Hon Chairperson, hon members, girls in absentia, it is indeed with sadness that we celebrate this day today, while at the same time we mourn the lives of fellow people whose lives have been terminated brutally and in horrible ways. It's actually sad that today in South Africa we have children who disrespect their parents. We have a Children's Act that actually disables parents in their homes to take charge and control. Hence, we are where we are today.
Our country calls for a new debate, and this debate talks to the establishment of harder and harsher sentences for people found guilty of murder, rape, assault and all the crimes committed against humanity. A study by Interpol has revealed that South Africa leads in terms of rape, because in our country, a woman is raped every 17 seconds.
Gender equality is a sensitive concern and we need a fundamental transformation of the entire structure of society to change and commit to respect women's rights. The Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities has failed to deliver on its mandate to address the need for equity and access to development opportunities. [Interjections.]
Women are home-builders and they suffer more in order to sustain their families. How do you empower and energise a woman whose daughter has been raped by a mob of men and brutally murdered? How do you resuscitate a woman whose son has been murdered by those who are supposed to uphold the law; a woman whose husband has been killed while at work by the very people who are actually supposed to advocate our safety and security?
We have the Commission for Gender Equality in South Africa, but this unit is dysfunctional due to inadequate capacity. We need seven commissioners to implement the Act, but in December 2011, we had three and around May 2012, we had two commissioners. Is this how serious government is about these issues? I wonder! [Interjections.] Levels of sexual offences are persistently high and most of the departments still haven't submitted their reports to Parliament on the implementation of the Sexual Offences Act in their departments.
The great challenge of education remains, as girls are still excluded from education. Many more are enrolled in schools, but drop out. Leadership development is a critical step in female empowerment and it will ensure that women secure equal rights and opportunities. The Fourth World Conference on Women, held in Beijing, recognised that women's literacy is the key to empowering them. In addition, the United Nations has articulated the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, which include goals for improved education, gender equality and women's empowerment. The pace at which we are moving as a country in realising the MDGs is unspeakable. According to Human Rights Watch, the maternal mortality rate is still increasing in South Africa.
This is a time and age when women can be pilots, chief executive officers or even Presidents, and men can be nurses, cleaners or even stay-at-home dads and take care of children and the household. Gender alone should no longer determine what a person can or cannot do.