Hon Chair, hon members, I am really honoured to have been invited to address the House on this subject today. It is a very special day and a very special matter to talk about. We all know that Parliament is a tribune of the people and that parliamentarians are, in real terms, people's deputies.
The question of democracy is a very important one in terms of the heading, the topic or subject matter today of Parliament entrenching a people- centred democracy in achieving developmental goals. In reality, we understand democracy in the very traditional sense of "government of the people, for the people and by the people". Our view is that this is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for democracy. This is because in reality the democracy we are speaking about in South Africa in particular goes beyond just a representative democracy which really expresses itself in terms of what we just said. Democracy, in terms of content, refers rather to a system in which everyone has an equal, proportionate share in the rights and responsibilities, duties and services and constraints and opportunities which are accrued to or emanate from their own society. This is a very important definition of democracy, and one which speaks to a participatory democracy.
Government of the people by the people speaks to a representative democracy. Therefore, we are talking about sets of entitlements and obligations. These are very important in our view, because they are basically the head and tail of the same coin. They reflect the dialectical relationship between individual members of society and their society. We speak about democracy most of the time without reflecting on the obligations of people. We speak more about entitlements in terms of the conservative or perhaps the traditional definition of democracy.
In our view in the ANC, we think development refers in the main to economic, social and cultural progress brought about by certain political choices. We make choices. Apartheid was a political choice - an unfortunate political choice - which was driven by certain administrative processes and programmes that reflected the structures of government.
We can look at the subject matter we are talking about now and use it as an example. If you look at the migrant labour system - the manner in which it impacted negatively on land possession - it actually served to dispossess the land of different cultures of people and actually broke down the fabric of African communal society. That was a political choice driven by certain administrative programmes and processes.
When we refer to goals as the ANC, we are talking about social cohesion and development - the development of outcomes. Social cohesion is something that binds people together and defines people as people. In other words, it does this as a cultural entity defined in geospatial terms or contexts. At a broad national level, symbols of social cohesion include the national anthem, the national flag, heritage sites and legends. These legends who are defined are often males.
The other day the hon Minister of Transport, who was the Premier of KwaZulu- Natal, asked me who the legendary women in my province were. I come from the Eastern Cape province. I was really confounded. I started thinking and eventually thought about where I come from - a small region in the Eastern Cape called Cacadu, where we have the legend about a woman called Sarah Baartman. I started thinking about that, but that was about it. I was talking about other women there and he said that I should go back further in time. We talked about Manthatisi and others. He started relating to me just how important this subject matter is - the role of women in the past, how they actually contributed to the transformation of society over time and the kind of leadership they provided to society. So, social cohesion talks about legends, and we should begin to address these legends in terms of both male and female.
Development refers to shared growth and prosperity and full employment. It speaks to cultural progress and equality and equity, particularly with regard to women: the question of equality and equity in terms of content and form for women and whether in fact women do have the right to own land and to own assets in rural areas in particular.
The entrenchment of a people-centred democracy in achieving developmental goals therefore talks to transformation and fundamental change, particularly in terms of land, livestock, cropping and community. Talking to community particularly refers to the manner in which society relates to women; not how women relate to society, but how society relates to women in terms of rights and responsibilities.
We still find, in some of our communities, that women can't own land, that women can't own immovable assets, that women who raise children can't even be regents. Sometimes we have women who are unable to take responsibility when their husbands depart. This is a central issue in terms of the relations of power in some of our traditional communities. So, we are talking of relations of land, livestock, cropping and community. Who is in charge of homes when men are out there in the mines? Therefore, we are talking about the relations of land as a substance in relation to the way in which women are related to by society as a whole.
Therefore, rural development talks to social infrastructure, which impacts very strongly on women. We still have a lot of women having to go long distances carrying water and firewood on their heads. This is a matter that relates to the manner in which society relates to women. One won't find husbands carrying water and "inyanda yezinkuni" [a bundle of firewood] on their heads. They don't do that. Husbands don't do that.
The President raised the question of economic infrastructure. The President says that we still don't have kinds of infrastructure in rural areas which can make things easier for women, in terms of both social and economic infrastructure. We are talking about cultural progress. In fact, let's start with cultural facilities, libraries, schools, recreational facilities for young people, playgrounds for children and early childhood developmental centres in rural areas in particular, ICT infrastructure and the way in which we manage national resources in rural areas. All of these impact on the manner in which women live their lives in rural areas. These things must be there or else the burden falls on women.
Therefore, what this means is that when we are talking about land reform and rural development we are talking about issues that affect women directly. We are talking about issues that relate to how women carry the burden of society by raising children, having to carry firewood and water for long distances and having to cook for their children.
I think Saba Mbixane related a story about this very well. He said that one day a man asked God to make him a woman so that his woman could feel the burden of being a man because he went out there to work every morning and the woman stayed behind. God said it was fine, that he would grant his request and that he would be a woman the next day. The next day he woke up as a woman. She had to cook for the husband and make tea. The husband then left. She then washed the children, gave them food and took them to school. When she got back, she had to wash dishes. When she realised it was lunch time and the husband came back she had to cook lunch for the husband. When the husband left, she realised that she had to go and fetch the children from school, etc. Then in the evening she had to cook supper for the family. After that, the man went to bed and she was still busy. She thought the man was asleep but he was waiting for her. He said, "Well, there you are." And that's it - you know what happens. [Laughter.]
Of course she felt that she couldn't be a woman again. She didn't want to be a woman the next day. She said, "God, thank very much. I've experienced it. Could you please change me. I want to go back to being a man." Of course, God answered back. He said, "Unfortunately, what you were doing last night resulted in your conceiving a child. So, you are going to have to wait another nine months before you can go back to being a man."
So, this is the burden of being a woman. Can you imagine carrying a child for nine months, having to carry water and a bundle of firewood on your head, cooking every day - doing all of those things - without respite? That is what the life of a woman is worth in rural areas. Then a woman is told that she cannot own a herd of cattle or livestock because it belongs to her little son - the son she is still raising and the son she carried for nine months; again, because the girl-child cannot inherit these things so easily. These things are changing, thanks to our democracy. The Constitution that we brought about as a nation is changing all of this.
We are talking about equity and cultural progress. The days of girl- children not being able to go to school beyond standard five - when they said that one should just write a letter and get a response - are over. We are talking about women who are running the country. The place of women is not in the kitchen anymore.
Daardie dae is verby. [Those days are over.]
Chair, we are talking about a very important matter - a matter that is at the heart of rural development and land reform. When we are talking about rural development, we are therefore talking about development of women that talks to cultural progress so that we no longer have women who are supposed to be uneducated, women who must request their husbands' permission before they walk out of the yard, women who must request their husbands' permission before they can look for a job. We are talking about women who themselves can take responsibility for the running of not only their homes, but also their communities and society.
Our Constitution is said to be one of the best in the world because it created an opportunity for women to realise the best they can be as human beings, as South Africans and as citizens of the world. Thank you very much, hon Chair. [Applause.]
Thank you, Minister. I saw you shook up everybody. I'm sure they enjoyed your presentation. I now call the hon Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP.
Hon Chairperson and hon delegates, the subject of today, which is rural women, is very close to my heart. The debate is important in the work of this House. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on the International Day of Rural Women and, specifically, it gives us an opportunity to share what we are doing together to empower and improve the lives of rural women. It is for this reason that we requested leaders of delegations to participate and highlight the measures, plans and programmes that their provinces are putting in place to empower rural women in order to improve their lives as well as to highlight the challenges that rural women are still facing and how to address them. I'm happy to see MECs from some of our very rural provinces here today.
In our draft strategic framework plan, to be considered by this House shortly, we have identified the initiation and implementation of programmes aimed at assisting vulnerable groups in society as one of our strategic objectives for the term. Women, especially rural women, form part of this category. It is therefore significant to have an understanding of what we are doing, especially as provinces, in ensuring that we empower rural women.
In trying to address challenges facing rural women, we need to first know where we come from, where we are now and where we are going. As a veteran, I regard myself as more qualified to give such a historical background.
We all know that rural women were subjected to oppression in many ways. They faced discrimination, forced removals and apartheid. There was the legacy of autocracy, nepotism and corruption in service provision and decision-making over development issues. Paternalism was entrenched. In order to provide for their families, rural women tilled the land and were also there as collectors of firewood and water. Yet, they were expected to eat after men who usually had the largest share of the family meal. They stayed at home looking after their families while their husbands were away as migrant labourers. The system deprived them of the opportunity to be with their husbands in the cities. If they tried, they were harassed and hounded by authorities back to their communes in the countryside. In short, they were treated as secondary citizens in their own country.
As if this was not enough, they were subjected to traditional laws that often undermined their rights as human beings. But, despite these difficulties, rural women were able to provide for their families, keeping the candle burning until they were temporarily united with their husbands. The enduring philosophy of ubuntu kept their families together. There was communal tilling of land, communal sharing of seeds and communal harvesting. The hungry were fed, and the homeless were given shelter.
The intergenerational scars borne by rural women were to be inherited by their children, especially the girl-child. To this day, we are still facing the greatest challenge of the emancipation of women, especially rural women. Until we address this, we are not going to be able to support rural entrepreneurship. Women in rural areas are at the centre of entrepreneurial activity despite being less literate. Some are extremely poor and can hardly eke out a living without some form of government support.
However, our new democratic order has provided hope for rural women. The rural woman has the freedom to participate in decision-making structures. She has the freedom to express her views of the kind of development she would like to see and act on. She has the freedom to assume leadership, although she is still not empowered to carry out such a responsibility. There are, of course, many opportunities for such empowerment. One such vehicle is in the form of co-operatives. But this requires training on basic business management skills and project implementation in order to be sustainable. Stokvels constitute a means of saving for rural women as well as a way of participating communally in the rural economy, but our financing system remains largely conservative.
Where are we going? As a country we have a vision enshrined in our Constitution which is to improve the quality of life of all citizens and to free the potential of each person. The attainment of this vision requires us to work together now to empower rural women to be able to free their potential. We need rural women to have the following: access to education and health care; access to control over land and other productive and financial resources; and access to the creation of income-generating activities, thus contributing to job creation.
I am going to shorten my presentation because I'm running out of time.
The report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the improvement of the situation of women in rural areas released at the end of July this year notes that the persistent inequalities and discrimination faced by rural women pose significant challenges to the achievement of the internationally agreed upon development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals. This is a general observation by the Secretary-General of the United Nations. He notes further in his report that, as member states, we need to ensure that the rights of older women in rural areas are taken into account. These include equal access to basic services, appropriate social protection measures and economic and financial resources.
One of the important recommendations contained in this report is that countries need to integrate the creation of nonagricultural employment opportunities for rural women into all national development strategies and poverty eradication strategies and increase women's access to financial resources, including credit. The report, however, is silent on South Africa's attempts in this regard. Could it be that we are not doing enough to provide rural women with finance and access to microcredit for development purposes?
Our strategies to empower and improve the lives of rural women will succeed only if they are well co-ordinated across the three spheres. The NCOP has great potential in promoting such co-ordination and co-operation, but we need to work together to empower those who were condemned to hewing firewood and fetching water for centuries. Rural women are the vanguard of our rural development vision. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chair, hon members, hon guests, Cope fully identifies with the United Nations-initiated International Day of Rural Women. Although this day is only in its second year, there have been some remarkable developments already. In New Zealand, for example, journalists and communicators were invited to compete for the Rural Women New Zealand Award. This is such a brilliant idea. Rural women and what they do are forgotten simply because the media has always tended to forget about them.
On our continent, rural women grow 80% of the food produced in Africa. This is a stupendous contribution. Where would we be without this effort? Yet, women receive only 5% of the credit made available for food producers. These sorts of injustices perpetrated against women have continued unabated throughout history until the present time.
This is a fact, and it is a known fact. Yet, has government done enough about redressing this wrong? Does the Land Bank have a progressive policy in this regard?
There is also another issue that greatly concerns Cope. Two thirds of rural women in the world are illiterate. The proportion may very well be applicable also in South Africa. Has government done enough to alter this tragic situation? The number of rural women living in poverty continues to increase.
It is a moot issue having World Rural Women's Day take place on October 15 every year, one day before the Food and Agriculture Organisation's World Food Day. As the crisis arising from climate change intensifies, we will need to look to rural women to become familiar with a sustainable approach to food production. This is urgent.
Finally, we as Cope advocate that South Africa become an activist state, where all sectors of society are structurally supported by activists in their cause. Because rural women have never been activists, they were ignored by the state. We would like for them to become activists so that they can have increased opportunities in order to become literate, have access to information technology and resources, own a greater share of land and emerge into freedom from this feudal state in which they have been trapped for all these years. Forward with rural women! Forward! I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and delegates to the NCOP, hon Minister and leaders of delegations, ladies and gentlemen, I rise to participate in this debate on behalf of the province of the Eastern Cape. The theme of the debate is: Together empowering and improving the lives of rural women. Thank you very much, hon Minister, for laying the fertile ground in order for us to participate in this debate. My thanks also go to the Deputy Chairperson.
I have no doubt that the issues raised here are very close to the heart of the many millions back home. I also wish to join in celebrating all the women residing in rural areas across the globe.
Historically, the black majority of our country has been subjected to colonial subjugation, dispossession and marginalisation, with those residing in rural areas being the most vulnerable. Centuries of underdevelopment resulting from colonial and apartheid policies have left enduring structural legacies, particularly in provinces such as the Eastern Cape. In this province, for instance, the less populous western regions are materially better off than the more populous eastern regions. This historically induced structural crisis has been deepened by the current global capitalist crisis and neoliberal globalisation, which have served to limit the range of options for a more radical restructuring of the South African political economy.
Today it is generally accepted that women, through their triple exploitation, are the hardest hit, and more so women in rural areas. This is largely because of some ill-conceived and wrongly practised traditional and customary policies.
There have always been fewer rural women in employment than their male counterparts. There has also been less income for women compared to men; fewer women in leadership and management positions; more HIV and Aids prevalence amongst women compared to their male counterparts, and the story goes on and on.
It is rural women who were and, sadly in some areas, are still being forced into marriages.
Phaya kuthi ke kukho into ekuthiwa kukuthwala. UMphathiswa obekekileyo ukhe wakhankanya ukuba umama ... [In our area there is the ukuthwala custom. The hon Minister mentioned that woman ...]
... would come into the bedroom voluntarily and engage in some activities there voluntarily. Where I come from, there are areas where you do that against your will.
We all know and should appreciate the fact that over the past 15 years the democratic government has worked relentlessly to bring about equity to restore the dignity of black people in this country, including empowering and improving the lives of rural women.
There is no doubt that the progressive policies of the postapartheid government have had enormous benefits for the women of our country. These include the right to choose to terminate one's pregnancy; the child support grant; justice in the maintenance of children by their father; government procurement systems, etc.
As recently as December 2007, the ANC, at its 52nd national conference, adopted elaborate resolutions covering a wide range of issues of concern to women, including women's representation in decision-making structures, the women's Ministry and rural development, amongst other things.
As early as the year 2000, the province of the Eastern Cape initiated the rural development framework. However, this did not go far enough, hence the introduction of the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme by national government in 2001.
A number of rural municipalities, such as the Chris Hani District Municipality, the O R Tambo District Municipality, the Alfred Nzo District Municipality and the Ukhahlamba District Municipality participated in this programme.
The provincial growth and development programme launched in 2003 emphasised issues of job creation, poverty eradication, infrastructure development, human resource development, food security and agrarian transformation. All of these will benefit women, particularly those residing in the rural economy.
Guided by the 2009 ANC manifesto and based on the instructions drawn from the state of the nation address, the Eastern Cape has made progress in developing a provincial rural development strategy. We believe that there are key strategic issues that should contribute to the empowerment and improvement of the lives of rural women in the Eastern Cape. These should also form the basis for a national strategy and rural development programme. All these have implications for gender equality and women empowerment.
We believe that the first issue here is ownership of land and natural resources and assets. The second issue is employment, because we believe that rural development interventions should be aimed at creating decent and sustainable jobs, or at enabling people to generate income that is equal to or more than what they would have earned in the labour market.
The third issue is eradicating poverty and fighting inequality. The fourth issue is social development and basic human rights. The fifth issue for us, which the hon Minister touched on, is organisation and mobilisation of women residing in the rural areas. We believe that the reorganisation of people and communities, through democratic processes, is essential for any process of rural development.
The state should facilitate partnerships and create an enabling environment for development to take place. Reconstruction programmes for community institutions with a high level of organisation should be encouraged and supported by the state, for example the cultural, heritage and sport and recreational activities.
In conclusion, government has, since 1994, made a lot of progress in developing policies, enacting laws and implementing programmes aimed at empowering and improving the quality of life of women residing in rural areas. However, we are not naive; a lot still needs to be done to reverse the apartheid legacy and dismantle the historic socioeconomic disparities between the cities and rural areas. Thank you very much, hon Chair. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, my hon colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, before I make my speech, let me first share a story with you. Forty-five years ago, there was a young, single mother, aged 30, with three young children and no income. She had only basic education and had no experience or other formal skills training, other than her desire to survive and to provide for her children.
She went knocking from door to door, looking for work. She eventually put all her children through school and university, working as a cleaner at a hotel. Today she has rough hands and calloused feet, but smiles proudly at her children, who are now all university graduates and have families of their own. That single parent is my mother. This is a story of a typical rural woman in Taiwan. Having witnessed her struggle and tears, as her eldest daughter, I often wonder what the world could have offered my mother to ease her plight, even if it was just a little bit.
It is with great passion that I stand before you today to debate the question of empowering women in rural communities. There is no need for us to list numbers and statistics to know how much difficulty women in the rural areas face. We know that it is a reality, and a reality we need to address.
The struggle of rural women around the world appears to be universal. Issues such as low education levels, lack of legal protection, poverty and the low status given to them by the community affect most rural women. They are often left to fend for themselves and their children but without any resources that would ensure any kind of adequate care.
In South Africa, problems faced by rural women include, but are not limited to, the following: low literacy rates; low status in a patriarchal society; lack of control over resources; a low level of awareness of their civic or human rights; limited access to skills-enhancing or skills-acquiring activities; lack of access to services; being in low-return economic activities and with very few work opportunities; and having the dual responsibility of child care and income generation.
Now, we need to think and ask ourselves what we should do about all this. In order to empower women in rural communities, we should first look at the current resources they have at their disposal, such as the ability to mobilise the community and take advantage of currently operating co-ops; using women with skills as mentors for women lacking the same skills; and expanding the co-operatives' function to include supporting women emotionally, socially and economically.
Information dissemination regarding available services and resources and regarding women's civil and human rights is also important. Women need to be informed of what is available to them and how they can use these resources to best serve their needs.
Literacy programmes to improve the literacy levels of women in rural communities would hugely improve their chances of employment and of interacting with society at large, thereby enhancing their confidence and self-esteem. This would have a big impact on their families, communities and society in general.
Another important aspect of empowering women in rural communities is training in entrepreneurial and business management skills. Showing them how to start, manage, run and maintain a small business would be invaluable to communities where access to commercial employment is limited, in terms of both skills and geographical location. Linked to this is the accessibility of microcredit and funding to women. Training must be given on how loans can be acquired, and the qualifying criteria for such should be made extremely clear and reasonable.
Empowering women in rural communities is clearly not an overnight endeavour. As the theme of this debate - Together empowering and improving the lives of rural women - indicates, it is only by working together that we can achieve all that we hope to achieve. Let us be a success story for the rest of the world, where a different story can be offered relating to women in rural communities. It should be a story of support, assistance and hope. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, Minister, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, the International Day of Rural Women directs our attention to the challenges that young rural women face in our country. While considering that over the past 15 years our nation has made formidable progress in advancing the conditions and needs of women in certain areas, the vast majority of our young women remain mostly disadvantaged, not reaping the benefits of our democratic dispensation.
They still suffer from the absence of timely and adequate medical care, inadequate diets, and a lack of information and maternal health, resulting in complicated pregnancies and high maternal mortality rates. Young women in rural areas are particularly vulnerable to poverty and unemployment; and are subjected to becoming the slaves of culture, which in most cases takes away their youth and self-esteem. It takes very strong characters, for instance Caster Semenya, to survive against all odds.
The unemployment rate amongst young rural women is very high when compared to that of women in urban areas in the country. This indicates that the majority of young black women continue to live under extremely poor conditions in rural areas. We must aim to reduce the impact of poverty on rural women, based on the principles of sustainability and empowerment.
Women constitute 52,2% of South Africa's population. So, when we call for a better life for all, it means that we should have a larger impact on women, who constitute the majority of our population.
Limpopo, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal have the highest proportion of females - the largest number of the population - with the lowest level of development. The poorest of the poor in these highly rural provinces are the rural young women. This is cause for concern.
Strengthening our rural communities can only yield results once we mobilise young rural women into a powerful, active and united force that will know how best to seize economic opportunities in all three spheres of government, and if we develop policies for the provision of more health care, and improve the literacy and financial literacy of young rural women.
The legislation on the National Youth Development Agency received unanimous support in Parliament even from the opposition benches. That shows the commitment of government to improving the lives of young rural people. The agency will ensure that the youth agenda occupies centre stage in our national development agenda. The struggles of South Africa's youth can never be in vain and we must continue to rededicate ourselves to the efforts and cause of the generations before us and advance their ideals as best we can.
One of the key principles of the Ministry of Women, Children and People with Disabilities is that 80% of the department's work will be driven externally. That means most of the work will be to reach out to communities.
Young women, stand up and grab the opportunity for socioeconomic rights. The time is now. No one but you will free you from the shackles of poverty, victimisation and abuse. Life is not about where you come from, but where you are going. The ANC has made a promise to better your lives. It will never forsake you nor leave you. Working together we can do more. Thank you. [Applause.]
Chairperson of the House, hon member Tau, the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces in absentia, our hon Minister Comrade Nkwinti, representatives from all provinces and hon members of this august House, one feels honoured and humbled to be given the great honour of addressing this House, representing the Free State. The International Day of Rural Women is a call to review all that relates to the development of rural women in our country, the continent and the world as a whole.
Yes, much has been done throughout the world. Many countries, including ours, have developed laws that seek to protect the rights of every citizen and ensure the development of their lives. The pace differs from country to country and, yes, we need to acknowledge that some countries are way behind and need to be assisted to accelerate the pace; hence recognition of this International Day of Rural Women.
In our country we appreciate that President Jacob Zuma has made it a priority that there be great development in rural areas and has therefore restructured his Cabinet and departments in a manner that will respond and contribute effectively and efficiently to rural needs.
Our Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, the hon Nkwinti, is already working at a very fast pace. In the Free State his priority area is Makgolokoeng in QwaQwa, a former Bantustan that is so underdeveloped that it puts our people in severe conditions. Plans for an agri-village are at an advanced stage. Communities are very happy that the Minister is going to establish an agri-village in Makgolokoeng. As the Free State, tomorrow we will be celebrating World Food Day in Makgolokoeng.
We appreciate the fact that some of the women who were once farmworkers and farm dwellers are not only the tillers of the soil but are also landowners. There are still some challenges in ensuring that they then become full commercial farmers, but we are marching forward. Most of the farmers in the Free State are still at an emergent level. I am sure that standing here today, having done such a lot within such a short period, after 15 years in power, the Free State women who marched against the Native Land Act in 1913 are proud of us because of what we have done up to now.
For all of us this day should be a celebration of what has been achieved to date, but it should also be a time to look critically at issues and areas that still need a lot of attention in order to review our plans for accelerated service delivery. We need to join hands and look into our laws, policies and regulations. Where there are gaps, they need to be attended to.
The NCOP is our hope to ensure that when regulatory mechanisms are put in place they do not undermine or contradict our laws. The NCOP is our hope to ensure that the process of developing and amending our laws and Acts is not dragged out, but is short and effective. We need to ensure that all platforms that are created for the development of rural women, including the farm areas, work coherently and in an integrated manner.
At the moment there is no clear-cut coherence between the departments dealing with labour, land affairs and agriculture and the SA Human Rights Commission to work together. They still operate in silos. Therefore, there is a need for them to be clubbed together.
There are areas where human rights are extremely badly violated. We need these departments, together with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the police, and the committees of Parliament in all spheres, to respond qualitatively to these challenges. In the Free State we still have areas where people are made to drink water with animals.
We still have challenges where some areas are not easily accessible. Our transport modes need to be looked into in order to incorporate rural areas. In the Free State the train line that is being developed as we speak, from Bloemfontein to Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu, which was one of the Bantustans, is one of the areas we are looking into in our endeavours to improve transport in rural areas. In later years the train will reach Lesotho.
We still have areas where people are treated as slaves and not as farmworkers and farm dwellers; and most of the time these areas are not accessible, particularly farms that are within farms. The Department of Labour, the police and the SA Human Rights Commission are not able to enter such areas. These are areas that need to be focused on much more.
There are areas where our people are still deprived of opportunities to enter schools closer to their homes and where people are still not able to access government grants. These areas still need to be focused on. This day should be a day that we use to educate ourselves and our communities in that those who live with an abundance of service delivery make a call that for one or two years their areas are just maintained; that they say "hokaai" [Whoa] to development. Let most of the budget be redirected to the development of rural areas.
Chair, think of a woman in a rural area who is about to deliver a baby in the middle of the night where there is no clinic, no hospital, no ambulance, no electricity, and not enough water. Think of her rearing this child; when the child is ill and there is nowhere to go; no mobile clinic or any help. Think of the development of that child in an area where there is no school close to home and that child has to walk miles to reach one. At other times, when it is raining, the child cannot access the school. Think of the girl-child who ends up being raped and abused because of the rough paths she has to walk to get to any service delivery point.
I have been sent here by the Free State to do lobbying. If we, as the world, are genuine in our hearts about the International Day of Rural Women, we will drive and lead the campaign. Those with abundant service delivery should just let their areas be maintained, avoiding deterioration, with all the budgets directed towards our rural and remote areas. Let us do it.
Therefore, as the Free State, we are saying that this day should become a collective effort by all to assist in the development of rural women and that we should move at a faster pace. We dare not fail. In working together, women in the rural areas will enjoy the benefits of this democracy earlier than anticipated. I thank you, Chair. I thank the ANC and the ANC-led government for bringing about this democracy. Let us expand it beyond our areas to the rural areas. Thank you, Chair. [Applause.]
Chair, all protocol observed, three minutes is too little time to speak about such an important issue. Let me start by saying that there is no beauty in this world without women. They are the cornerstone of our nation and they have played a crucial role in the freedom we are enjoying today. I refer here to women like Lilian Ngoyi, Ruth First, Adelaide Tambo and many others, you can just name them.
All South Africans have extensive rights on paper and freedoms that we only dreamt of for years but, unfortunately, these rights and freedoms are not enjoyed by the vast majority of rural women. Rural women continue to be the most deprived within our society. Their daily burdens are vast and entrenched, and all too often they suffer alone. Rural women continue to carry the burdens of their families, land and communities on their shoulders, with very little time to focus on their own lives. What perpetuates this is the added daily toll of rural life and its extremes like poverty, Aids, poor health care, bad transport, a lack of education and unemployment. These are the burdens of a woman's life.
Rural women need empowerment through social initiatives that allow them to improve their own lives. Rural women have the right to feel secure and safe, financially and physically, within their communities. Empowerment is not just about improving a person's life financially; it is about empowering a person to feel dignity and pride in his or her life, to be healthy, and to work with others in the community. We need to encourage the young women of today and show them the role they can play to take their place in our society.
As parliamentarians we must help rural women and their communities as a whole to be empowered and improve their lives. We have a responsibility to ensure that these women receive their constitutional rights. We cannot sit here in Parliament and leave our women to suffer. It is important that empowered women, parliamentarians and leaders assist the women of rural South Africa to empower themselves. Chair, allow me to say these last few words. Allow me to thank God for the precious human beings that He has created to feed us, to help us grow and understand the purpose of life. Let us treat them with dignity, respect and honour. They tend to bring the best out in men. There is nothing more pleasant and beautiful than a woman. I thank you. [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, hon and distinguished Minister, hon and distinguished comrades and other hon members, it is Resolution 62/136 of the General Assembly of the United Nations, passed in December 2007, that established 15 October as the day of rural women to be observed the world over. This idea was born out of the resolutions of the 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. It is also appropriate that the International Day of Rural Women is observed on the eve of World Food Day, thereby recognising the important contribution of rural women who, in all developing countries, contribute to rural economies and livelihoods as active participants in a wide range of farming activities such as crop production and livestock care.
In sub-Saharan Africa approximately 60% of women are engaged in or are employed in agriculture. Women add to livelihoods in rural areas and carry out the vital functions of caring for children, the sick and the aged. It is also an undisputed fact that rural women remain the most vulnerable and disadvantaged in so far as access to social services and participation in economic activities are concerned. Rural women, however, remain the most vulnerable to poverty, disease and abuse. They bear the full brunt of epidemics, food crises, climate change, natural disasters, and economic meltdowns. Access to health and educational facilities and to gainful economic activity is riddled with never-ending obstacles for rural women, yet the struggle of rural women in the fight against apartheid is well documented in our history.
As a predominantly rural province, 56% of Limpopo's population consists of women. Provincial government has put in place active plans and programmes together with the necessary implementation and monitoring mechanisms aimed at empowering and improving the lives of women, particularly in our rural areas. Programmes are implemented by the various line departments in collaboration, where appropriate and necessary, with national and local government support and participation. The Office on the Status of Women based in the office of the premier and the relevant oversight committees of the provincial legislature monitor the programmes and their implementation.
A provincial war room on poverty co-ordinated by the office of the premier has been established to oversee poverty alleviation programmes. All the programmes are located in areas where poverty levels are high, and the participation of rural women in particular in the programme is an imperative. This is evident all over the province where rural women, with government's assistance, have organised themselves in programmes for, inter alia, crop growing, beadmaking, and participating in the services required by schools in the school nutrition programmes.
The pilot programme at Muyeshe village, identified and supported by the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, is a glowing example of how, through rigorous and co-ordinated participation at all levels of various government departments as well as with the private sector, we can begin to breathe life and hope into an otherwise depressed community. Vegetable tunnels, brick-making, water provisioning, skills development projects, road building, maintenance and the building of schools and health facilities are all being undertaken with women playing a pivotal role in these activities. A similar project on a similar scale and, it is hoped, with similar vigour, is being undertaken at Ga-Kgatla village in Limpopo.
Female farmers' programmes running under the structure of Women in Agriculture and Rural Development, Ward, have been constituted in all five districts of our province. An annual female farmer awards programme by the department of agriculture helps women empowerment and job creation. With regard to the supply chain, in the five districts, offices have been set up to assist, in particular, rural women in the tendering process, and workshops are held on a regular basis.
With regard to tourism, we have the Marula Festival, which is predominantly run by women. Women pick the marula fruit and display their skills in making marula juice, the marula liquor, butter, lotions and soap. The festival takes place near the Kruger National Park. This is also a time when women have the opportunity to expose their products to numerous tourists.
Abet programmes are in place to ensure that rural women, particularly, have access to simple literacy and numeracy programmes. Over 4 000 women are documented as having gone through this programme in the rural areas.
The programmes to allow women to have access to health services within the rural areas are well under way. The provisioning of clinics, and the acceleration of health service areas for pregnant women and elderly women within the rural areas are well documented. Extra ARV centres in the province have been created to deal with HIV and Aids. In the Expanded Public Works Programmes women must form part of the drive to create jobs. The infrastructure programmes within the rural areas demand that women in our rural areas be given priority in jobs where skills are not as highly sought.
As a country born out of struggle and a painful past, we, under the revolutionary leadership of the ANC government, lead the world in espousing the rights of women in all their forms. We must continue to do so. We must put the issue of women high on our sociopolitical and economic agenda. We must continue to use days like these to popularise the cause of rural women and to actively implement programmes, innovating and bringing in fresh ideas and programmes as we move forward. Women, and in particular the rural women, need to and have to assume their rightful place and pivotal position in all societies of the world. In South Africa, it must continue to be very much part of our developmental agenda. I thank you, hon Chairperson.
Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon MECs, hon members and the House at large, good afternoon. In addressing the call to address the poverty and the emancipation of women and ensure basic access to services for the rural poor, the ruling party has given its full support to the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme that is being spearheaded by the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform.
This strategy is viewed as the answer that many rural women have been waiting for, and promises access to health care facilities, water, food and jobs, which are all part of the bigger picture that is envisioned for rural women.
Currently, approximately 52% of South Africa's total population is women and of that amount 47% live in rural areas. South Africa's progressive Constitution and legislation provide the legal framework for equality and nondiscrimination especially in the provision of resources, but the challenge remains to implement these measures in order to improve the standard of living for women, especially those in rural areas.
Access to land remains a major constraint for women in South Africa as a whole. Land reform programmes and the tendency to break up communal land parcels, especially in areas of tribal and customary tenure, have almost exclusively transferred land rights to male heads of households. This lack of access to land for security and production has resulted in many women being disempowered, especially in rural areas. These women therefore have less decision-making authority over land use and land care, resulting in detrimental environmental management and loss of resources.
We need to address these issues by providing women with training and resources so that the custodians of our resources can be equipped with tools to use them sustainably. This can be done during the pilot project in Giyani and other sites identified by the department so that post-settlement support in the form of equipment, grants and training can be provided to the women, the providers of their families, empowering them to reach their potential.
Although rural women are assuming an increasingly prominent role in agriculture as producers and providers in developing countries, they remain amongst the most disadvantaged of all the users. The Food and Agricultural Organisation, the FAO, estimates that rural women are responsible for half of the world's food production and produce between 60% and 80% of the food in most developing countries.
Yet, despite their contribution to global food security, women farmers are frequently underestimated and overlooked in most development strategies. Men and women do not have the same access to resources and women's access is even more constrained as a result of cultural and traditional factors. All these concerns need to be addressed if women are to share in the wealth and opportunities that the sector presents.
While women represent a significant proportion of the farm labour force and subsistence food producers, they have been the last to benefit from economic and development transformation. Gender bias persists as farmers are still generally perceived as male by policy-makers. For this reason, women find it more difficult than men to gain access to valuable resources such as land, credit and agricultural inputs, technology, extension training and services that would enhance their production capacity. Their access to critical resources and services is limited.
Women in rural areas are severely affected by the lack of marketing facilities for agricultural products. Infrastructure and distribution channels are not available to market their products. Proper marketing analysis is needed in order to promote their products. Women in agriculture who do not benefit from proper marketing channels are themselves vulnerable to intermediaries who are able to exploit the situation by buying products at low prices and selling them at higher prices, thus making a huge profit.
In Giyani, for example, a partnership was established between the Macena Community Farm, which comprises a group of 36 women farmers, assisted by the Organic Farms Group and the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to produce organic vegetables for the local Spar supermarket in Giyani. The farm is 15 hectares in size, but only four hectares are being used productively. Plans to expand the infrastructure to include a pack house, storage facility and shade-cloth nursery are under way. The challenge for the group is to have proper expertise and advice on extension services and production. These need to be provided by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries so that the community can be more productive and have more economic benefits.
Most studies show that in the efforts to generate household food supply and income, a substantial burden falls on women. Almost everywhere, women are responsible for processing, storing and preparing family food. Rural women also fetch water and firewood for the family. Above all, women are engaged as family labour in agriculture and wage labour, as well as in other income- earning activities. They generate a substantial proportion - and sometimes even all - of the basic daily food for the family.
In response to the plight of rural women in the agricultural sector, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has responded by reassessing its priorities and making funding available so that the rural communities of South Africa can be accommodated within the economy. The Minister is cognisant of the lack of enabling mechanisms to empower women in these areas and has initiated programmes to address these. Various grants and Mafisa - the Micro Agricultural Financial Institutions of SA - are being reinvented to give priority to groups that are vulnerable and marginalised.
This House fully welcomes and supports efforts put into increasing jobs and finding new employment and economic opportunities.
The Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development programme, LRAD, provides an excellent vehicle for redressing gender imbalances in land access and landownership, therefore improving the lives of rural women and the households they may be supporting. The programme serves as a means of creating opportunities to enable rural women to develop in numerous spheres of life, therefore giving them security against poverty and independent economic status.
By ensuring that women participate fully in asset redistribution and agrarian reform, the programme helps government to meet its international commitments, for example in terms of the Beijing Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, Cedaw. In terms of the agricultural development programme, adult individuals apply for grants in their own right, rather than as members of households. This means that women can apply for grants to acquire land individually, or can pool their grants with whom they choose, therefore augmenting their control of the manner in which they benefit from the subprogramme.
In conclusion, I would like to say that we are on the right path as South Africa in realising the need to focus on rural development. We can show the world that what we have fought to achieve will be realised by all and therefore will empower women to eradicate the imbalances. I thank you, Chairperson. [Time expired.] [Applause.]
Hon Chairperson, Minister, it is really a privilege for me to participate in this debate today because our rural women are the unsung heroes of South Africa.
As julle my sal verskoon, gaan ek verder in Afrikaans praat. Ek het nou my stukkie Engels gepraat. Landelike vroue dra 'n driedubbelle las. Die las van vrouwees beteken die dra van verantwoordelikheid vir haar en haar gesin te midde van toenemende armoede en afsondering in die platteland, behalwe die alledaagse gesukkel om liggaam, siel en gesin aanmekaar te hou.
Bevryding het nie vir al die vroue op die platteland gekom nie. Navorsing deur Markinor in 2007, het bevind dat slegs 15% van die plattelandse vroue matriek of hor onderrig het, in vergelyking met ongeveer 50% van die stedelike vroue. Sewentig persent van die plattelandse vroue moet met minder as R2 500 per huishouding, per maand klaarkom. Slegs 20% van die vroue het 'n voltydse werk. Ongeveer 40% van die vroue is werkloos en dus ook permanent op soek na werk.
Die twee probleme wat ver bo ander uittroon in die landelike gebiede is di van migrasie en armoede. Die Wes-Kaap het 'n reuse immigrasie van 250 000 mense uit ander provinsies en die res van Afrika. Die bevolkingsgroei was 5,3% in 2004.
Die bevolkingsgroei is ook groter in distriksmunisipaliteite, soos hier in die Wes-Kaap. Die aanwas plaas 'n groter en immer groeiende las op ons reeds sukkelende gemeenskappe en munisipaliteite, waar die mededinging om werk en oorlewing net soveel feller en meer intensief is as elders. Almal ding mee om die skaars water, werk en natuurlike hulpbronne van ons provinsie, soos in elke ander provinsie. Dit is en bly 'n werklikheid en ons sal elkeen in ons provinsies en in Suid-Afrika 'n oplossing moet vind om hierdie probleem aan te spreek.
Volgens Statistiek Suid-Afrika, is daar ongeveer 150 000 meer vroue as mans in die Wes-Kaap. Dit dui daarop dat meer vroue aan die hoof van huishoudings staan. HIV/Vigs, fetale alkoholsindroom, tuberkulose, en wanvoeding is van die ernstige gesondheidsprobleme wat hierdie gemeenskappe teister. Klinieke is nie altyd binne die bereik van hierdie vroue nie.
Fetale-alkoholsindroom is 'n probleem wat 'n herhalende uitwerking op gemeenskappe het. Tienerswangerskappe, alkohol- en dwelmmisbruik maak 'n groot deel uit van die daaglikse stryd van ons vroue in die platteland, wat hulle vir hulself en hul kinders moet stry.
Statistieke bevestig dat vroue meer dikwels die slagoffers is van geweld. Nrens is dit meer waar as op die platteland nie. Sy is bang om die saak by die polisie aan te gee, omdat sy vrees dat die bietjie geldelike hulp wat sy by haar lewensmaat kry, van haar en haar gesin ontneem sal word, sou hy in hegtenis geneem word.
Daar is bevind dat die moeder van 'n gemolesteerde kind nie die saak sal aanmeld nie, juis uit vrees dat die pa haar sal viktimiseer en die karige hulpbronne wat die familie aan die gang hou, sal onttrek.
Ongelukkig is dit ook so dat ons polisie en regstelsel dikwels ons vroue faal. Die feit dat vroue soms lang afstande na polisiestasies moet afl, ontmoedig hulle. Baie vroue rapporteer nie verkragting en seksuele aanranding nie, want hulle persepsie is dat daar min of enige geloofwaardigheid is, of kan wees, in die regstelsel.
As hulle wel moet gaan vir forensiese en mediese ondersoeke, is die klinieke bykans onbereikbaar en is daar nie altyd die nodige middels om hierdie ondersoeke te behartig nie. 'n Verdere probleem is dat klinieke nie altyd toegerus is met die nodige mediese voorraad nie en dat daar ook 'n wesenlike tekort is aan kundige personeel om hierdie ondersoeke te hanteer. Vroue word egter deur die stygende misdaad getref en hulle het ook die minste toegang tot ons regbank.
In April 2007 is daar 'n verklaring van die vierde Wreld Kongres vir Plattelandse Vroue in Durban gehou. Probleme wat die plattelandse vrou dwarsoor die wreld benadeel, is bespreek. Afgesien van hul isolasie word plattelandse vroue verder benadeel as gevolg van 'n beperkte toegang tot natuurlike hulpbronne, infrastruktuur, finansile hulp en inligtings- en kommunikasietegnologie.
Die regering moet voortdurend toegang tot geleenthede en hulpbronne na die landelike gemeenskappe opskerp en verbeter. Ons moet sorg dat vroue toegang het tot water en gesondheid, want dit is die pilare van ontwikkeling. Ons moet mede-verantwoordelikheid neem om in samewerking met die vroue toe te sien dat hulle hulself bemagtig en sodoende selfversorgend word om na hulself en hul gesinne om te sien.
Vroue wat bemagtig word, help weer om ander vroue te bemagtig, want hulle deel hul kennis en vaardighede. Alhoewel die vroue oor 'n magdom vaardighede beskik, moet programme daargestel word om hulle daarmee te onderhou en te ontwikkel. Alhoewel daar spesifieke beleide is wat die nood van die plattelandse vroue aanspreek - soos nou met die stigting van die ministerie van jeug en vroue met gestremdhede - is die nood op ons plattelande so groot, dat alle provinsies hierdie probleem met groot erns moet aanspreek.
Basiese programme met die samewerking van die hele gemeenskap, kerke en ander organisasies, moet volhoubaar onderhou word. Daardeur sal vroue bemagtig word, soos byvoorbeeld deur spesifieke onderrig in handwerk om hulself en hulle gesinne te versorg.
Vaardigheidsontwikkeling in landbou, soos die begin en versorging van groentetuine, kan nie net vir gesonde kos op die tafel sorg nie, maar kan ook 'n volhoubare inkomste skep. Vroue kan bemagtig en ondersteun word om saam te staan en voedingskemas op die platteland by skole te begin, om die gemeenskap se kinders te voed.
Geletterdheid is 'n basiese reg. Ons moet meer doen om geletterdheid aan te spreek veral onder ons voorheen benadeelde vroue, waar ongeletterdheid steeds 'n groot oorsaak van werkloosheid is.
Meer moet gedoen word om ons dogters aan te moedig om vakke soos wiskunde en wetenskap te neem. Hoe trotser die jong meisies en vroue op hulself is, hoe meer sal die negatiewe faktore soos tienerswangerskappe, afneem. Meisies en vroue moet bemagtig word om 'n s oor hul eie liggame te h. Moeders moet hul seuns leer om vroue te respekteer en hulself te dissiplineer.
Meisies neig om skolasties beter te vaar as seuns en hulle neem meer deel aan wetenskap en tegnologie geleenthede. Kulturele en sosio-ekonomiese omstandighede neig om meisies terug te hou uit skool en tersire onderrig. Meisies doen beter in aanleg- en vaardigheidstoetse as seuns. Ondanks die hor intellektuele vermons van ons dogters, is daar 'n wesenlike afname van meisies wat by ons skole inskryf. Ongeveer 26% van ons dogters in landelike gebiede verlaat die skool op 'n vroe ouderdom, as gevolg van gerelde huwelike, tienerswangerskappe, familie en kulturele verpligtinge sowel as HIV/Vigs. Hulle moet dan as kinders die hoof van 'n huishouding word.
Meer meisies as seuns voltooi wel matriek. Daar moet meer beurse beskikbaar gestel word vir skool en vir tersire onderrig om ons meisies aan te moedig om te studeer en hul vaardighede terug te neem platteland toe. Beurse, spesifiek gerig op ons plattelandse kinders, is iets wat in alle erns oorweeg sal moet word, omdat ons plattelandse ouers juis nie die finansile vermo het om hulle vir verdere opleiding te stuur nie.
Dit gebeur in ons gemeenskappe dat meisies te bang is om oor seksuele mishandeling te praat wat deur onderwysers, ouer mans, en selfs familie en lede in die gemeenskap, teenoor hulle gepleeg word. Dit gee aanleiding tot die styging van tienerswangerskappe en die vroe verlating van skool, soos reeds genoem is.
By die armstes van armes word die kindertoelae gebruik om huishoudings van ondergang te red en dit kom eintlik nie uit by die kind wat dit werklik nodig het nie.
Die Wes-Kaapse regering het 'n beleid wat toegewyd is aan landelike ontwikkeling vir die volgende vyf jaar. Juis om daardie rede gaan daar nou 'n direktoraat in ons landboudepartement geskep word met die doel om strategies te fokus op landelike vroue se ontwikkeling en om die vroue te bemagtig. Kom ons werk saam om ons vroue op ons platteland te bemagtig en ons gemeenskap uit hierdie wrede siklus van armoede te red, tot voordeel van al ons inwoners van Suid-Afrika. Ek dank u. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)
[Pardon me, but I will continue in Afrikaans. I have now said my little bit in English. Rural women have to bear a triple burden. The burden of being a woman means bearing the responsibility for herself and her family amidst increasing rural poverty and isolation, apart from the daily struggle of keeping body, soul and family together.
Freedom has not come to all women in the rural areas.
Research by Markinor in 2007 found that only 15% of rural women achieved a matric or higher education, in comparison with about 50% of urban women. Seventy per cent of rural women have to make do with less than R2 500 per household per month. Only 20% of these women have permanent work. About 40% of them are unemployed and therefore also permanently looking for work.
The two problems that tower far above others in rural areas are migration and poverty. The Western Cape has a huge immigration of 250 000 people from other provinces and the rest of Africa. In 2004 population growth reached 5,3%.
Population growth is also bigger in district municipalities, such as here in the Western Cape. The increase places a bigger and ever-increasing burden on our already struggling communities and municipalities, where the competition for work and survival is just so much more fierce and intense than elsewhere. Everybody is competing for the scarce water, employment and natural resources of our province, as in every other province. This is and remains a reality and within our provinces and South Africa every one of us will have to find a solution to address this problem.
According to Statistics South Africa there are about 150 000 more women than men in the Western Cape. This shows that more women are heading households.
HIV/Aids, foetal alcohol syndrome, tuberculosis and malnutrition are some of the more serious health problems that are ravaging these communities. Clinics are not always within reach of these women.
Foetal alcohol syndrome is a problem that has a recurring effect on communities. Teenage pregnancies, alcohol and drug abuse form a large part of the daily struggle of our rural women, who have to fend for themselves and for their children.
Statistics confirm that women more often fall prey to violence. Nowhere is this more evident than in the rural areas. She is afraid to lay a charge with the police, because she is scared that the little financial aid she does get from her life partner will be taken away from her and her family if he should be taken into custody.
It has been found that the mother of a molested child will not report the matter, precisely out of fear that the father will victimise her and withdraw the meagre resources that are keeping the family going.
Unfortunately it is also true that our police and criminal justice system often fail our women. The fact that women sometimes have to travel over long distances to police stations is discouraging for them. Many women do not report rape and sexual assault because of their perception of the legal system as having little or no credibility.
If they do have to go for forensic and medical examinations, the clinics are virtually inaccessible and do not always have the means to deal with these examinations. A further problem is that clinics are not always equipped with the required medical equipment and actually lack skilled personnel to carry out these examinations. Women are, however, being affected by the increasing crime while they also have the least access to our courts.
The fourth World Congress of Rural Women was held in Durban in April 2007. Problems that adversely affect rural women across the world were discussed. Apart from their isolation, rural women are further disadvantaged because of limited access to natural resources, infrastructure, financial aid and information and communication technology.
Government should continually upgrade and improve rural communities' access to opportunities and resources. We must see to it that women have access to water and health care, because these are the pillars of development. We should take co-responsibility, in co-operation with women, to ensure that they empower themselves and thereby become self-sufficient to look after themselves and their families.
Women who become empowered in turn will help other women to become empowered, because they share their knowledge and skills. Although women possess lots of skills, programmes should be put in place so that they can maintain themselves in this regard and develop. Although there are specific policies to address the hardships of rural women - such as the recent introduction of the Ministry for youth and people with disabilities - the need in our rural areas is so great that all provinces must address this problem in all seriousness.
Basic programmes should be maintained in a sustainable manner with the co- operation of the whole community, churches and other organisations. That is how women will become empowered, for instance by way of specific training in a craft, to look after themselves and their families.
Skills development in agriculture, such as starting and maintaining vegetable gardens, will not only put healthy food on the table, but can also create a sustainable income. By empowering and supporting women, they can unite and start feeding schemes at schools in the rural areas and feed the children of the community.
Literacy is a basic right. We should do more to address literacy, especially among our previously disadvantaged women where illiteracy remains a major cause of unemployment.
More should be done to encourage our girls to take subjects such as mathematics and science. The more proud of themselves young girls and women are, the more negative factors such as teenage pregnancies will decrease. Girls and women should be empowered to have a say over their own bodies. Mothers should teach their sons self-discipline and respect for women.
Girls tend to do better than boys academically and they participate more in opportunities in science and technology. Cultural and socio-economic circumstances tend to hold girls back from school and tertiary education. Girls fare better than boys in aptitude and skills tests. Despite the higher intellectual capacity of our girls, there is an actual decrease in the number of girls enrolling at our schools. About 26% of girls in rural areas are leaving school at an early age because of arranged marriages, teenage pregnancies, family and cultural commitments as well as HIV/Aids. As children they then have to become the head of a household.
More girls than boys do complete their matric. More bursaries should be made available for school and tertiary education to encourage our girls to study and take their skills back to the rural areas. Bursaries specifically targeted at our rural children should be considered in all seriousness, because our rural parents just don't have the financial means to send them for further training.
It happens in our communities that girls are too afraid to speak about their sexual molestation by teachers, older men, and even relatives and members of their community. The result is more teenage pregnancies, which is why they leave school early, as already mentioned.
Among the poorest of the poor the child grants are used to keep households from collapsing and they never reach the children that are really in need of them.
The Western Cape government has a policy dedicated to rural development for the next five years. For that very reason a directorate is now being created in our agricultural department with the aim of focusing strategically on the development of rural women and of empowering them. Let's work together and empower our rural women and save our community from this cruel cycle of poverty, to the benefit of all inhabitants of South Africa. I thank you. [Applause.]]
Hon members, may I just raise a very disturbing matter. I don't know if you have observed it. Let's respect the decorum of the House by switching off our phones. If you don't know how to switch it off, ask the person next to you to assist you. If that fails, then just take out the battery. If it is new, and you don't know how to operate it, just take out the battery. We will assist you after the adjournment to put the battery back in and switch on your phone. Please, let's just show respect in this basic way.
Hon Chairperson, hon Deputy Chairperson T C Memela, hon Chief Whip N D Ntwanambi, hon members, hon Minister, hon Deputy Ministers, hon members of executive councils from provinces, distinguished guests, comrades and friends, ladies and gentlemen, I feel privileged and honoured to have this opportunity to address this august House on this relevant and important debate in the evolution of our struggle. We have defined the fundamental objective of our struggle as being the turnaround of the interconnected racial, gender and class contradictions that confronted our society that arose from decades of a special type of colonialism.
It is on occasions such as this that we are reminded about the instructive words of the former President of Frelimo, the first President of the post- independent Republic of Mozambique, Comrade Samora Machel, when he said:
The emancipation of women is not an act of charity, the result of a humanitarian or compassionate attitude. The liberation of women is a fundamental necessity for the revolution, the guarantee of its continuity and the precondition for its victory. The main objective of the revolution is to destroy the system of exploitation and build a new society which releases the potentialities of human beings ... This is the context within which women's emancipation arises.
These instructive words of the late President Comrade Samora Machel are still relevant even today, and they apply equally in the rural areas.
The province of Mpumalanga is predominantly rural in nature. As such, there are various programmes earmarked by the Mpumalanga government for the improvement of the rural communities of which the majority are women.
The provincial department of agriculture, rural development and land administration is mandated to implement most of the projects. The department of agriculture, rural development and land administration is implementing Masibuyele Emasimini [Let's go back to growing our crops], agriculture infrastructure development linked to the Expanded Public Works Programme, a livestock improvement programme, and research and development, as well as the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme.
In as far as Masibuyele Emasimini is concerned, as part of promoting integrated rural development and responding to the food price crisis, the province is implementing the Masibuyele Emasimini programme. The province has purchased 185 tractors and other implements over the past four years, and these tractors are utilised to provide mechanisation for rural communities.
In addition, the province assists the rural communities with the acquisition of production inputs for their own food production and sales of their surplus produce. The cultivation includes both fields and backyard gardens, which are extended to school gardens. To date, 28 000 households and 116 830 individuals have been reached directly through the programme over the past four years. The province has planned to reach at least 39 000 households or 200 000 beneficiaries this current financial year, making livelihoods much easier as households will be food secure.
During the current year, the province is also developing maize mills and silos to further allow rural women to engage in economic activities through the selling of the surpluses. More than 60% of these beneficiaries are women, as most of them remain in the rural areas, due to migratory labour. The administrators of the mechanisation programmes are mostly women and about 10 have been employed.
Regarding agriculture infrastructure development linked to the Expanded Public Works Programme, for effective and efficient intervention in improving the lives of women in the rural areas of the province, the province has developed a focused and integrated approach to agriculture. This approach fosters the consolidation of resources in the form of, among other things, capital investment, to achieve maximum impact on poverty and unemployment. Through this programme, the province provides assistance to beneficiaries and women in particular on the land-reformed farms, to derive economic benefits through this capital investment.
The support given by this programme includes projects dealing with the production of macadamia nuts, horticulture, sugar cane and poultry in the Ehlanzeni District Municipality; the production of horticulture, soya beans, poultry and cattle in the Gert Sibande District Municipality; and the production of soya beans, poultry and gold in the Nkangala District Municipality. About 2 507 beneficiaries have been targeted for this financial year to be covered by the infrastructure intervention on their respective farms, and more than 40% of them are women.
In infrastructure development, more women are employed, thus contributing to the job opportunities in line with the EPWP II framework. In addition to the job opportunities, technology and skills transfer to these women form the core. During construction, about 1 139 people were employed during the previous financial year and 34% of these were women.
Fencing as part of soil conservation also assists in the creation of job opportunities and ensures sustainable resource development. This does not only cover current needs, but also the needs of future generations as the resources will remain in perfect balance.
With regard to risk and disaster management in the province, the province has a disaster management programme that is meant to provide relief assistance to farmers in general, including women farmers, if they fall victim to any natural disaster that would affect their agriculture business. The assistance is generally in the form of livestock replacement, repairing of infrastructure and fodder supply. In the previous financial year, about 35 women benefited from this programme, receiving about 200 cattle to replace livestock lost during the 2007 veld fires.
In terms of the livestock improvement programme, the province contributes to the control measures when it comes to arresting animal disease outbreaks. The province provides assistance to women livestock farmers by controlling and preventing significant animal diseases. This is done through vaccination against diseases like anthrax, rabies and foot-and- mouth disease, among other diseases.
In collaboration with the Industrial Development Corporation, the IDC, the province is also assisting rural communities, predominantly women, in enhancing the productivity of Nguni cattle. This will also provide an enabling environment for the women farmers to farm commercially with the traditional Nguni cattle.
Regarding research and development, the province is continually contributing through its research and development programme in order to effectively respond to the environmental and economic needs of our communities. This focus has been on adaptive research, in order to maximise the support to women subsistence and emerging farmers and to rural women's developmental needs. Through the land tenure programme, the province contributes to the emancipation of rural women by providing land surety. Through this programme, women landowners are provided with title deeds to ensure that women become economically active.
The province is leading in implementing a pilot project for the Comprehensive Rural Development Programme, focusing on the Donkerhoek, KwaNgema and Emahashini communities in the Mkhondo Local Municipality. This pilot project is targeting at least 4 016 households. More than 2 500 decent and sustainable jobs will be created, and the women will be prioritised and targeted in compliance with the transformation policies. The province's plan is to direct resources and ensure that there is maximum participation and involvement by women. At least 50% women beneficiaries are assured from this programme.
The Expanded Public Works Programme, co-ordinated by the provincial department of public works, roads and transport, has programmes to improve the infrastructure, particularly the roads network, in the rural areas of the province through a programme called the Siyatentela project. This is done by involving the local communities.
Unfortunately, your time is up.
In conclusion, Chair, if you would allow me, the inspiring words of Stephen Grellet remind us that we are the servants of the people, when he says:
I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show any fellow creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
Indeed, I totally agree with Stephen Grellet. We have an opportunity on our hands. Let us make full use of it, and let's add value to the women in the rural areas. [Applause.]
Thank you very much, hon member Phosa. It is not always easy but I took advantage of the fact that she is a former Speaker so she understands very well what I am going through as a result of her time expiring.
UMntwana M M M ZULU: Sihlalo ohloniphekile waleNdlu, Phini likaSihlalo sojodu omkhulu wakuleNdlu, mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe, oNgqongqoshe-ke abancane bezifundazwe abakhona phakathi kwethu, ngithi ke, usuku lwanamhlanje usuku lwezizwe zihlanganyela ukuhalalisela abesifazane ekwenzeni izinto ezinkulu noma ekuphatheni imizi labo abasemakhaya. Ngithi mina, isifazane sesizwe siwumgogodla wesizwe, isizwe esingenaso isifazane saso akusona isizwe leso. Ngithi omama yibona abazi ubunzima bamakhaya, ngithi-ke kuyihlazo nje ke ukuthi yonke leminyaka babekade bengabonakali indima yabo ebalulekile abayidlalayo ekubusweni kwezwe. Ngithi ke ekuphathweni kwekhaya omama yibona izinsika zezwe ezazi ukuthi izingane zidlile noma azidlanga, ngoba thina singamabhunguka nje njengoba umuntu ebhunguke lapha eKapa nje awazi ekhaya kwenzekani, umama owazi kahle ngengane nekhaya ukuthi kwenzekani.
Ngithi-ke, labomama besizwe kufuneka ukuthi uNgqongqoshe weZolimo njengoba ephethe umgogodla wezwe, ngoba inhlabathi le esifihlayo uma sesihambile emhlabeni iyona futhi esiphila ngayo, iyona futhi ingubo yethu. Ngithi-ke, kusemqoka Ngqongqoshe ukuthi kufuneka uzibheke zonke lezi zifundazwe eziyisishiyagalolunye ukuthi omama bayanikezwa yini na amathuba namathuluzi okuthi bakwazi ukondla izisu zethu nezingane zethu. Ngoba kuke kushiwo ukuthi intandane enhle ngumakhothwa ngunina nje, uma efile unkosikazi mina ndonda ngakusasa nje ngoba amadoda asizili abuye ahambe ayobheka omunye umama, kanti umama uyakwazi ukuthi a zilele mina njengendoda iminyaka emibili abe ondla izingane zakhe. Ngithi kulokho Mhlonishwa Ngqongqoshe noma nenze konke okusemandleni njengohulumeni wethu ukuba nibhekelele izindawo zasemakhaya.
Ngingavumelani ngokuthi omama babengenalo ilungelo lokusho okuthile, ngizekelisa ngoMthani indlovukazi, yaphatha izwe kwaZulu, uMkabayi kaJama. Izwe ngabe laliphethwe uMandlakazi uma wayengekho uMkabayi, wahamba wayoshelela uyise intombi yagana yazala uSenzangakhona.
Indlovukazi ukaMsweli yaphatha izwe ngesikhathi uDinizulu eboshiwe indodana yakhe iboshelwa e-St Helena eNyakatho Kapa, waphatha izwe wabutha amabutho kwaZulu. Ngithi ke abafazi babelalelwa kwelakithi namanje uma ekhuluma umkami ehleba ngiyakwazi ukulalela ukuthi uthini bese ngivuka ekuseni ngikhulume. Ngibonge mphathi wohlelo. [Ihlombe.] (Translation of isiZulu speech follows.)
[Prince M M M ZULU: Hon Chairperson of this House, Deputy Chairperson, chief of this House, hon Minister and the provincial MECs that are amongst us here, today is International Day of Rural Women, when all nations celebrate women in doing great things or for managing homes and those who are stay-at-home mothers. The nation's womenfolk are its backbone - a nation without womenfolk is not a nation. Women are the ones who know domestic hardships. It is therefore shameful that the important role that women play in the running of the country has been overlooked all these years. In respect of running a home, women are the pillars of the nation as they are the ones who know if the children have eaten or not. I am saying this because as we are here, we are migrants who have migrated to Cape Town - we do not know what is happening at home, but the mother knows very well about the home and the child. It is important for the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to investigate whether women from all nine provinces are provided with farming opportunities and implements, to enable them to feed us and our children. The Minister heads the department that is the backbone of the nation, because the soil that we live by is the very soil that we are buried in when we have passed on and this soil is also our blanket. It is sometimes said that for a child to look well his or her mother should look after him or her, but if my wife should die, I as a man -like all other civilised men - will go and look for another wife, whereas a woman mourns her husband for a period of two years while maintaining her children at the same time. With that in mind, hon Minister, you, as our government, would have done everything in your power if you could look out for rural areas.
But, I do not agree with the notion that women had no right to say anything in the past - I can mention Queen Mthani and Mkabayi kaJama who ruled KwaZulu. The land would have been ruled by Mandlakazi if Mkabayi had not been available. Mkabayi at some stage went to declare love to a young maiden on behalf of her father. He later married the maiden and she bore him a son, Senzangakhona.
Queen kaMsweli ruled the land when Dinizulu her son was incarcerated at St Helena in the Northern Cape - she ruled the land and recruited the army in KwaZulu. I am therefore saying that women were listened to in my ancestral land and even today I listen to my wife when she speaks - when she whispers in my ear at night - then I wake up in the morning and talk. Thank you, Chairperson. [Applause.]]
Modulasetilo, Tona e e tlolegang, batlotlegi ba ba tswang kwa diporofenseng tse dingwe, maloko a Ntlo e, ke a dumedisa. Ke kopilwe ke Ntlo e ka manontlhotlho go bua Setswana. Jaanong ke tla bua ka tshotlego ya bomme mo malatsing a gompieno. Rona ba ba godileng ka dingwaga tsa bo 1930- 1950 re fitlhetse batsadi ba rona ba tshela ka temothuo gonne ba ne ba na le lefatshe, megoma, didiriswa tse di tlhokegang e bile pula e na.
Morago ga gore Lekoko la Mana?enale le tseye puso ka 1948, la tla ka maano a go humenegisa mothomontsho le go dira gore a tshele ka tlala le bolwetse. Fa ba sena go tsaya puso ba dira melao ya gore batho ba seka ba tlhola ba lema. Ka mafoko a mangwe, gore ba seka ba tlhola ba na le go ka itirela ka bobona. Mora go ba laela batho go kgaola leruo la bona. Sekai, fa o na le dikgomo di le 10 ba kgaola di le 4 mme o sale ka di le 6. Ba tswelela go dira jalo mo ngwageng o o latelang fa di sena go tsala. Ka tsela eo batho ba simolola go humanega le go tshelela mo tlaleng e e neng ya lere malwetse a le gompieno re tshelang ka ona.
Ka nako eo, lelapa le ne le tshwarwa ke mme fa rre a ya go batla didiriswa go di tlisa gae. Mme o ne a di laola a bona gore mongwe le mongwe wa lelapa o tsaya kabelo e e mo lekaneng. Ka moo go ne go sena dingongorego. Balemi ba ne ba na le didiriswa tsa temo. Ka nako ya kotulo ba ne ba kopa malapa a a sa kgonang go lema go ba thusa go kotula mo masimong. Fa ba sena go kotula mmidi, mabele kgotsa dinawa mme wa lelapa o ne a tsaya karolo e e rileng mme a kgaoganye bomme ba ba mo thusitseng. Ka mafoko a mangwe, o lemile kgotsa o sa lema o ne o nna le se o se isetsang balelapa la gago morago ga kotulo.
Borre ba ne ba dira kwa meepong. Ka nako ya fa dipula di na ba ne ba tla go lema mme morago ba boele kwa meepong. Bomme ba ne ba sala ba etse tlhoko masimo, ba etse tlhoko leruo, ba etse tlhoko sengwe le sengwe sa legae. Borre ba ne ba tla ka t?helete go tshedisa malapa a bona. Morago ga 1948 dilo tsotlhe tseo tsa fedisiwa ke tlhaolele, tsa fedisiwa ke go kgaolela batho dilo, tsa fedisiwa ke gore batho ba se ka ba se tlhola ba lema.
Mokgatlho wa rona o lwantshitse tlhaolele, e fedile fa ke bua jaana. (Translation of Setswana paragraphs follows.)
[Mr G G MOKGORO: Chairperson, hon Minister, dignitaries from other provinces, members of this House, good afternoon. This House requested me to speak Setswana. So, I am now going to speak about women's hardships nowadays. Our generation that grew up in the 1930-1950s found our parents surviving through agriculture because they had land, coulters, necessary resources and it used to rain.
After the National Party took over the government in 1948, it came with plans to make black people live in poverty and disease. After assuming power they made laws that told people not to plough anymore. In other words, they could no longer be independent. After that they instructed people to cull their herd. For example, if you had 10 cattle they would cull 4 so that you were left with 6. They would continue to do that the following year after the cows had given birth. In that way people became poor and lived in poverty, which brought diseases that we have even today.
At that time, a family was under the woman's care while the man had to find food to bring home. The woman had to make sure that every family member received a fair share. Therefore there were no complaints.
Farmers had farming resources. During the harvesting season they asked families that could not plough to help them harvest. After harvesting maize, wheat or beans the mother of the house would take a certain portion and share it amongst the women who helped her. In other words, whether you ploughed or not you had something to take to your family after the harvesting season.
Men were working at the mines. During a rainy season they would come home to plough and afterwards go back to the mines. Women would stay behind to take care of the fields, the herd and everything that belonged to their families. Men would bring money to take care of their families. After 1948 all that was brought to an end by apartheid. It was ended by the reducing of people's herds; it ended because people were not allowed to plough anymore.
Our party fought against apartheid; it no longer exists as I speak.]
I'd like to direct what I'm going to say to the Minister, Comrade Gugile Nkwinti. I feel that his appointment as the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform was one of the best decisions of the President. I have respect for him; he is a committed man and I know he is going to succeed. Two months ago, he became the first Minister to invite us to unveil a project on rural development in Giyani. I could only see the potential of development, and I could see the commitment of the Minister in that during his tenure he would like to see the lives of many people being changed, especially those of women.
Mr Minister, I am from the Northern Cape and recently during our provincial week we undertook what is called in the NCOP an oversight visit. We went around the region and took the delegation to four points as we wanted them to see what was taking place there. At those four points there are natural resources: water, land, people and the sun. People staying adjacent to these resources do not use the water. The water is only used by the big commercial farmers.
We took the delegation to Vaalharts and Spitskop - I would like you to write down these names. Vaalharts is a big irrigation scheme which, according to the media, is the biggest in the southern hemisphere. We then took them to Spitskop, a big dam which is almost the size of Lake Tanganyika. The caretaker told us that the dam holds about 6 million kilolitres. Next to these facilities there are big settlements of African communities, but they do not enjoy any of these. We need to ...
Chairperson, I rise on a point of order: I want to thank the speaker for this political education, but it is not part and parcel of the debate. But, we'll let him continue because he is talking about water now.
I have always thought that central to the programmes of rural development is the very strategic role water plays and therefore becomes part of the debate. Therefore the point of order is not carried.
Could you proceed and wrap up, please, hon member?
No, that man took my minutes. [Laughter.] I haven't finished yet. I was still addressing the Minister that ...
Your time has expired, but I will allow you to conclude.
Hon Minister, I would like to invite you to come to the Northern Cape one day to see what is happening there. The possibility of developing people in those areas is so huge that it doesn't even have to be planned. What needs to be done is to take these four resources, combine them and there will be production, and many people will not be hungry. [Applause.]
Thank you, Mr Mokgoro.
In conclusion ... [Laughter.]
Your time has long expired.
I agree with Mr Gunda that three minutes is too short a time to give a speech because he is a really eloquent speaker. I would advise him to join the larger parties so that he can get 10 minutes to speak. Thank you. [Laughter.] [Applause.]
I call on the hon Minister to conclude the debate. Hon Nkwinti?
Thank you, hon House Chair. I will not follow them. I was a Speaker once - Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
I spoke here about social infrastructure in rural areas. I spoke about economic infrastructure in rural areas. I spoke about cultural facilities, ICT infrastructure and resource planning capacity for women. If you don't deal with those things in the rural areas, you are not going to have an impact on the hardships that are experienced by women.
I will give a few examples. An hon member spoke about 36 women in Giyani who need a pack shed because they produce and sell. But as long as they don't have a pack shed where they can keep their produce and preserve it, they do not have full control over the market. So we built that for them.
They use an engine to irrigate. One of their engines was stolen. So we had to build a small room for them to keep their engines in. These are women who live in the village. They have got a market with Spar. This is a very important economic infrastructure development.
I spoke of social infrastructure. If you look at the health side of things, this affects women more than men. We had a secondary and a primary school with no ablution facilities. What does that say about health?
This government prioritises health. One of the first things that we did was to build 4x4 ablution blocks in both of the schools so that we can deal with the health aspect of the community. Again, you are actually impacting on the lives of women because they constitute the majority there.
The question of a market for women in rural areas as they produce needs to be addressed, because that's what they do. They have small gardens - some of them are relatively big. They produce. But they need a market.
In Dutywa, in the Eastern Cape, we constructed, in that department - I thought the MEC would say that - an agripark. In this agripark, we have 35 hectares. We constructed a vegetable processing plant. And this we did in conjunction with Fort Hare. That was for women because out there it is the women who are producing vegetables.
At the moment, if you go there, you can buy soup powder. That is from women growing vegetables and selling them. What is left in excess, they sell. This does a couple of other things for women, because it creates an opportunity for women to sell, as a market, as well as to create relatively sophisticated job opportunities and then for them to be trained. If you follow that through, you will find that, again, that talks to economic infrastructure.
If you look at the rural employment and training model of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, you will find that it is household- based. We are going to Mkhondo on the 30th and 31st of this month. I heard the hon member Phosa saying that there were 4 000 households there. That's exactly the point. Our model is based on households. For every household, we are going to contract one person. That person will be paid in terms of the principles of the Expanded Public Works Programme.
This has to do with creating opportunities for women to work. They will be contracted for two years. They will work; they will train. That's exactly the process we are going through in terms of our facilitation in the Free State. We are doing that because we want women to benefit from these programmes and to transform their lives using social infrastructure development and economic infrastructure development.
We are saying that when you contract, 50% of what you are earning must go to the household, and you can do whatever you want to do with the other 50%. We want to relieve the stress on women, not only by creating jobs, but also by making sure that there is food in that household for two years. We will train them. Finally, the most important thing is the social impact on women.
Firstly, we will employ them for two unbroken years using the principles of the EPWP, which say that at least 60% of employees must be women. We have discussed that. We engaged them. We said to them that we wanted them to postpone pregnancy for at least two years. That is the impact, and we want the hon members here to judge us on that. That is the first aspect. Secondly, we said that, as a result, we want to reduce the HIV infection rate because, in order for them to delay pregnancy, they must use condoms. The government has not been able to force young men and women to use condoms. We hope that this is going to happen.
Thirdly, we want to reduce the dependence on social grants by young women. It is the young women, and not the men, who are negatively affected by this. Fourthly, we want to reduce petty crimes, particularly domestic violence.
All of these things are factors that affect women more than they do men. That is how we want the government to be judged. It all has to do with us wanting to impact positively on the lives of women, especially young women. This is what we will do in every province we go to. We are in the Free State. We have started in KwaZulu-Natal and in the Eastern Cape. We are now going to two provinces which we have not touched on: Mpumalanga and the North West. We are going to Mpumalanga at the end of this month.
We will focus on the household because women are the people who are often heads of households, whether they are working in the mines or wherever. I went to Hlobane in KwaZulu-Natal, and I was shocked to find women in an old hostel. They are the ones who carry water. They live upstairs. They carry water upstairs because the facility does not allow them to have a tap up there. They carry water upstairs, wash there and then they have to bring the bucket down to throw the water out. These are women. That is what the programme of government is supposed to do in order to impact on women positively. That is what we are doing as the government.
Therefore, when we say, as government, that we are talking about social infrastructure, we mean this thing that has to do with constructing ablution facilities to improve the quality of health of our people. When we talk about economic infrastructure, we talk about creating village markets where women can grow and sell their produce, get jobs and feed their children.
ICT infrastructure is very important. When we talk about cultural progress, we are talking about rural women not having to go into the city in order to see the World Cup, if it's possible. Let them stay home. Let's provide this infrastructure at home. We are talking about women who can access information through the Internet from where they are in the rural areas. That is why we are building these Thusong centres, including at Muyexe where we built one.
The hon Bahlekazi [sirs] will perhaps be happy about this. We built one that is standing there. The community came together with their children and said that it was too small and that they would like it to be a traditional council chamber. They showed us a site where to build a new one.
That, again, tells you that now they feel they can make a decision, because you cannot emancipate women when they are unable to make these fundamental decisions, even against you as the government. You need to be able to say, "Fine, we thought that centre would be fine there, but we have learnt. We understand now. It can't be there." The community should be able to say, "This is what we want you to do. That's where we want you to build this centre."
We will. We have to respond to it because the majority of the people we are dealing with there are women. Why they decided to turn what we referred to as a Thusong centre into a traditional house, we don't know, but that's what they want. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Thank you very much, hon Minister. Before we conclude, I just want to thank the Minister, of course, on behalf of the House for having opened and closed this very important debate.
A very important observation, of course, is the level of interest that has been shown by MECs from the provinces. Four MECs actively participated in the debate, two being female and two being male. In terms of the overall participation of members in the debate, the males participated more than the females. This is quite an important and progressive sign of how very seriously, as Parliament and as the National Council of Provinces, we take matters of women's empowerment and, in particular, in relation to rural women. So, therefore, thank you very much.
Debate concluded.
Consideration OF REPORT OF SELECT COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into outer Space