Chairperson, hon members, hon guests, while addressing a Joint Sitting of Parliament to commemorate 10 years of democracy in South Africa on 10 May 2004, Tata Madiba said, and I quote:
Let us never be unmindful of the terrible past from which we come - using that memory not as a means to keep us shackled to the past in a negative manner, but rather as a joyous reminder of how far we have come and how much we have achieved.
Today, in this debate, I will be talking about women and land. The mandate of the department has been defined as the promotion, facilitation, co- ordination and monitoring of the realisation of the rights of women. It is not a service provider, hon Louw of the EFF.
The patriarchal system of law and land rights has deprived women of independent access to land and control over the product of their labour. This must be addressed by ensuring that the women have the same rights as men in regard to all land-related issues and must be given special assistance to realise these rights. The Land Claims Court should be empowered to consider the claims of women who are, or were, excluded from land ownership and entitlement by law, custom or practice.
Abesifazane ezindaweni zasemakhaya basaqhubeka nokungabi nalo ilungelo lomhlaba, ikakhulukazi uma bengashadile. Uma wawushadile washonelwa umyeni wakho, awunalo ilungelo lokuya phakathi kwamadoda uma sekuyobekwa inxiwa. Kufuneka ube nomuntu wesilisa ozokumela, kube nguye otshelwa yonke into, nokhokhayo egameni lowesifazane. Abantu besifazane basacindezelekile ezindaweni zasemkhaya ngoba abakwazi ukuzimela; ngaso sonke isikhathi kumele bamelwe.
Kwezinye izikhathi, abanye besilisa, uma owesifazane enikwa isikhundla sokuphatha, bayahluleka ngisho nokufihla ukuthi bona abasoze baphathwa abantu besifazane. Siyakubonga ukushintsha kwemithetho ngoba abaningi abantu abesifazane sebephethe izikhundla eziphezulu. Sibonga kakhulu umbutho wesizwe uKhongolose ngokulwela ilungelo lokulingana ngokwamathuba kubantu besifazane. (Translation of isiZulu paragraphs follows.)
[Women in the rural areas continue to be deprived of land rights, especially if they are not married. Widows do not have the right to be amongst men when the site is being allocated. These widows must have a male representative - they will then tell him everything, and he will then pay on behalf of that woman. Women are still oppressed in the rural areas because they cannot represent themselves; they must always be represented by someone else. Sometimes, some men, when a woman is given a management position, cannot even hide the fact that they don't want to be supervised by a female. The change brought about by legislation has ensured that we now have many women who occupy key positions. Huge gratitude goes to the people's party, the ANC, for fighting to ensure that women get equal opportunities.]
This is a critical element of the National Democratic Revolution, NDR, whose strategic objective is the creation of a united, nonracial, nonsexist and democratic society.
Redistributive reforms are fundamental to the cause of redressing the racial injustices and the skewed distribution of land, wealth and income. Many policy initiatives have dealt with the question of land.
The 1992 ANC Policy Guideline, Ready to Govern, which speaks to redressing the injustices of the past, was identified as a fundamental point of departure for any future land policies for South Africa.
The critical component of the policy was to strike a balance between the issues of equitable distribution of land and the development and maintenance of a productive agricultural sector and a vibrant rural economy. It was intended to ensure economic growth and improve the wellbeing of all South Africans. The Reconstruction and Development Programme, RDP, of 1995 identified land as the most basic need for dwellers in rural areas. Further acknowledgment of the effects of capital-intensive agricultural policies resulted in the large-scale evictions of farm dwellers from their land. Even then, it was believed that land reform should form part of a comprehensive rural development programme, must raise rural incomes and productivity and must encourage the use of land for agriculture and other productive purposes as well as for residential purposes.
The ANC 52nd National Conference Resolution in 2007 identified rural development, land reform and agrarian change as a critical pillar of South Africa's programme of economic transformation. These issues are fundamental elements of a wider restructuring programme, hence there is a need to ensure that land reform forms part of a wider programme of rural development.
Some of the crucial proposals were: to support smallholder farming in a manner that improves rural livelihoods; and to create a fully resourced overarching authority to drive and co-ordinate an integrated programme of rural development.
The ANC envisaged implementation of large-scale programmes that would establish new smallholders and improve productivity of the existing small- scale and subsistence farmers in order to address the triple challenge of unemployment, poverty and inequality, especially in the rural areas.
The programme of land reform of the ANC-led government is a constitutional imperative and it addresses the imbalances and injustices in the South African political economy. It also encompasses restitution, redistribution and tenure reform.
There is a need to entrench agrarian transformation so that the land redistribution reforms are accompanied by effective access to inputs, tools, equipment and markets. In addition, there is a need to provide infrastructure for communication and transport, as well as support services such as extension training, skills development and marketing advice, as these are crucial elements of the transformation process.
Sustainable job creation programmes will incorporate the provision of infrastructure and skills to enhance the productive capacity of these areas, as well as raise the standard of living of the people. These programmes should focus on economically viable localities but should benefit all the people in rural areas, especially women.
Rural women in South Africa, during the colonial and apartheid era, could not legally acquire land in their own right. They were also marginalised in rural governance structures such as districts and tribal authorities. Access to land for women is a very important resource for poverty alleviation because people depend on it for cultivation, food production and their livelihoods.
Unequal access to land remains one of the most important forms of inequality which has dire consequences for women, as both social and political actors in society. Land reform, redistribution and access are key areas that still need attention and gender-mainstreaming in order to ensure that women benefit equally in the South African land reform programme.
While the official land programme aims to redress past inequalities resulting from systematic racial discrimination, the implementation of a gender equality approach requires a change in local structures, beliefs and the division of labour as they manifest themselves within the work of these departments as well.
In conclusion, the major issues concern the advancement of women's rights in regard to communal, family and household land, as well as the recognition of women's rights to participate on equal terms with men as individuals in land reform projects.
Legislation and policy alone cannot guarantee equitable access to land for women because of the patriarchal nature of South African society. Proper monitoring and evaluation systems with clear indicators, inclusive of gender-disaggregated data, should be put in place to ensure that there is a gender-equitable land reform process and employment equity practices.
The reopening of land claims for restitution for a period of five years commencing in 2014 - this year - will be a bonus to women in South Africa.
Therefore, I encourage all women of this country, those who were forcibly removed from their land, and even those whose husbands have passed on but who were the owners of land, to go and lay rightful claim to their land.
As the ANC said in its 2014 manifesto, we will continue to improve the tenure security and administration of people living in communal areas, with an emphasis on women's tenure security.
The ANC supports the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]