Date: 28/08/2005
Source: Northern Cape Provincial Government
Title: Peters: Northern Cape Women's Parliament
Premier's input on the occasion of Women's Parliament at the Provincial Legislature in Galeshewe, Kimberley
Madam Speaker
Madam Deputy Speaker
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Makhosikazi aseMzansi Afrika
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Allow me to begin my contribution to this debate with a quote from the Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, who recently expressed confidence that the serious efforts to build broad-based consensus to provide equitable representation at all levels of our society will succeed: "Our quest for freedom and dignity or life of dignity and self respect for all our citizens can never become a living reality unless our women are equal partners in all the processes of development and governance. We are committed to making that happen and I assure you that we will work earnestly to realise this dream which was very dear to our founding fathers of our Republic and is now our national commitment."
This debate could not have come at the right time when we are reaching the end of the women's month in our calendar in celebration of our heroines in the continued struggle for the emancipation of women of South Africa and the rest of the world. It is equally an opportune time to reflect on where we come from least we forget and where we are and where we are headed.
At the core of South Africa's system of apartheid laid the need for a cheap and constant supply of labour in order to ensure the continued exploitation of, and profit from the country's great mineral wealth.
The system of apartheid evolved, with its extensive laws, in order to establish control over every facet of the lives of the African members of the population. The fundamental characteristic of this system is that its legal structure, as well as its political and economic structure, was firmly based on racial discrimination. The ideology of racism provided justification for and reinforces the extreme inequality that persists in South Africa.
Although the policies of apartheid were detrimental to the whole black population, it is the women who were most affected. For a while men constituted the majority of the cheap labour force, women were relegated to a shadowy position, expected to remain in the reserves and to support their families without the help of their men folk. This created special problems for women, who already suffered discrimination based on their sex. African women in South Africa, being both black and female, suffered triple oppression. As Africans, which for the most part defined their class position, they had to contend with the restrictive and repressive apartheid legislation, which ensured alien control over all facets of their lives. In addition, as women, they had to contend with the fact that they were regarded as dependants and as inferior to men; as such, they were even further discriminated against within the framework of apartheid.
The rapid deterioration of the economic and social role of women since the establishment of apartheid increased their workload to inhuman proportions as they tried to produce enough from the land to feed their families. With the men off working as migrant labourers, the women faced an arduous existence, working at their daily chores in the home and in the field.
Despite the suffering that women had to undergo through the break-up of their families, many understood that it was not their husbands but the social conditions resulting from the apartheid laws that were responsible. Every effort was made to keep African women out of the urban or prescribed areas. The laws and regulations governing their movement in the urban areas were so extensive, pervasive and intricate and so arbitrarily and indifferently carried out by the governmental officials that only a small proportion of women could be considered settled eurban dwellers".
The rest were confronted with the daily possibility of being '"endorsed out" and sent back to the area in which they were born, even if they had lost all ties with that area, or of being considered "displaced" and sent to resettlement camps.
Madam Speaker,
Our commitment to eliminate racism, oppression and exploitation from our society cannot fail to address the question of the emancipation of women. In 1985 Presidents Sam Nujoma and Oliver Tambo made a joint pledge to the women of Namibia and South Africa that we would not: "Consider our objectives achieved, our task completed, or our struggle at an end until the women of Namibia and South Africa are fully liberated." To achieve genuine equality, we must have an understanding of gender oppression and the way it manifests itself in our society. From such a base we are able to work towards creating the necessary conditions for truly liberating women in the practical reality of our daily lives.
Gender oppression is everywhere rooted in a material base and is expressed in socio-cultural conditions and attitudes all of which are supported and perpetuated by an ideology, which subordinates women. In South Africa under apartheid it was institutionalised in the laws as well as the customs and practices of all our people. Within our racially and ethnically divided society, all women had a lower status than men of the same group in both law and practice. And as with racism, the disadvantage imposed on them ranges across the political, economic, social, domestic, cultural and civil spheres.
The prevalence of patriarchal attitude in South African society permeates our own institutional make up. The absence of sufficient numbers of women in our institutions, especially at decision making levels prevail to-date. As a consequence the particular concerns of more than half of our people is hardly heard when we define our strategies and determine our tactics.
President Tambo summed the problem up when he opened the ANC Women's Conference in 1981: "The struggle to conquer oppression in our country is the weaker for the traditionalist, conservative and primitive restraints imposed on women by man-dominated structures within our Movement, as also because of equally traditionalist attitudes of surrender and submission on the part of women".
The realisation of our objective of equality in South Africa is dependent upon the extent to which we are able to address and mobilise all the people of South Africa: men and women.
In the new South Africa women still lag behind in education, skills and resources to claim the rights provided in the constitution and laws. It is therefore the duty of the state to take appropriate measures to ensure the principle of gender-equality.
Equally, our legal system must be easily accessible, with a judiciary, which is familiar with the experience and has the confidence of the least privileged sections of our people. Women's right to democratic participation in all decision making must be there in principle and in practice. These will help create a society free of gender-oppression.
Madam Speaker
The time has come for us to give due place in our society including our political institutions, our economic processes and in every walks of life, to our mothers, sisters and daughters. To those who make our homes, nurture our children, shape and mould the citizens of South Africa of tomorrow. No nation can stand proud if it discriminates against any of its citizens. Certainly no society can claim to be a part of the modern civilised world unless it treats its women on par with men. The time for genuine and full empowerment of our women is here and now. This is an idea whose time has truly come, but whose realisation we must all now work to ensure and to make this happen.
We in our country must never forget our own proud legacy in this regard. No democratic revolution had ever before given women equality of status as our leaders did during our own freedom movement. Against this backdrop of history, our freedom struggle made a history and heroic departure by upholding women's rights. Mahatma Ghandi the Indian leader once declared that "as long as women did not take part in public life there was no salvation for our country ".
The time has now come for us to move ahead on this path. Our government recognises the political, legal, educational and economic empowerment of women as one of our top most priorities. We consider the empowerment of women as one of the key principles of good governance. We have already taken several steps in this regard. The gender responsive legislation that has been initiated and institutionalised will go a long way in making government and governance more gender sensitive. We need to pursue legislation that will provide flexible working hour for women and encourage greater employment in industrial and services sectors. We have to look at means of ensuring that our women are protected by from domestic violence.
It is heartening to notice the increasing assertion of women's organisations in the campaign against violence against women and other movements demanding equal status and access of women to education and empowerment. Thus government in partnership with non-governmental organisations, and civil society must enlist women participation in governance.
I urge all of us to pay special attention to the education of the girl child. They must take special care to ensure protection for women against domestic and social violence, including rape, eve teasing and sexual harassment at the place of work. The various measures we have so far taken in many of these areas will no doubt go a long way in empowering our women. However, much more needs to be done.
Madam Speaker, ladies and gentlemen
As we were celebrating Women's Day on the 09 August, South Africans would do well to reflect that while women continue to play an increasingly active and important role in the public sector, there are very few women who have so far made their mark in the private sector. Of even greater concern in a country that remains essentially male-dominated is that women are still subjected to an appalling level of violence in the home, where they also have to bear the brunt of the ongoing struggle against poverty, illiteracy and disease.
The outmoded conventions and customs of inequality between men and women handed down from our history and culture have not yet been completely eradicated. Women's rights and interest are still being infringed upon to varying degrees in some areas. Until these women are free from the yoke of male domination and gender inequality it would be a sham to suggest that the battle against gender oppression has been won.
Our government has emphasised the connection between poverty and vulnerability to crime, poor women and children are more likely to be victimised because they still enjoy fewer protections, less privacy and fewer resources. The strategic partnerships between government, the private sector, civil society, organised labour and throughout our communities must be strengthened to spread the message about combating violence against women and children.
Men and women alike bear the responsibility for eliminating gender-oppression and both must facilitate the participation of all in the struggle for women emancipation that still lies before us. A 1990 statement of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress on the Emancipation of Women in South Africa states that: "Although the dominant always find it difficult in the short term to give up age-old privileges and habits, in the long run they can only stand to gain from living in a world in which health, happiness and welfare of all is guaranteed". On Wednesday the Chinese President Moa Zedong, trumpeted progress in gender equality in that country when he famously declared "women hold up half the sky but conceded that many more still live in abject poverty.
The road before us is indeed a long one.
Malibongwe igama laMakhosikazi.
Thank you.
Ke a leboga.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
28 August 2005
Source: Northern Cape Provincial Government
Title: Peters: Northern Cape Women's Parliament
Premier's input on the occasion of Women's Parliament at the Provincial Legislature in Galeshewe, Kimberley
Madam Speaker
Madam Deputy Speaker
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Provincial Legislature
Makhosikazi aseMzansi Afrika
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Allow me to begin my contribution to this debate with a quote from the Indian Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, who recently expressed confidence that the serious efforts to build broad-based consensus to provide equitable representation at all levels of our society will succeed: "Our quest for freedom and dignity or life of dignity and self respect for all our citizens can never become a living reality unless our women are equal partners in all the processes of development and governance. We are committed to making that happen and I assure you that we will work earnestly to realise this dream which was very dear to our founding fathers of our Republic and is now our national commitment."
This debate could not have come at the right time when we are reaching the end of the women's month in our calendar in celebration of our heroines in the continued struggle for the emancipation of women of South Africa and the rest of the world. It is equally an opportune time to reflect on where we come from least we forget and where we are and where we are headed.
At the core of South Africa's system of apartheid laid the need for a cheap and constant supply of labour in order to ensure the continued exploitation of, and profit from the country's great mineral wealth.
The system of apartheid evolved, with its extensive laws, in order to establish control over every facet of the lives of the African members of the population. The fundamental characteristic of this system is that its legal structure, as well as its political and economic structure, was firmly based on racial discrimination. The ideology of racism provided justification for and reinforces the extreme inequality that persists in South Africa.
Although the policies of apartheid were detrimental to the whole black population, it is the women who were most affected. For a while men constituted the majority of the cheap labour force, women were relegated to a shadowy position, expected to remain in the reserves and to support their families without the help of their men folk. This created special problems for women, who already suffered discrimination based on their sex. African women in South Africa, being both black and female, suffered triple oppression. As Africans, which for the most part defined their class position, they had to contend with the restrictive and repressive apartheid legislation, which ensured alien control over all facets of their lives. In addition, as women, they had to contend with the fact that they were regarded as dependants and as inferior to men; as such, they were even further discriminated against within the framework of apartheid.
The rapid deterioration of the economic and social role of women since the establishment of apartheid increased their workload to inhuman proportions as they tried to produce enough from the land to feed their families. With the men off working as migrant labourers, the women faced an arduous existence, working at their daily chores in the home and in the field.
Despite the suffering that women had to undergo through the break-up of their families, many understood that it was not their husbands but the social conditions resulting from the apartheid laws that were responsible. Every effort was made to keep African women out of the urban or prescribed areas. The laws and regulations governing their movement in the urban areas were so extensive, pervasive and intricate and so arbitrarily and indifferently carried out by the governmental officials that only a small proportion of women could be considered settled eurban dwellers".
The rest were confronted with the daily possibility of being '"endorsed out" and sent back to the area in which they were born, even if they had lost all ties with that area, or of being considered "displaced" and sent to resettlement camps.
Madam Speaker,
Our commitment to eliminate racism, oppression and exploitation from our society cannot fail to address the question of the emancipation of women. In 1985 Presidents Sam Nujoma and Oliver Tambo made a joint pledge to the women of Namibia and South Africa that we would not: "Consider our objectives achieved, our task completed, or our struggle at an end until the women of Namibia and South Africa are fully liberated." To achieve genuine equality, we must have an understanding of gender oppression and the way it manifests itself in our society. From such a base we are able to work towards creating the necessary conditions for truly liberating women in the practical reality of our daily lives.
Gender oppression is everywhere rooted in a material base and is expressed in socio-cultural conditions and attitudes all of which are supported and perpetuated by an ideology, which subordinates women. In South Africa under apartheid it was institutionalised in the laws as well as the customs and practices of all our people. Within our racially and ethnically divided society, all women had a lower status than men of the same group in both law and practice. And as with racism, the disadvantage imposed on them ranges across the political, economic, social, domestic, cultural and civil spheres.
The prevalence of patriarchal attitude in South African society permeates our own institutional make up. The absence of sufficient numbers of women in our institutions, especially at decision making levels prevail to-date. As a consequence the particular concerns of more than half of our people is hardly heard when we define our strategies and determine our tactics.
President Tambo summed the problem up when he opened the ANC Women's Conference in 1981: "The struggle to conquer oppression in our country is the weaker for the traditionalist, conservative and primitive restraints imposed on women by man-dominated structures within our Movement, as also because of equally traditionalist attitudes of surrender and submission on the part of women".
The realisation of our objective of equality in South Africa is dependent upon the extent to which we are able to address and mobilise all the people of South Africa: men and women.
In the new South Africa women still lag behind in education, skills and resources to claim the rights provided in the constitution and laws. It is therefore the duty of the state to take appropriate measures to ensure the principle of gender-equality.
Equally, our legal system must be easily accessible, with a judiciary, which is familiar with the experience and has the confidence of the least privileged sections of our people. Women's right to democratic participation in all decision making must be there in principle and in practice. These will help create a society free of gender-oppression.
Madam Speaker
The time has come for us to give due place in our society including our political institutions, our economic processes and in every walks of life, to our mothers, sisters and daughters. To those who make our homes, nurture our children, shape and mould the citizens of South Africa of tomorrow. No nation can stand proud if it discriminates against any of its citizens. Certainly no society can claim to be a part of the modern civilised world unless it treats its women on par with men. The time for genuine and full empowerment of our women is here and now. This is an idea whose time has truly come, but whose realisation we must all now work to ensure and to make this happen.
We in our country must never forget our own proud legacy in this regard. No democratic revolution had ever before given women equality of status as our leaders did during our own freedom movement. Against this backdrop of history, our freedom struggle made a history and heroic departure by upholding women's rights. Mahatma Ghandi the Indian leader once declared that "as long as women did not take part in public life there was no salvation for our country ".
The time has now come for us to move ahead on this path. Our government recognises the political, legal, educational and economic empowerment of women as one of our top most priorities. We consider the empowerment of women as one of the key principles of good governance. We have already taken several steps in this regard. The gender responsive legislation that has been initiated and institutionalised will go a long way in making government and governance more gender sensitive. We need to pursue legislation that will provide flexible working hour for women and encourage greater employment in industrial and services sectors. We have to look at means of ensuring that our women are protected by from domestic violence.
It is heartening to notice the increasing assertion of women's organisations in the campaign against violence against women and other movements demanding equal status and access of women to education and empowerment. Thus government in partnership with non-governmental organisations, and civil society must enlist women participation in governance.
I urge all of us to pay special attention to the education of the girl child. They must take special care to ensure protection for women against domestic and social violence, including rape, eve teasing and sexual harassment at the place of work. The various measures we have so far taken in many of these areas will no doubt go a long way in empowering our women. However, much more needs to be done.
Madam Speaker, ladies and gentlemen
As we were celebrating Women's Day on the 09 August, South Africans would do well to reflect that while women continue to play an increasingly active and important role in the public sector, there are very few women who have so far made their mark in the private sector. Of even greater concern in a country that remains essentially male-dominated is that women are still subjected to an appalling level of violence in the home, where they also have to bear the brunt of the ongoing struggle against poverty, illiteracy and disease.
The outmoded conventions and customs of inequality between men and women handed down from our history and culture have not yet been completely eradicated. Women's rights and interest are still being infringed upon to varying degrees in some areas. Until these women are free from the yoke of male domination and gender inequality it would be a sham to suggest that the battle against gender oppression has been won.
Our government has emphasised the connection between poverty and vulnerability to crime, poor women and children are more likely to be victimised because they still enjoy fewer protections, less privacy and fewer resources. The strategic partnerships between government, the private sector, civil society, organised labour and throughout our communities must be strengthened to spread the message about combating violence against women and children.
Men and women alike bear the responsibility for eliminating gender-oppression and both must facilitate the participation of all in the struggle for women emancipation that still lies before us. A 1990 statement of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress on the Emancipation of Women in South Africa states that: "Although the dominant always find it difficult in the short term to give up age-old privileges and habits, in the long run they can only stand to gain from living in a world in which health, happiness and welfare of all is guaranteed". On Wednesday the Chinese President Moa Zedong, trumpeted progress in gender equality in that country when he famously declared "women hold up half the sky but conceded that many more still live in abject poverty.
The road before us is indeed a long one.
Malibongwe igama laMakhosikazi.
Thank you.
Ke a leboga.
Issued by: Office of the Premier, Northern Cape Provincial Government
28 August 2005
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