Our people also know very well that it is only the ANC government that is truly committed to the full advancement of women within our society. We do not see women as poster or pin-up girls, campaigning for men to be in charge and perpetuating the old sexist marketing strategies of using women to attract attention. [Applause.] We do not take advantage of poor Gugulethu women to garner votes by distorting the truth and claiming that their shacks had been electrified, turning our poor and vulnerable people into thieves. We do not challenge the inhumanity of open toilets like some have done with the Makhaza open toilet fiasco, but we act swiftly to correct whatever wrongs have been done. [Interjections.] The dignity and safety of our people is sacrosanct to us.
Since 1994, not only has the ANC formulated laws and policies to protect and advance the women's cause for full emancipation, but through practical and consistent actions, we have shown our real resolve towards the women's cause. Today we have a national department tasked with the mainstreaming of women's issues. We have the gender machinery and we have employment equity legislation, which is an instrument for affirmative action. No one will argue against the fact that one of the most notable successes of our affirmative action policy is the positive move towards gender parity in this country, benefiting all women, black and white. Many of the members here would know that when we arrived at Parliament in 1994, even the inscriptions on the toilets read "members' wives", not "members." So, it showed that the women who used to come to this Parliament were not members. [Applause.]
The ANC and its government, including its own Youth League, have a clear policy on women's participation and representation in their decision-making structures at all levels. That is why President Zuma was not shy to appoint a woman as the Governor of the Reserve Bank. [Applause.] We celebrate when we witness, through the progressive policies of this government, many women taking charge of strategic industries in the realm of the economy and other sectors of our society. It is only the ANC that fully understands the legacy of triple oppression that women have endured and some of the continued hardships women still face today. ANC women have no inferiority complex, thanks to the Women's League. [Interjections.] Women who emerged from the political school of the Progressive Women's Movement are committed to the goal of an equal society. Women from the ANC will never surround themselves with men because they feel inferior. [Applause.]
We are the proud heirs of the legacy of great ANC Women's League leaders such as Albertina Sisulu, Adelaide Tambo, Lilian Ngoyi, Greta Ncaphayi, Helen Joseph, Ruth Mompati, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and many others. We do not need to parade women on our posters to prove our commitment to the issue of gender emancipation. [Applause.] We live our commitment daily, and it is reflected in the products of our efforts. Mr President, you and the