celebrations, Galeshewe, Kimberley
9 August 2007
Programme Director
Deputy President, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka
Premier of the Northern Cape, Dipuo Peters
Minister of Arts and Culture, Z Pallo Jordan
Ministers
Deputy Ministers
Members Executive Councillor
Mayors
Members of Parliament and councillors
Leaders of the Progressive Women's Movement and other
Leaders of the women of South Africa
Honoured veterans and stalwarts of the women's movement
Your Excellencies
Members of the Diplomatic Corps
Our traditional and religious leaders
Distinguished guests
Fellow South Africans
Warm greetings to all of you who have congregated here at Galeshewe Stadium
and to the many others who are also observing this important day, the National
Women's Day, in the different parts of our country.
I am happy that we have gathered as we have done, here in the Northern Cape
and in all other provinces, so as to pay tribute to the countless heroines who
have made it possible for us to enjoy our freedom. Al of us should use this day
to reflect on the challenges facing all the women of this country and evaluate
the progress we are making in ensuring that South Africa becomes a truly
non-sexist society.
We should ask ourselves as to what more should we do to ensure that the
empowerment and emancipation of women becomes a daily reality. As we celebrate
National Women's Day we should resolve to accelerate our progress towards
gender equality both in the public and private sectors and in society as a
whole.
We should use this day to ask ourselves as to what more we must do to end
all forms of women abuse and violence against women and children, including the
terrible crime of rape. We must work in partnerships and implement programmes
that would help us push back the frontiers of poverty and underdevelopment that
characterise the lives of millions of women in this country.
On this day our country commemorates the historic struggles and sacrifices
of South African women, black and white, who proudly stood shoulder to shoulder
against the twin evils of racism and sexism.
We are gathered here and in other parts of our country to remember the 1956
Women's March against the oppressive apartheid laws and the sterling role women
played in liberating our country and in shaping our democracy.
We will therefore, year after year, continue to pay tribute and salute all
our unsung heroines who led by example and left us a legacy of the true meaning
of courage, sacrifice and determination in pursuit of the noble goal of
equality, freedom and justice for all.
I refer here to heroines of our struggle such as Charlotte Maxeke, Ray
Alexander, Ida Ntwana, Helen Joseph, Lilian Ngoyi, Lily Diedericks, Francis
Baard, Rahima Moosa, Florence Matomela, Victoria Mxenge, and many others who
throughout the long years of struggle for freedom demonstrated fortitude in
confronting white minority rule.
These women and many others who believed in the possibility of a South
Africa based on non-racial, non-sexist, just and democratic ideals, freedom and
equality; represent the very essence of being human.
The province of the Northern Cape can be proud to have given birth to such
heroines as Francis Baard, who together with women such as Ray Alexander and
others, led the struggle of workers thus increasing the possibility to broaden
women's access and full representation in the economy, a legacy we are all
challenged to uphold.
The empowerment of women, in all fields of life, needs to build concretely
on the efforts of these great leaders of our people. All of us, from whatever
station in life, have a duty, today and tomorrow, to ensure that we bring to an
end the marginalisation of women in the economic sector.
Fellow South Africans, we hold this commemoration under the theme
'Emancipation, Empowerment, Equality and Eradication of Poverty NOW!
At the same time, we see daily the terrible legacy of gender oppression
which continues to defile our society.
In this regard we should, therefore, correctly ask the question as to
whether the women of our country, thirteen years into the democratic order, and
51 years after marching on the citadels of Apartheid for justice and equality,
live in conditions of 'Emancipation, Empowerment, Equality and Eradication of
Poverty'.
We can only answer this question in the positive when our collective
programmes have liberated the women of this country from the reality of racism,
sexism, poverty and underdevelopment in both our rural and urban areas.
We would be able to say women live in conditions of emancipation,
empowerment, equality and eradication of poverty when indeed we have made
greater progress towards realising the goal of a better life for all, and when
we have made greater progress in the struggle to end the depraved acts of rape,
physical abuse and violence against women our country continues to
experience.
The liberation of our country cannot be complete when a huge section of our
nation is still confined to the margins of mainstream society because of
disempowerment, illiteracy, poverty, and lack of access to indispensable
resources.
We cannot claim to be free from oppression when we read daily in the media
harrowing accounts about the abuse of women and children.
We can only ignore at our collective peril the fact that the culture of
gender inequality continues to undermine efforts towards the development and
growth of our economy.
If we fail to mobilise the potential of all our people in conditions of
total liberty so that they can give unencumbered expression to their
creativity, we are, effectively, depriving our country of the possibility to
leverage its full potential to achieve the goals of growth, development and
shared prosperity.
It is equally important that the male population in our country joins the
struggle against all forms of gender oppression.
In this regard, I would like to make special mention of Mbuyiselo Botha's
South African Men's Forum. This one man is an example of a new movement among
men that has emerged since 1994, influenced and inspired by our liberation and
our new Constitution, to redefine and re-interpret the true meaning of equality
among all the sexes.
The South African Men's Forum, together with a few other men's organisations
work from the standpoint that, the struggle to emancipate, empower and liberate
our women cannot be complete without the meaningful participation of our
men.
These are men who know from within the structures of patriarchy the male
experience of growing up socialised and misled to believe that you are better
and superior to women simply because of your gender.
The emergence of gender activists like Mbuyiselo Botha represents a new
consciousness of a radical male seeking to create and entrench the ethos of
equality and non-sexism in a society where some continue to treat the challenge
of gender equality as a side issue.
The struggle for gender equality is a struggle for human freedom. The
liberation of our country will remain incomplete until the total and
unconditional liberation of women is achieved.
Chairperson, we are also pleased to state that despite existing challenges
the democratic South Africa we are all building is beginning to yield positive
results in many areas of gender empowerment.
Many women in our country have, rightly, staked their claim in democratic
South Africa by grasping at opportunities created by the democratic space.
There continues to be a significant increase in the intake of women into the
formal sectors of our economy and into leadership positions, particularly in
the public sector where gender representation has improved significantly.
For example, the collective determination of government to recognise women
as critical players in our country has resulted in 40 percent representation of
women as national government ministers and deputy ministers.
Today women have access to social grants, to housing, education, health care
and free basic services among others. More than ever before, women enjoy rights
and privileges in accordance with our constitution.
We have also made a conscious decision to integrate women's emancipation,
empowerment, equality and poverty eradication in such initiatives as the
Expanded Public Works Programme, the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative
for South Africa (AsgiSA) and our anti-poverty programmes as a whole.
Further, as government, we will continue to work with our social partners to
promote the economic empowerment of women to have easy access to resources such
as finance and ensure that we fast-track skills development at all levels.
All of us as citizens should also find ways through which we increase our
participation in the important struggle for the emancipation of women. For
instance, the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Brigitte
Mabandla, launched the South African Women Lawyers Association (SAWLA) during
Access to Justice Week which was from 30 July to 4 August 2007. And indeed the
Women Lawyers Association is committed to ensuring access to justice by all our
people.
The SAWLA access to Justice Initiative is targeted at the legal empowerment
of women and the poor, seeking to give women and poor people the tools to
participate fully in our democracy through knowing their rights and accessing
avenues for enforcing these rights. Clearly, this initiative deepens democracy
for all.
Fellow South Africans, as we gather here today we are aware that much still
needs to be done to eradicate the legacy of gender discrimination, inequality
and poverty.
Within the practice of participatory democracy that our government has
espoused as an effective means of mobilising social actors as partners so that
together we help deepen our democracy, government continues to interact with
the Women Working Group to explore better ways of addressing the many issues
facing women.
This past Tuesday we again had the privilege to meet with women
representatives through the Presidential Women's Working Group.
Among others, we discussed the issue of girl-child education, which we
believe must not be left to educators only within the framework of
schooling.
We believe that, as the basic unit of society, the family unit must play a
critical role in the education and upbringing of girls and young women.
Mothers, fathers, the home and the community must play a critical role in
teaching and guiding young girls around issues such as teenage pregnancy, safe
sex and AIDS.
We also agreed that government will, together with women's organisations,
address the challenges faced by female farm workers many of whom are not aware
of their rights. The challenges of farm labour will be given a special
attention by among others, engaging this important part of our working class so
that they too understand their rights.
Again, we agreed to look at crimes against women in a more detailed and
specific fashion. We will ask the police to prepare a detailed presentation on
violence against women, including where it is mostly affecting them, whether in
their homes, entertainment areas, places of work and others. This report would
also look at the specifics of the localities where there are these incidents of
crime against women.
The Women's Working Group also dealt with the need to pay extra attention to
the matter of basic services for women in rural areas, such as the continuing
challenge of access to water and sanitation.
Importantly, government will soon launch the Women Entrepreneurs Fund. The
Fund will help women to access finance in order to start their own
businesses.
However, while the various branches of government as well as civil society
organisations are working tirelessly further to advance the status of women,
more still needs to be done.
All of us are aware of the fact that, notwithstanding the existence of such
legislation as the Domestic Violence Act, many women are still subjected to
various forms of abuse. We therefore call upon all sectors of society to join
forces in a national partnership to fight against all forms of abuse against
women, to join the Campaign of 365 Days of Activism against Violence Against
Women and Children.
In all these matters we need strong partnerships. Partnerships, between
government, civil society, faith-based organisations, trade unions, traditional
organisations should, through co-operation, dialogue and education work
together to inject greater urgency in the work we do to build a non-sexist
society.
Today, on this National Women's Day, we renew our pledge to realise our
vision of a non-sexist and non-racial society in which women are equal and
active partners in building the new South Africa.
On behalf of our government, I extend our best wishes to all the women of
our country for a happy Women's Day, and new victories in the struggle to
achieve 'Emancipation, Empowerment, Equality and Eradication of Poverty'!
Igama lamakhosikazi malibongwe!
Thank you.
Issued by: The Presidency
9 August 2007
Source: SAPA
