity to reflect on South Africa’s progress towards achieving women empowerment and gender equality in the context of the critical areas as highlighted in the 1994 Women’s Charter for Effective Equality that was informed in many ways by the Women’s Charter of 1954.
The event details are as follows:
Date: 3 September 2016
Venue: Bloemfontein DWS Offices to Naval Hill
Time: 8h00
Media is invited to attend.
For more information contact:
Sputnik Ratau (Departmental Spokesperson)
Cell: 082 874 2942
Kido Thoabala (Communications Manager)
Cell: 082 612 1796
