The celebration of the International Women’s Day during the year of the 60th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter exalts the vital role women have played, and continue to play, in virtually all spheres of life. The role played by the women of South Africa in ushering our democratic rule, speaks of extraordinary resilience, perseverance, community building and triumph.

On this occasion, we take stock and review past progress, as well as barriers that continue to militate against women empowerment in our country. This occasion offers an opportunity to elevate women’s emancipation and gender equality. As well as, pay tribute to women that have devoted their lives to the struggle for the cause of women’s emancipation and are still mobilised for this cause. It is therefore befitting that as we celebrate the International Women’s Day we pause to reflect on the blueprint of our revolutionary vision expressed by our people in 1955 when they declared that South Africa belongs to all who live in it.

Today, as we celebrate the International Women’s Day we are yet reminded of the sacrosanct declaration made by South Africans from all walks of life that converged in Kliptown in 1955 that the People Shall Govern! Today in South Africa the people govern because every man and woman has the right to vote and to be voted for.

South Africa remains resolute in promoting gender equality, women’s rights as human’s rights and women empowerment in all spheres of life. To this end, the ANC has consciously adopted a 50% women representation in all decision making structures. This has led to increased women representation in all spheres of government at the legislative and executive levels. A lot has been achieved in ensuring that the people govern. However, we still have a long way to go in ensuring that women occupy their rightful position in society, inde le ndlea esi hambayo. What remains a vexing challenge is ensuring that we move with necessary speed in transforming the quantity in terms of numbers to quality in terms of women occupation of strategic leadership positions such as the Premiership and the highest Office in the Land, the Presidency.

We are optimistic that this is achievable in our lifetime because our country is taking great strides to redress gender imbalances and promote women’s rights. The vigorous implementation of women quotas has gone a long way in challenging the attitudes and changing the mind set of our people.

Increasingly, the private sector is also realizing that gender diversity at the top echelons of companies is not only about numbers but also about improved performance. Initiatives such as the 30% Club deserve a special mention. 30% Club is a group of companies that has committed to ensuring at least 30% women representation in their boards. They have come to realize that a more diverse Board of Directors has a better understanding of markets that are themselves diverse in terms of gender. The private sector is also becoming more conscious of the spin-offs that are brought by a gender diverse board in decision-making processes as compared to a more homogeneous board. Avivah Wittenburg-Cox article in Harvard Business Review said that: “Large and established organisations are finally starting to accept that gender imbalances are a business problem and that it is now important to design the right response. To maximise this moment, leaders need to proceed strategically”.

This august house is testament to the fact that when you include women in positions of power, they don’t only bring colour but life. This brings to mind an Ethiopian proverb that says “Where a woman rules, streams run uphill”.

The celebration of the International Women’s Day during the year of the Freedom Charter must unleash new impetus in all of us to attend to the unfinished business of ensuring women’s empowerment and gender equality. The National Development Plan is an overarching plan and vision to realise the ideals of the Freedom Charter to put in place a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it. This reminds us of the words of President Nelson Mandela at his inauguration in May 1994: “We enter into a covenant that we shall build a society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity – a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.

The International Women's Day is part of global efforts to create a better world order where there shall be Peace and Friendship. Originally called the International Working Women's Day, it first started as a political and socialist movement in 1909 in four European countries. Until the late 1900s, the influence of the day was limited to Europe. In 1975 the United Nations announced 8th March as the official date for the International Women's Day.

At the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, the global community stressed the importance of women assuming positions of power and influence, not only because of their points of view and talents are needed, but also as a matter of their human rights. This year, the CSW will be reviewing 20 years of implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action by member states. Therefore this year’s International Women’s Day takes place at a strategic moment as South Africa is preparing itself to submit a report on 20 years of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPA). It also takes place at a strategic moment where the global community is intensifying efforts towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), moving towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) and shaping a post-2015 development agenda.

This is particularly important for South Africa as we continue to deal with the triple challenge of unemployment, poverty and inequality of which women are at the receiving end. We therefore believe that nothing should be done for women without women. The empowerment of women is not an act of charity, or the result of humanitarian or compassionate attitude. The empowerment of women is a fundamental necessity of development, the guarantee of its continuity and the precondition of its victory. The SDGs must clearly reflect our collective resolve to empower women. Therefore each SDG must be gender mainstreamed, the post- 2015 development agenda must be gender mainstreamed. I can tell you that despite certain persisting challenges, South Africa has done well on the goals such as achieving access to universal primary education.

This has been particularly beneficial to the Girl-Child. We can confidently assert that the Doors of Learning and Culture has been opened to all. Today we see more girls completing their secondary and tertiary education. The UNESCO World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education shows that 61% of tertiary degree qualifications in South Africa were awarded to women. We have also seen more girls being trained in skills relevant to our economic growth as a nation. Access to funding through government schemes such as the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) has made it possible for girls from poor families to complete their studies.

This year’s United Nations theme is: “Equality for women is progress for all” which emphasises how gender equality, empowerment of women, women’s full enjoyment of human rights and the eradication of poverty are essential to economic and social development. It also stresses the vital role of women as agents of development.

At the regional level, the African Union declared 2015 as the “Year of Women Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063.” The African Ministers responsible for Gender and Women’s Affairs adopted a Declaration calling for their respective governments to achieve gender equality by 2020, as spelled out in the Agenda 2063

In line with our national theme and the fact that in South Africa March is a Human Rights Month, the theme is “Women’s Rights are Human Rights: Together Moving a Non-Violent South Africa Forward” This theme is also aligned to the Beijing Platform for Action Critical Areas and incorporates both the UN and AU themes on gender equality as human rights are also about equality. South Africa has the best policy framework that is necessary to drive the investment and economic growth that will free our people from the triple challenge of unemployment, inequality and poverty. This is confirmed by the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report of 2014 which rates South Africa as the 18th out of 135 best places in the world to be a woman. I must say that the challenge is the failure to mainstream gender in the ideas, programmes budgets and policies that facilitate the implementation of our highly rated legal framework. Therefore, in order for South Africa to realise the aspirations of our Constitution, women and girls must top the development agenda.

The other challenge is violence against women and girls which continues unabated, not just in South Africa but in every continent, country and culture. It takes a devastating toll on women’s lives, on their families, and on society as a whole. Most societies prohibit such violence — yet the reality is that too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned. A 1994 study based on World Bank data found that out of about ten selected risk factors facing women, rape and domestic violence rated higher than cancer, motor vehicle accidents, war and malaria.

As you may know, the mandate of my Department is to promote women's socio-economic empowerment, development and human rights. As we are preparing for the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Women’s March in 2016 we must bring the Freedom Charter to life and assess progress, review policies and programmes in order to position gender equality and women’s empowerment at the centre of the country’s and global development agenda.

Consonant with the culture of the 1955 People’s Congress, the Department will convene national and provincial dialogues. The dialogues will take place from March 2015 in order to provide a platform for discourse on the strides made towards the attainment of women empowerment and gender equality in South Africa. The dialogues will give women a voice to tell their stories, what they want and how they want it. In this context, the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of the Freedom Charter will serve as a platform of assessing our achievements in the arena of gender equality, women’s empowerment and above all the realization of a South Africa that truly belongs to all who live in it.

The outcome of the dialogue will contribute to the development of the ‘Report on the Status of Women’ which will be launched by the President on the 9th of August 2015, the National Women’s Day. The dialogues will be hosted in the format of workshops scheduled through municipal districts. The outcome of the dialogues will also facilitate the mapping of a Sustainable Development Agenda for the 21st Century

It is said that: “The world suffers a lot; Not because of the violence of bad people; But because of the silence of good people” Napoleon.

Therefore stand-up and be counted! This is a clarion call to all – Government, Business and Civil Society to join hands in addressing the mammoth task before us and to mobilise communities to participate in the dialogues in order for the outcome of the dialogues to determine the trajectory of development in South Africa.

The task ahead is daunting but not insurmountable! “Gender Balance is Hard, but it is not Complicated” Avivah Wittenburg-Cox.

I thank you all