Speech delivered by Ms Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, Minister for Public Service and Administration, to the high-level roundtable discussion on 'Gender Mainstreaming in the Public Service, Burgers Park Hotel, Pretoria

"It is vitally important that all structures of Government, including the President himself, should understand this fully: that freedom cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression. All of us must take this on board, that the objectives of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) will not have been realised unless we see in visible and practical terms that the conditions of women in our country have radically changed for the better, and that they have been empowered to intervene in all spheres of life as equals with any member of society."
Ex-President RN Mandela, 1994

These words of Ex-President Mandela, during his inaugural speech in 1994, reflect that the cornerstone of democracy is the full emancipation and empowerment of women in order to realise gender equality. This is ingrained in the founding provisions of our Constitution which is entrenched on the values of 'Human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms; non-racialism and non-sexism.' The Constitution includes a Bill of Rights that is a bedrock for democracy, human dignity, equality and freedom.

Gender equality has always been a core value of the struggle for a democratic South Africa, and has been adopted into our governance process. It has been the strong political commitment, together with a steadfast administrative will, that has successfully enabled us to craft gender sensitive legislation and other measures to promote the achievement of empowerment and equality. This conducive and enabling environment continues to advance women particularly within the Public Service.

Women in general were largely marginalised by society, and especially in employment and economic independence. The Public Service being the microcosm reflected this status of greater society as the macrocosm. The essence of transformation within the Public Service is therefore women's empowerment and gender equality. We have institutionalised a progressive affirmative action policy with clear equity targets to ensure representivity in the Public Service. In 1995, we had set a target of 30% women in decision-making positions in line with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) target to be achieved by 2005.

We attained this target by the end of 2005/6, and further committed to attaining a reviewed target of 50% women at all levels of the Senior Management Service (SMS) by March 2009. Additionally, Cabinet also recommended the development of a Strategy for the Public Service. This Strategic Framework serves an overarching co-ordination mechanism for creating an enabling environment for the promotion of women's empowerment and gender equality.

This enabling or conducive environment is underpinned by the progressive legislative framework within the country; a Cabinet approved National Policy Framework for Women's Empowerment and Gender Equality, the Strategic Framework for Gender Equality in the Public Service with an Implementation Guideline and Plan of Action. This Public Service Gender Strategy articulates 8-Principles for Heads of Departments that would fast track true transformation for women in the workplace.

Today we officially launch these 8-Principles for implementation within departments, which largely covers:

* transformation for non sexism
* establishing a policy environment
* meeting equity targets
* creating an enabling environment
* mainstreaming gender
* empowerment
* providing adequate human, physical and financial resources
* accountability, reporting, monitoring and evaluation.

Furthermore, we are taking several other measures towards this end. We are recommending that one week be declared a Public Service Women Management Week during National Women's Month. It is proposed that this become an annual event, during which, all SMS women in departments are expected to come together with the Director-General or Head of Department to convene women management meetings to ensure that the above 8 principles are being institutionalised.

The proposed Women Management Week is to provide opportunities and a platform for women in management to promote gender equality. The institutionalisation of the Public Service Women Management Week is one phase of a concerted focus on women in management. We are also embarking on establishing a Women Manager's Forum for the Public Service during the Senior Management Service Conference scheduled for September 2007.

It is envisaged that this forum would create the space for monitoring departmental progress towards meeting gender equity targets and the empowerment of all women in the workplace. Furthermore it affords women managers opportunities for supporting each other in executing their responsibilities.

Gender equality can only be achieved through addressing women's unique practical needs as employees. All policies, programmes and projects affect women and men differently at the workplace. It is important that men play a central and critical role in ensuring that gender equality is achieved. We need to build partnerships that are meaningful and based on mutual understanding of gender issues and how they impact on empowerment of women.

Women managers in the Public Service need to actively take up their social responsibility roles through their engagement with citizens they serve as well as the stakeholders within their sectors. It is imperative that as women we continually strive to promote women's development within the broader society. This can be effectively achieved through a concerted effort to give back to the community to enhance social justice.

We need to continually strive to eliminate gender inequalities in the workplace through specific measures that address sexual harassment, patriarchal stereotypes and cultural attitudes that act as barriers to achieving true equality. In this regard, compliance to policies and measures to advance women are critical.

The Public Service must be an enabling environment, conducive for the development of women employees, with particular emphasis on upward mobility for young women. In this light, we must ensure that family friendly policies are developed to address workers' needs in terms of child care and work life balance. We have to strive to shatter those glass ceilings that hinder women's progress.

In conclusion, all of us here today must take this on board, that the vision of non-sexism and gender equality cannot be realised, unless we see in practical and visible terms that the condition of women in the Public Sector has radically changed for the better. As Heads of government departments it is imperative that you take forward this agenda and institutionalise the 8-Principles to promote gender equality within the workplace. Let us all commit to this initiative today!

Issued by: Ministry of Public Service and Administration
27 August 2007