In terms of women empowerment and gender equality, we are determined to ensure that all our provinces reflect our nation's commitment to women empowerment and gender equality and remain convinced that we are on course. As a country in general, we have made significant progress to promote women empowerment and the representation of women in key decision- making structures. Before 1994, the South African Parliament had a mere 2,7% representation of women. Through the visionary leadership of former President Nelson Mandela and the ANC, the representation of women immediately increased tenfold to 27% following the 1994 elections. After 1997, having adopted the 30% target for representation of women at the ANC Mafikeng conference, we stood at 30% and 33% representation of women after the 1999 and 2004 elections respectively, under the leadership of former President Thabo Mbeki.