International Women’s Day 2015

Honourable Premier, Mr Phumulo Masualle
Social Development Deputy Minister, Ms Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu
Eastern Cape Social Development MEC, Ms Nancy Sihlwayi
MPs and MPL’s Present,
Nelson Mandela Metro Executive Mayor, Mr Ben Fihla 
Representatives of Women’s Business, Cooperatives and other formations,
Esteemed delegates;

It is my special delight and honour to address this Africa for African Women’s Conference, on International Women’s Day.

I thank you most heartily for this opportunity.

May I also, on behalf of the government and the people of South Africa, extend a warm hand of welcome to all the women from the length and breadth of this vast African continent. 

We trust that you will find your visit to our country, and in particular this friendly city of Port Elizabeth, fulfilling, exciting and worthwhile.

This year marks 104 years since the first International Women’s Day celebration was held in 1911, one year before the oldest liberation movement in Africa, the ANC, was formed. 

At that time, our country was in its darkest period with racist segregation policies impacting negatively on all, particularly on women. 

African women in particular were chained by a triple yoke of oppression on the basis of their sex, colour and class. The experience of that triple oppression of women has informed our government’s policies and approach to the pursuit of equality.

The theme of this event, “Locating Women at the Centre of the Global Economy for Sustainable Development”, is quite opportune. The African Union declared the period 2010 to 2020 as the decade of women in Africa.

We are already in the middle of this decade, which calls for a deeper appraisal of the progress made thus far, with regards to women empowerment.

It is no co-incidence therefore that at its 24th Ordinary Session of the Heads of State and Government, the African Union adopted as its theme for 2015:
“Year of Women Empowerment and Development towards Africa’s Agenda 2063.” 

The vision espoused in Agenda 2063 speaks to building a continent where development is people-driven, and where we work to unleash the potential of all, especially women and the youth.

This calls for the transformation of leadership in all spheres - political, economic, and social, so as to ensure the representation of women. 

We should build an Africa where all women, including women in rural areas or the countryside, will be empowered in all spheres especially economic, to own and inherit property or businesses and where they have full access to financial services and all productive assets.

In this regard it is very crucial that African institutions such as the AU and the regional formations set a good example of transformation in this continent.

We have some cause to celebrate to date although more work still needs to be done. Women have made great strides in Africa in various fields at a professional level. 

Even the African Union Commission is headed by a woman, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, while the continent is also full of women Ministers and parliamentarians.

The continent is moving a bit slowly when it comes to electing female heads of state and government, compared to other regions in the world.
 
The continent is also facing some challenges when it comes to the human development index. 

A lot must still be done to advance women and improve the quality of life.

As we head towards the anniversary of the Millennium Development Goals later this year, all countries are looking at their own scorecards.  

Looking at our own progress, the areas in which we have been most successful in South Africa, includes in facilitating universal access to primary education, a target which we reached before the 2015 deadline.  

This demonstrates that we are on track to achieve or even exceed the Millennium Development Goal target. What is more impressive with the achievement of this target is that the proportion of girls attending primary, secondary and tertiary education has improved significantly.

The attainment of the MDG target on education is significant for a number of reasons. Education is central to development and can serve as a catalyst to address gender disparities. Moreover, education is the primary vehicle by which vulnerable children can lift themselves out of poverty and obtain the means to participate meaningfully in the economy. 

For this reason the South African government has taken a proactive stance to ensure that in addition to the attainment of the numerical targets, our investment in education is accompanied by a related improvement in the quality educational outcomes. 

We will continue to invest in the education of women and girls, as by so doing we are investing in the development of the nation as a whole.

Our Government has also put measures in place to encourage the girl child to study in areas which have been predominately boys’ areas such as mathematics, science and technology. 

This is done through the Mathematics and Science Camps for Girls run by Government with initiatives such as Technology for Women in Business and UNICEF’s Global Girls Education Programme.

The Department of Energy leads the Clean Energy Education & Empowerment initiative designed to empower young girls and women in the field of clean energy. 

The private sector also plays a role in promoting the advancement of young girls. 

Our country runs the successful  “Take a Girl Child to Work” Campaign, which has witnessed the participation of many girls in exposure visits to the world of work hosted by government and private sector executives.

Esteemed guests,

We live in a continent that is one of the fastest growing regions in the world. This is the opportune moment therefore to advance women’s participation in the economy.

One of the key focus areas of leadership in the continent is to promote regional integration and advance intra-Africa trade. 

We are also implementing massive and wide-ranging infrastructure projects in the continent, including roads, energy and information and communications technology for example, which present many economic opportunities for women.

In South Africa in particular, agriculture and the ocean economy provide immense potential for women to participate as owners and producers.

This year we plan to invest two billion rand on the establishment of agricultural parks or agri-parks and we expect women to play a leading role in food production in these parks, including exports.

We are also pleased with the success of women as farmers in South Africa. 

There are female farmers who have been selling food to the World Food Programme already, while others have won awards given their expertise in farming which also creates jobs.

Government also champions and supports women in business through various programmes.

For example, since the establishment of the National Empowerment Fund (NEF) in 2004 to early this year, 21% of the businesses it funded are owned and managed by black women. 

The NEF recently established the Women Empowerment Fund, whose ethos is “Fund a Woman is to Fund a Nation”. 

Through this initiative, we intend to increase the funding for women owned business to a minimum of 40% in the medium term.  

Given that our country comes from the background of institutionalized racism in which the economy was also structured to serve a few, South Africa continues with economic transformation programmes to expand the ownership of the economy to black South Africans.

One of our new programmes is to promote the development of black industrialists. Our view is that women should comprise a critical mass of beneficiaries in respect of the development of black industrialists.  Our target is 100 black industrialists over three years. We trust that women will be key participants in this programme.

Other flagship programmes in this country is the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) which provides short-term job opportunities and training.
 
Within the public works programme we also have projects such as Working for Wetlands which includes targets of 60% employments of women. 

We also have the Working for Water Project which provides short-term contract jobs, created through the clearing activities, and the target is to recruit 60% women. 

All these programmes have demonstrated that women excel when given the opportunity.

We also run the successful Working on Fire programme addresses the prevention and control of wild land fires to enhance the sustainability and protection of life, poverty and the environment through the implementation of Integrated Fire Management (IFM) practices. The programme has a target of 37% women. I am told this is the highest level in any comparable fire service in the world. 

We congratulate all the firefighters who continue to brave the cruel fires in Cape Town, including women who have proved that they can undertake such a dangerous assignment with vigour and great skill.

We have learned with great sadness that a helicopter pilot died today when his helicopter crashed during the continuing heroic efforts to arrest the fires that have caused serious damage to the natural environment and property. We extend our deepest condolences to the family.
 
We take our hats off to all the fire fighters, they have made us proud, sacrificing their lives to save the lives of others.

Compatriots and friends

Women should also not lose sight of opportunities that are coming up through the BRICS partnership - the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa partnership. 

The new Development Bank will be established soon. The BRICS Leaders have decided that the Bank’s headquarters would be located in Shanghai and its African Regional Centre in South Africa. The BRICS Finance Ministers are working on the modalities for the operationalization of both the Bank’s headquarters and the African Regional centre.
 
We anticipate that the Bank will enable the funding of major infrastructure projects.

All this affirms that as African women, you are at the right place at the right time. You live in a continent that is growing and which should provide opportunities for all including women workers and those residing in rural areas.

While talking about the economy and sustainable development, we should be mindful of other key priorities in the continent.

One of these is the achievement of peace and stability in every corner of Africa. 

The African Union Peace and Security Council and the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation continue to work round the clock dealing with pockets of conflict or potential instability so that we can make every corner of our continent a peaceful zone.
Esteemed delegates and guests,

It is good therefore that as African women you are meeting to discuss the economy, which means you are now mainstreaming women’s participation in the economy and the ownership and control of the means of production. 

I trust as well that the guests will find time to explore this beautiful province.

The Eastern Cape has a lot to offer any visitor – from its rich historical sites to the scenic beauty and irresistible natural habitats. 

I wish you all the best with the conference.

I thank you!