WOMENS STRUGGLE IN SOUTH AFRICA: POST APARTHEID REVIEW

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WOMENS STRUGGLE IN SOUTH AFRICA POST APARTHEID
REVIEW
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INTRODUCTION

• Gender empowerment and equality is imperative to
  South Africas democracy.
  
• Vision not only for SA government but the
  continent of Africa as well as the world at
  large.
  
• Women empowerment is one of the Millennium
  Development Goals.
  

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INTRODUCTION

• Freedom cannot be achieved unless the women have
  been emancipated from all forms of oppression.
  All of us take this on board that the objectives
  of the Reconstruction and Development Programme
  will not have been realized unless we see in
  visible practical terms that the conditions of
  women in our country have radically changed for
  the better, and that they have been empowered to
  intervene in all aspects of life as equals with
  any other member of society. (President
  Mandela 1994)

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ROLE OF WOMEN

• The issue of gender equality and emancipation of
  women from all forms of oppression is central to
  South Africas agenda for a better life for all.
  
• SA government is committed to a meaningful role
  that women should play as beneficiaries of the
  fruits of the world that is redefining itself.
  
• The role of women currently is one of the most
  important topics discussed at various
  multilateral fora including the United Nations.

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ROLE OF WOMEN (CONT)

• Any process which, consciously or unconsciously
  undermines the full emancipation of women is
  fundamentally hostile to our objective of
  building a South Africa that is democratic,
  non-racial and non-sexist and which truly belongs
  to all the people. It is not possible to realise
  our full economic potential while we continue to
  marginalise women who constitute the majority of
  our people. (Pres Mbeki, 2005)

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SOUTH AFRICA HISTORY OF STRUGGLE OF WOMEN

• South Africa comes from a very painful past which
  oppressed the majority of our people - in
  particular women.
  
• Laws and Policies were deliberately put in place
  to undermine and oppress the majority of SA
  population.
  

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SOUTH AFRICA HISTORY OF STRUGGLE OF WOMEN (CONT)

• These policies led to forced removals of African
  people from their homes and in breaking down and
  paralysing family units.
  
• This, created conditions that were more harsh
  especially on African women as they were
  exploited on the basis that they were black,
  women and workers.
• This, we often refer to as triple oppression of
  race, gender and class.
  
• Women of other races in South Africa including
  whites were also regarded as inferior to men due
  to the fact that they were women and were seen as
  minors and /or dependants.

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SA HISTORY (CONT)

• In the 50s women decided to fight against all
  the injustices that were imposed on them and
  became the major source of resistance.
  
• A historic march was mobilised in 1956 where more
  than 20,000 women marched to protest against the
  imposition of pass laws while demanding the
  fundamental rights of justice, equality and
  freedom.

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY

• The repealing of Apartheid policy in 1994
  together with other discriminatory laws, marked
  the beginning of a new era.
  
• Following this was the adoption of South Africas
  constitution in 1996.
  
• This Constitution is said to be one of the most
  progressive as well as most gender aware
  constitutions in the world.

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY (CONT)

• Following the historic Fourth World Conference on
  Women in Beijing, and following a lot of
  consultations with the South African Women
  bodies, the government adopted the Platform for
  Action in 1996.
• The point of departure for this action was for
  Government departments to identify tangible
  actions to be employed to assist the process of
  achieving gender equality and advancement of
  women socially and economically.

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY (CONT)

• The Office on the Status of Women (OSW) was
  established in the Presidency.
  
• In 7 of 9 provinces similar offices were set up.

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY (CONT)

• In 1997 the National Commission on Gender
  equality was formed to address and promote gender
  empowerment and equity.
  
• This commission ensures that government and other
  non-statutory bodies adhere to their commitment
  to gender equality.

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY (CONT)

• Joint Monitoring Committee for Quality of Life
  and Status of Women focuses on the quality of
  life and status of women in particular where
  legislation is concerned.
• This body is located in the Parliament of SA.
• The Human Rights Commission plays an important
  role in the protection of the rights of women.

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY (CONT)

• Various laws which ensure the rights of women are
  protected were also passed by Parliament .
  
• These are
• Employment Equity Act (1998),
• Basic Conditions of Employment Act (1997),
• Domestic Violence Act (1998),
• Maintenance Act (1998),
• Promotion of Equality
• Prevention of unfair Discrimination Act (2000)

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY (CONT)

• The Expanded Public works programme was launched
  in 2004 to fight poverty in South Africa.
  
• One of its key objectives is the empowerment of
  women in particular women in the rural areas.
  
• It also ensures recognition and participation of
  women in non female traditional roles e.g.
  entrepreneurship, construction and so on.
  
• Through programmes like these together with the
  National skills Initiative headed by the
  Department of labour, government is seeking to
  improve the lives of women.

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY (CONT)

• The following Ministries are headed by women
• Foreign Affairs,
• Public Works,
• Agriculture,
• Housing,
• Minerals and Energy,
• Communications,
• Water Affairs,
• Education, and
• Home Affairs.

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY (CONT)

• The Deputy President of SA, HE Pumzile
  Mlambo-Ngcuka is also a woman.
  
• Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Parliament are
  women.
  
• Various SA missions are headed by female
  Ambassadors.
  
• 40 of the Provincial Premiers are women.

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY (CONT)

• Organisations like Women Build Initiative (WBI)
  which are a partnership between government and
  civil society were borne of consultations.
  
• WBI was formed to raise consciousness about the
  construction sector, womens role and to provide
  training and experience for women, amongst other
  things. (Women Build Initiative, 2007)

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY (CONT)

• 75 of businesses in South Africa employ women in
  senior management positions.
  
• 26 of total senior management posts in South
  Africa are filled by women, beating the global
  average by 7.

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY (CONT)

• South African government launched the Accelerated
  Shared Growth Initiative of South (ASGISA) in
  2004
  
• To empower women through human resource
  training.
  
• To enable adequate access to finance and
  financial institutions.
  
• To fast track them out of the second economy.
• To ensure significant participation in
  agriculture and creative industries.
  
• To improve access to basic services.
• To increase participation in expanded public
  works programme.

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY (CONT)

• Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition
  (JIPSA) was launched to identify urgent skills
  needed and to identify training needs.
  

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POST 1994 DEVELOPMENTS DAWN OF THE ERA OF
DEMOCRACY (CONT)

• In 2006 South Africa hosted the 4th Congress on
  Rural Women which emphasised the need for rural
  women in the world to flourish out of poverty and
  participate in the mainstream economy.

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CONCLUSION

• This empowerment must mean that the ordinary
  women in the rural areas should be freed from the
  daily arduous and back-breaking tasks. This
  emancipation must mean that we make the necessary
  progress to arm women with education, with skills
  and information so that they can participate
  meaningfully in the economic and social
  development opportunities that are available in
  our country. (Pres Mbeki, 2005)
• Thank you.