Date: 25/02/2003
Source: Ministry of Social Development
Title: Skweyiya: Handing over centre for victims of domestic violence
SPEECH BY DR ZOLA SKWEYIYA, MINISTER OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, AT THE CEREMONIAL HANDING OVER OF THE ONE-STOP CENTRE FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, Ezibeleni One-Stop Centre, Queenstown, 25 February 2003
Ambassador
Heads of Department
Community Leaders
Ladies and Gentlemen
Thank you for this opportunity to address you today. It is always a special occasion to come to the Eastern Cape, a beautiful part of our country. As government we are conscious of the many challenges that you face in this province: social, economic and political challenges. One of the consequences of this is the acute vulnerability of women, children, older persons and disabled people.
The Eastern Cape is the poorest part of South Africa and a presidential task team has been assigned to investigate critical areas for service delivery. The task team comprises officials from the departments of Education, Health, Social Development, Public Service and Administration and National Treasury.
The prevention of violence against vulnerable groups is one of the priorities of the Department of Social Development as laid out in its ten-point plan for the period 2000 - 2005. Let me give you some examples that illustrate the vulnerability of women in South Africa.
The Gender Advocacy Programme has reported in its recent newsletter, Social Policy & Gender, that:
* Female-headed households have a 50% higher poverty rate than male-headed households
* 1 out of 5 African women above the age of 20 have received no formal education, compared to 1 out of 7 African men
* 1 out 2 African women are unemployed, compared to 1 out of 4 coloured women, 1 out of 5 Indian women and 1 out of 10 white women
* Nearly 3 out of 5 HIV-infected South Africans are women. Overall, a shocking 1 out of 8 women are HIV-infected.
This untenable social and economic status of women has made them even more vulnerable to abuse and victimisation within society at large. According to the SA Police Service, 18 737 cases were referred for investigation during the past six months.
One of the government's priorities is to ensure tougher sentencing and bail conditions for perpetrators of violence and abuse against women and children. Out of 1 013 cases of crimes against children, 52 life sentences were imposed. Similarly, six life sentences were imposed as a result of 234 cases of crimes against adults.
Ladies and gentlemen
Children and women are the most treasured members of our society, but they continue to be ruthlessly victimised and abused by the very people that they serve and love, including family members, close relatives and friends. Women with disabilities are even more vulnerable.
The picture I have just painted calls for mobilisation and strengthening of our efforts to protect the most vulnerable of our society. One begins to appreciate more initiatives like this one-stop Centre for the victims of domestic violence from the Austrian Government through the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime.
The Department of Social Development has established several mechanisms to address the issues faced by women in South Africa. These include the Social Security System, the Poverty Relief Programme, Home and Community based care for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and the Food Security Programme.
The role of women as mothers and caregivers to children is also supported through the Child Support Grant. Children up to the age of nine years will qualify for this grant as from the 2003/2004 financial year. Over the next three years, children up to the age of 14 will also become eligible. This will include a further 3,2 million children in the safety net, at a cost of more than R5 billion.
Addressing the poverty and vulnerability of women and children will require the involvement of community-based organisations, faith-based organisations, trade unions and the donor community such as the Austrian government, to assist.
Communication systems and structures need to begin to aggressively embark on an information dissemination drive to reach women and children. It is also important to emphasise here that while the various social security systems are in place, these systems should be linked to creation of enabling environments, developmental initiatives and capacity building of beneficiaries with the ultimate goal of self sustenance and self reliance.
PARTNERSHIP WITH CIVIL SOCIETY
One of the critical challenges is to strengthen civil society, especially in the rural areas, where women and children face the brunt of poverty and other social ills.
A study conducted by the CSVR Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in 2002, on the support of government to non-profit organisations providing services to women experiencing gender violence, reports that government departments provide at least two forms of financial support. These are in the form of monetary grants, secured by 56 (41%) of the 141 organisations which responded to the questionnaire; and in-kind support, such as the use of government premises or the waiving of utilities like electricity and water. Sixty-two such organisations received such assistance from the government. Between 1 January 2000 and 1 May 2001 at least R11 3 million was disbursed to organisations.
But, be that as it may, one has to be careful not to generalise when it comes to the support of NGOs. This support varies from province to province. Other provinces are still lagging behind others when it comes to the distribution of funds. We need to strengthen the partnership with NGOs as they concentrate on direct service delivery to communities with direct participation of communities. Strengthening such initiatives compliments the sentiments of government in relation to skills development and upliftment of the standard of living of the people.
THE COMMUNITY OF QUEENSTOWN
To the community of Queenstown, especially the Ezibeleni community, through the Mayor, Mhlekazi siyabulela singu Department of Social Development ukuba usamkele kwidolophu yakho. Kuni bantu bakuthi urhulumente ngowenu, amalinge afana nala masiwaququzelele siwanike isidima asifaneleyo. Le Centre Le mayibe libhongo neqhayiya lethu sizingce ngayo." Ndixelelwe ukuba kukho abantu abancedisayo apha kule Center bengajonganga kuvuzwa, qha beqhutywa yilento sithi "bubuntu", sithi kuni nangamso, mazenethole.
PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UN ODC AND THE AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT, THE FUNDERS
It's befitting for me to salute the Austrian Government and the United Nations Office for Drug Control on behalf of the Government of South Africa for your commitment to the plight of abused women and children of South Africa. This is the second such project you have sponsored. The Mpumalanga project pioneered this relationship with your country. Some provinces are beginning to set aside budgets to establish similar projects, as there is a great need out there. As the national department of social development we are committed to continue to provide the support to the provincial department of social development whenever the need arises.
Thank you.
Issued by Ministry of Social Development
25 February 2003
Source: Ministry of Social Development
Title: Skweyiya: Handing over centre for victims of domestic violence
SPEECH BY DR ZOLA SKWEYIYA, MINISTER OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, AT THE CEREMONIAL HANDING OVER OF THE ONE-STOP CENTRE FOR VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, Ezibeleni One-Stop Centre, Queenstown, 25 February 2003
Ambassador
Heads of Department
Community Leaders
Ladies and Gentlemen
Thank you for this opportunity to address you today. It is always a special occasion to come to the Eastern Cape, a beautiful part of our country. As government we are conscious of the many challenges that you face in this province: social, economic and political challenges. One of the consequences of this is the acute vulnerability of women, children, older persons and disabled people.
The Eastern Cape is the poorest part of South Africa and a presidential task team has been assigned to investigate critical areas for service delivery. The task team comprises officials from the departments of Education, Health, Social Development, Public Service and Administration and National Treasury.
The prevention of violence against vulnerable groups is one of the priorities of the Department of Social Development as laid out in its ten-point plan for the period 2000 - 2005. Let me give you some examples that illustrate the vulnerability of women in South Africa.
The Gender Advocacy Programme has reported in its recent newsletter, Social Policy & Gender, that:
* Female-headed households have a 50% higher poverty rate than male-headed households
* 1 out of 5 African women above the age of 20 have received no formal education, compared to 1 out of 7 African men
* 1 out 2 African women are unemployed, compared to 1 out of 4 coloured women, 1 out of 5 Indian women and 1 out of 10 white women
* Nearly 3 out of 5 HIV-infected South Africans are women. Overall, a shocking 1 out of 8 women are HIV-infected.
This untenable social and economic status of women has made them even more vulnerable to abuse and victimisation within society at large. According to the SA Police Service, 18 737 cases were referred for investigation during the past six months.
One of the government's priorities is to ensure tougher sentencing and bail conditions for perpetrators of violence and abuse against women and children. Out of 1 013 cases of crimes against children, 52 life sentences were imposed. Similarly, six life sentences were imposed as a result of 234 cases of crimes against adults.
Ladies and gentlemen
Children and women are the most treasured members of our society, but they continue to be ruthlessly victimised and abused by the very people that they serve and love, including family members, close relatives and friends. Women with disabilities are even more vulnerable.
The picture I have just painted calls for mobilisation and strengthening of our efforts to protect the most vulnerable of our society. One begins to appreciate more initiatives like this one-stop Centre for the victims of domestic violence from the Austrian Government through the United Nations Office of Drug and Crime.
The Department of Social Development has established several mechanisms to address the issues faced by women in South Africa. These include the Social Security System, the Poverty Relief Programme, Home and Community based care for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS and the Food Security Programme.
The role of women as mothers and caregivers to children is also supported through the Child Support Grant. Children up to the age of nine years will qualify for this grant as from the 2003/2004 financial year. Over the next three years, children up to the age of 14 will also become eligible. This will include a further 3,2 million children in the safety net, at a cost of more than R5 billion.
Addressing the poverty and vulnerability of women and children will require the involvement of community-based organisations, faith-based organisations, trade unions and the donor community such as the Austrian government, to assist.
Communication systems and structures need to begin to aggressively embark on an information dissemination drive to reach women and children. It is also important to emphasise here that while the various social security systems are in place, these systems should be linked to creation of enabling environments, developmental initiatives and capacity building of beneficiaries with the ultimate goal of self sustenance and self reliance.
PARTNERSHIP WITH CIVIL SOCIETY
One of the critical challenges is to strengthen civil society, especially in the rural areas, where women and children face the brunt of poverty and other social ills.
A study conducted by the CSVR Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in 2002, on the support of government to non-profit organisations providing services to women experiencing gender violence, reports that government departments provide at least two forms of financial support. These are in the form of monetary grants, secured by 56 (41%) of the 141 organisations which responded to the questionnaire; and in-kind support, such as the use of government premises or the waiving of utilities like electricity and water. Sixty-two such organisations received such assistance from the government. Between 1 January 2000 and 1 May 2001 at least R11 3 million was disbursed to organisations.
But, be that as it may, one has to be careful not to generalise when it comes to the support of NGOs. This support varies from province to province. Other provinces are still lagging behind others when it comes to the distribution of funds. We need to strengthen the partnership with NGOs as they concentrate on direct service delivery to communities with direct participation of communities. Strengthening such initiatives compliments the sentiments of government in relation to skills development and upliftment of the standard of living of the people.
THE COMMUNITY OF QUEENSTOWN
To the community of Queenstown, especially the Ezibeleni community, through the Mayor, Mhlekazi siyabulela singu Department of Social Development ukuba usamkele kwidolophu yakho. Kuni bantu bakuthi urhulumente ngowenu, amalinge afana nala masiwaququzelele siwanike isidima asifaneleyo. Le Centre Le mayibe libhongo neqhayiya lethu sizingce ngayo." Ndixelelwe ukuba kukho abantu abancedisayo apha kule Center bengajonganga kuvuzwa, qha beqhutywa yilento sithi "bubuntu", sithi kuni nangamso, mazenethole.
PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UN ODC AND THE AUSTRIAN GOVERNMENT, THE FUNDERS
It's befitting for me to salute the Austrian Government and the United Nations Office for Drug Control on behalf of the Government of South Africa for your commitment to the plight of abused women and children of South Africa. This is the second such project you have sponsored. The Mpumalanga project pioneered this relationship with your country. Some provinces are beginning to set aside budgets to establish similar projects, as there is a great need out there. As the national department of social development we are committed to continue to provide the support to the provincial department of social development whenever the need arises.
Thank you.
Issued by Ministry of Social Development
25 February 2003
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