ANC STATEMENT ON WOMEN’S DAY
Today the African National Congress pays tribute to the more than 20 000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956 in protest against the apartheid pass laws.
In this centenary of Mama Albertina Sisulu; stalwart of our struggle for liberation, we remember her and many other women activists of her generation. This year we also mark the centenary of South Africa’s oldest women’s organisation, the Bantu Women’s League, which was formed in 1918 under the leadership of another icon, Dr Charlotte Maxeke.
As South Africans, we must use Women’s Day as a platform to refocus the attention of the nation on the plight and rights of women and to assess the progress we have made towards women empowerment and gender equality since 1994.
There is no doubt that in the twenty-four years of our democracy, the ANC-led government has made significant progress towards the restoration of the dignity of women. Through the Constitution and an array of other measures introduced since 1994, on the whole, the position and conditions of women in our country has improved significantly. Women now have access to services and positions that were a dream only a mere twenty-four years ago. The living conditions of the majority of ordinary women have undergone significant qualitative change. We are encouraged by these developments, but believe that more still needs to be done.
While significant strides have been made to empower women and promote gender equality, we must concede that women still bear a disproportionate burden of the triple challenges of poverty, inequality and unemployment. The rural profile of South Africa continues to be one of female-headed households, growing poverty, human rights abuses and increased gender-based violence, unemployment and high prevalence of HIV and AIDS. Women continue to be marginalized and discriminated against in terms of economic opportunities.