ANC WOMEN'S DAY STATEMENT
In commemorating August 9 - National Women's Day - the African National Congress (ANC) pays tribute to countless sung and unsung heroines of our struggle for their contribution in the liberation of South Africa.
Amongst others are u Mama u Lillian Ngoyi, u Mama u Helen Joseph, u Mama u Rahima Moosa and u Mama u Sophia Williams-De Bruyn. The ANC and the Mass democratic movement and the people of South African, will always cherish their bravery, commitment and selflessness. Their commitment indeed is not in vain.
Women's Day is an important day in the Women's Month calendar. It is a time to salute women for the role they have played and to reflect on challenges women continue to face.
As we celebrate, let us think of all the challenges that women of our country and the world face as a result of the skewed developmental patterns which always seeks to portray women as the weakest link in our society. Let us all rise-up against all those who always seek to down play the contribution that women made in our liberation struggle and their daily contribution in our lives. Let us also think of the woman farm workers who earn a living as seasonal employees, but whose responsibilities are permanent and constant. For them, their main concern is to earn a wage to be able to put food on the table for their families.
Women's issues are societal issues. As such, the plight and hardships of women in rural and urban centres should be a permanent discourse for those elected to Parliament and provincial legislatures. We should ensure that issues that daily impact on women, are kept on the national agenda.
Despite the many challenges women still face; we can look back with pride at the gains our country has achieved thus far, especially in the area of gender equality. The fact that women leaders are found in labour, government and business, demonstrates how we have embraced women emancipation and empowerment.
The ANC has been in the forefront of many struggles that have ensured that the emancipation of women is not merely a dream but a reality. Although much has been done to recognise and empower South African women, we share the view that the struggle for women emancipation remains an incomplete project if choices women have to make are primarily influenced by their economic status.
The creation of the Ministry for Women, Children and the Disabled was a conscious decision by the ANC. It is a clear message that the ANC-led Government is committed to improve the lives of the working class and the poor, where the triple oppression of women reigns unabated. Women, children and those with disabilities are still at the receiving end of societal oppression.
The ANC decision to fast track rural infrastructure development has shifted the focus of women emancipation - from the debate on parity, which within the structures of the ANC we have won - to a debate about realities that women continue to face on a daily basis.
We however are concerned about both the gender and race representation figures in the private sector. These figures remain very disturbing and they are a major setback to our overall effort to transform our economy. There is still under-representation of women as paid employees in general, and the challenge worsens at top management level of the private sector. 16 years into our democracy, we still have white men holding 63% of top management positions in the private sector while African women are at less than 3% and coloured and Indian women at 1% each. We cannot allow this situation to unattended. Measures have to be taken to hasten the process of gender and racial transformation in our country.
We therefore call upon our Parliament to fast track the Gender Equality Bill discussions, as proposed by the Ministry for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities. This Bill will ensure that it enforces gender parity measures across all sectors of society.
As the ANC, we welcome progress in the increased access to education for girls and the skills development programmes aimed at increasing the number of women in areas such as science and technology and other sectors where there is still severe under-representation of women. To encourage mentoring of girls into various careers, on August 19, we will all be supporting the Take a Girl Child to Work campaign.
The greatest area of concern is the persistent challenge of rape, murder and other forms of violence against women and children. The experience of the 2010 Soccer World Cup indicates that it is possible to minimize incidents of abuse through a combination of high community awareness, social cohesion and effective social and law enforcement services. As South Africa, we needs to emulate from the experiences of the 2010 FIFA World Cup successes in dealing with this challenge. Through this tournament, we have learnt that it is possible to minimize incidents of abuse through a combination of high community awareness, social cohesion and effective social and law enforcement services.
We are indeed confident that this month is going be a period when all of us as South Africans can reflect on the advances and recommit ourselves to address the many challenges on our path to creating a truly non-sexist and democratic society.
We have come a long way, achieved much, but much more still has to be done.
Statement issued by Jackson Mthembu, African National Congress National Spokesperson, August 9 2010
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