Date: 03/09/2003
Source: Deputy Ministry of Trade and Industry
Title: Hendricks: Debate on quality of life and status of women, National Assembly
SPEECH BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY, LINDIWE HENDRICKS, DURING DEBATE IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, 3 September 2003
DISCUSSION "A REVIEW OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN RESPECT OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF WOMEN DURING THE FIRST DECADE OF OUR DEMOCRACY AND OF THE CHALLENGES THAT LIE AHEAD."
Madam Speaker
Colleagues
Honourable Members
There is no doubt that the quality of life and the status of women in South Africa today is far better than it was in 1994 when the ANC led government came into power. The idea of women becoming economically active and economically empowered is no longer a far-fetched dream. This has been achieved because of the vision that the ANC had even as far back as the freedom charter and because of the approach that the ANC has had to promoting gender equality in our society.
Economic empowerment is not an isolated activity; it is linked to the broader empowerment of women in our society. Firstly, having at least 30% of MPs and MPLs as women has resulted in a completely different environment in our legislatures. The laws that have been passed have been more gender sensitive and specific pieces of legislation that promote gender equality and empowerment of women haven promulgated. Also by having almost 40% of our Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers as women has forced government departments to start taking needs of women into account and new programmes and projects specifically focusing on women have been developed.
It is important to recognise that even seemingly unrelated legislation such as the Child Care Act, Social Assistance Bill, Firearms Control Bill, and the Domestic Violence and Maintenance Act have a positive impact on the economic empowerment of women as such pieces of legislation offer protection and support to women and give them more confidence to enter the workplace and find new opportunities. This is not to mention legislation such as the Employment Equity Act and the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Bill, which directly provide for the economic empowerment of women.
It is a direct consequence of our democratic approach to achieving equality between sexes and the work that we have done in political parties, in parliament, in government departments and in the private sector that there is a substantially more favourable environment for women in our country and in our economy.
From the data that we have available on the participation of women in the economy we can see that women are increasingly entering the economy and they comprise approximately forty two percent of the businesses in South Africa.
Madam Speaker, I believe that this debate could not have come at a better time. Realising that a lot of work is being done to empower women in business and yet it all goes unreported and unnoticed. The Department of Trade and Industry brought out a publication in honour of National Women's Month that highlights some of the success stories of ordinary businesswomen. This publication profiles over 30 successful women entrepreneurs, who represent a sample of the many women owned small businesses that have become successful in the past nine years. Copies of this publication will be available from the dti information centre on the sixth floor, 120 Plein Street, from next week.
One of the businesswomen that is covered in this publication is Bulelwa Qupe from the Eastern Cape. She is a past winner of the dti supported Technology for Women in Business Programme (TWIB) and over the past few years has managed to grow her business from a small fish and chip takeaway to a highly technical fishing operation that has backward and forward linkages. This enterprise has great potential for future growth. Bulelwa is very positive about the support that she has received from government and the dti in particular.
The support available to businesswomen such as her includes:
* Programmes supported by the dti such as the TWIB programme, which is aimed at encouraging women to access and use technology in order to increase the strength of their business as well as encouraging young girls to enter the fields of science and technology
* Policies introduced by National Treasury such as the Preferential Procurement Policy that gives women owned businesses preferences when tendering for government contracts and contracts from state owned enterprises
* Joint dti and private sector initiatives like the South African Women Entrepreneurs Network (SAWEN), which is a network of women entrepreneurs that amongst other things acts as an advocacy organisation on issues of how the government can improve the regulatory environment for women in business and supports women entrepreneurs through information sharing, and encouraging women enterprises to co-operate and assist each other in order to be successful
* Programmes run by dti agencies that are specifically targeted at women enterprises in the areas of business skills, quality, business management, and technology and innovation
* Programmes run by the Department of Agriculture that assist women small-scale farmers with access to finance, assist women-run businesses in the agro-processing industry with access to markets, and assist women to start nurseries and other small-scale farming projects. Such enterprises are also assisted with technology access, agricultural extension and if necessary research. These are in addition to the programmes that assist women with land reform and land restitution
* Programmes run by the Department of Ministers and Energy that promote and encourage women to start businesses in the energy sector; the Mining Charter which setstargets for women ownership, employment, and enterprise development support in the mining industry; and projects that facilitate the entry of women into the jewellery industry so that they are able to add value to the minerals that are mined in South Africa
* Initiatives from the private sector and non-government organisations, which also provide substantial support to women owned enterprises. These include business women's associations that have been established in several sectors across the economy, such as the Business Women's Association (BWA), South African Women in Mining (SAWIMA), South African Women in Oil and Gas, South African Women in Construction (SAWIC), South African Women in Fishing (SAFWA), ISU Women's Initiative and Network (IWIN), and the African Women Chartered Accountants Association (AWCA).
Despite the successes that we have had and the impact of our many programmes that support women there are still a number of challenges that face us in fully empowering women in our country and our economy. Firstly, we need to ensure that as policymakers and elected representatives we remain vigilant in ensuring that the environment for women businesses continues to remain favourable and new legislation is gender sensitive and empowers women. Secondly, that information about our support structures and programmes are given to women so that they are aware of how they can be assisted. Thirdly, that our departments, government agencies and the private sector are pushed to find new ways to support and promote women enterprises. I believe that the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Bill will go a long way in doing this. Fourthly, we need to ensure that women move up the business value chain - currently the majority of the women enterprises in our country are in the lower echelons and are concentrated in the survivalist and micro sectors with less than 10% of firms in the small and medium businesses being women owned.
To conclude, it is clear that a lot has been done to support women enterprises in South Africa and that we have made substantial progress. It is also clear that through our support mechanisms we are just touching the surface of the possible impact that we can make in improving the lives of women across our country and that over the next ten years much more work needs to be done so that women no longer comprise the majority of businesses in the micro and survivalist sectors but are the small and medium-sized enterprises and the industrialists of the future.
Source: Deputy Ministry of Trade and Industry
Title: Hendricks: Debate on quality of life and status of women, National Assembly
SPEECH BY THE DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY, LINDIWE HENDRICKS, DURING DEBATE IN THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, 3 September 2003
DISCUSSION "A REVIEW OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN RESPECT OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF WOMEN DURING THE FIRST DECADE OF OUR DEMOCRACY AND OF THE CHALLENGES THAT LIE AHEAD."
Madam Speaker
Colleagues
Honourable Members
There is no doubt that the quality of life and the status of women in South Africa today is far better than it was in 1994 when the ANC led government came into power. The idea of women becoming economically active and economically empowered is no longer a far-fetched dream. This has been achieved because of the vision that the ANC had even as far back as the freedom charter and because of the approach that the ANC has had to promoting gender equality in our society.
Economic empowerment is not an isolated activity; it is linked to the broader empowerment of women in our society. Firstly, having at least 30% of MPs and MPLs as women has resulted in a completely different environment in our legislatures. The laws that have been passed have been more gender sensitive and specific pieces of legislation that promote gender equality and empowerment of women haven promulgated. Also by having almost 40% of our Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers as women has forced government departments to start taking needs of women into account and new programmes and projects specifically focusing on women have been developed.
It is important to recognise that even seemingly unrelated legislation such as the Child Care Act, Social Assistance Bill, Firearms Control Bill, and the Domestic Violence and Maintenance Act have a positive impact on the economic empowerment of women as such pieces of legislation offer protection and support to women and give them more confidence to enter the workplace and find new opportunities. This is not to mention legislation such as the Employment Equity Act and the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Bill, which directly provide for the economic empowerment of women.
It is a direct consequence of our democratic approach to achieving equality between sexes and the work that we have done in political parties, in parliament, in government departments and in the private sector that there is a substantially more favourable environment for women in our country and in our economy.
From the data that we have available on the participation of women in the economy we can see that women are increasingly entering the economy and they comprise approximately forty two percent of the businesses in South Africa.
Madam Speaker, I believe that this debate could not have come at a better time. Realising that a lot of work is being done to empower women in business and yet it all goes unreported and unnoticed. The Department of Trade and Industry brought out a publication in honour of National Women's Month that highlights some of the success stories of ordinary businesswomen. This publication profiles over 30 successful women entrepreneurs, who represent a sample of the many women owned small businesses that have become successful in the past nine years. Copies of this publication will be available from the dti information centre on the sixth floor, 120 Plein Street, from next week.
One of the businesswomen that is covered in this publication is Bulelwa Qupe from the Eastern Cape. She is a past winner of the dti supported Technology for Women in Business Programme (TWIB) and over the past few years has managed to grow her business from a small fish and chip takeaway to a highly technical fishing operation that has backward and forward linkages. This enterprise has great potential for future growth. Bulelwa is very positive about the support that she has received from government and the dti in particular.
The support available to businesswomen such as her includes:
* Programmes supported by the dti such as the TWIB programme, which is aimed at encouraging women to access and use technology in order to increase the strength of their business as well as encouraging young girls to enter the fields of science and technology
* Policies introduced by National Treasury such as the Preferential Procurement Policy that gives women owned businesses preferences when tendering for government contracts and contracts from state owned enterprises
* Joint dti and private sector initiatives like the South African Women Entrepreneurs Network (SAWEN), which is a network of women entrepreneurs that amongst other things acts as an advocacy organisation on issues of how the government can improve the regulatory environment for women in business and supports women entrepreneurs through information sharing, and encouraging women enterprises to co-operate and assist each other in order to be successful
* Programmes run by dti agencies that are specifically targeted at women enterprises in the areas of business skills, quality, business management, and technology and innovation
* Programmes run by the Department of Agriculture that assist women small-scale farmers with access to finance, assist women-run businesses in the agro-processing industry with access to markets, and assist women to start nurseries and other small-scale farming projects. Such enterprises are also assisted with technology access, agricultural extension and if necessary research. These are in addition to the programmes that assist women with land reform and land restitution
* Programmes run by the Department of Ministers and Energy that promote and encourage women to start businesses in the energy sector; the Mining Charter which setstargets for women ownership, employment, and enterprise development support in the mining industry; and projects that facilitate the entry of women into the jewellery industry so that they are able to add value to the minerals that are mined in South Africa
* Initiatives from the private sector and non-government organisations, which also provide substantial support to women owned enterprises. These include business women's associations that have been established in several sectors across the economy, such as the Business Women's Association (BWA), South African Women in Mining (SAWIMA), South African Women in Oil and Gas, South African Women in Construction (SAWIC), South African Women in Fishing (SAFWA), ISU Women's Initiative and Network (IWIN), and the African Women Chartered Accountants Association (AWCA).
Despite the successes that we have had and the impact of our many programmes that support women there are still a number of challenges that face us in fully empowering women in our country and our economy. Firstly, we need to ensure that as policymakers and elected representatives we remain vigilant in ensuring that the environment for women businesses continues to remain favourable and new legislation is gender sensitive and empowers women. Secondly, that information about our support structures and programmes are given to women so that they are aware of how they can be assisted. Thirdly, that our departments, government agencies and the private sector are pushed to find new ways to support and promote women enterprises. I believe that the Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment Bill will go a long way in doing this. Fourthly, we need to ensure that women move up the business value chain - currently the majority of the women enterprises in our country are in the lower echelons and are concentrated in the survivalist and micro sectors with less than 10% of firms in the small and medium businesses being women owned.
To conclude, it is clear that a lot has been done to support women enterprises in South Africa and that we have made substantial progress. It is also clear that through our support mechanisms we are just touching the surface of the possible impact that we can make in improving the lives of women across our country and that over the next ten years much more work needs to be done so that women no longer comprise the majority of businesses in the micro and survivalist sectors but are the small and medium-sized enterprises and the industrialists of the future.
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