I wish you were an issue, but you are not!
Chairperson, I want to dedicate my speech to the fallen heroine and great daughter of our nation, the late Mama Nontsikelelo Albertina Sisulu, intombi yakwaThethiwe, uMandlangisa, oyintombi yaseXolobe, eTsomo [a daughter to Thethiwe, Mandlangisa, from Xolobe village at Tsomo].
[Interjections.] You see, Chair, there are people here who really distract a person! If you look at MaSisulu, you will see she was one of the most steadfast, dignified and disciplined pillars of our struggle for liberation. She was a devoted servant who served our people with humility until her last moments. She lived an illustrious life of devotion to the struggles of our people. She was the embodiment of the struggle against apartheid and also fought for gender equality in our society. To some of us who took over the baton of the fight for gender equality, the life of MaSisulu represented the embodiment of the principles, values and ideals of the struggle waged by women such as Madie Hall Xuma, Ida Mntwana, Lilian Ngoyi, Charlotte Maxeke, Dorothy Nyembe, Florence Matomela, Rahima Moosa, Sophie De Bruyn and many other women. As we speak about Mama Sisulu, I remember just after her unbanning, she addressed a crowd and said the following.
"Ixesha lala madlagusha liphelile." Kwaye mna ndifuna ukuthi la amadlagusha alibele ukuba ayiselo xesha lawo eli. Endaweni yokuba ngewayemamele umama uSisulu ngokuya, asuka atshela okwentshwela yomphokoqo embizeni. Kaloku ntshw ela yomphokoqo ubangayikrwela imbiza ayisuki endaweni yoko umoshakalelwa yimbiza yakho.
Anjalo ke amadlagusha. Kwaye ke ayexhaphe kakhulu ke ngelo xesha. Amandla wethu babewamfimfitha ude ubone ukuba wena uza kusala ungasenalo negazi eli. Maze bangalibali ngoba nathi asilibelanga kodwa sixolile. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
["The time for the boers has come to an end." I also want to say that these boers have forgotten that this is not their time. Instead of listening to Mama Sisulu, they resisted change. It is very difficult to make people see change, and instead advocates for change will be persecuted and murdered, to the detriment of our country.
This is typical of the boers. During that time they were plundering state resources. They were pitilessly exploiting our labour force. They must not forget, because we have not, but we have forgiven.]
As I look at myself, I am thinking that 35 years ago I was what you would call a Grade 10 student. That shows how South Africa has grown and how the young people of this country, with their spirit of asijiki [no surrender], turned this country into the South Africa it is now. Before I continue - otherwise I will overrun my time - I think I must say that when you have an unholy alliance you tend to lose your morals and principles ... ... okanye uba lixoki ngesiXhosa esiphandle ngoba akubinanyaniso kwaye uthengisa ngesiqu sakho. Amanye amalungu ahloniphekileyo apha eNdlwini kufuneka esebenzele abaphathi babo ngoku yiloo nto engasakwazi ukuthetha inyaniso. Bathetha izinto ezingenamsebenzi nezingazukwakha.
Ndifuna ukuthi Sihlalo, abanye babo balibele ukuba asiyilibelanga into yokuba xa ubeka ityala kwiinkokeli zaseAfrika uze ungalibali ukuba ngoobani abarhwaphilizayo nabasarhwaphiliza unanamhla e-Afrika. Asikwazi ukukulibala oko. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraphs follows.)
[... or you become a liar, to be precise, because you lack the truth and you have sold your soul. Some of the hon members in this House have to work for their masters and that is why they are unable to speak the truth. They just speak about useless and worthless issues.
I want to say, Chair, that some of them have forgotten that we have not forgotten that when people start accusing African leaders, they must not forget those who swindled and are still swindling African resources, even today. We cannot forget that.]
I also thought that at least the hon member Madam Van Lingen would understand better. I thought she was highly educated and that she had studied sociology, and would therefore know what causes teenage pregnancy. She would be better off with what she knows about. She always speaks on issues of education, so she would speak better on them.
I want to ask again if they can show us - this is to the hon Hartnick now - where they have empowered a particular black woman in this province. I am not saying "African", but any black woman who would say she was a beneficiary of the Western Cape government. We still have to see those.
I am happy that hon Bloem has correctly quoted his own leader, hon Smuts Ngonyama, who said, "I did not struggle to be poor, but to be stinking rich." Thank you very much. [Interjections.] Yes, that is what he said, so thank you very much for reminding us. I had forgotten about that one.
As we speak here today, I want to say that for decades apartheid limited opportunities for women to break the cycle of generational poverty and unemployment. It ensured that women had no opportunities for self- advancement, such as access to education and skills training, which left them to face poverty and unemployment. Where there were opportunities, they were very, very few. You would be a nurse, a clerk, or a teacher; you could not be anything beyond that. In this regard, you could not count more than five medical doctors in the entire country then.
Women in South Africa suffered the ravages of patriarchy, sexism and discriminatory practices, which kept them outside social, political and economic power structures. Young women in general, and particularly African women and those in rural areas, suffered the brutality of apartheid settlement.
It is still estimated that about 60% of the unemployed youth in our country are females. It is also true that if you look at race, you will find that 4,9 million young African people are still unemployed. Although unemployment of Africans in South Africa is consistently higher than unemployment of other groups across the different age groups, African youth face unemployment rates nearly nine times higher than those of other groups.
The concept of a lost generation became a cynical and convenient label for a mass of frustrated, poorly educated and traumatised young people, impatient for change and yet increasingly sidelined and deprived. By 1993, 14% of African young people had primary education only, and only one in every 20 had a degree or a diploma. Over 3 million people between the ages of 16 and 34 were unemployed, of whom a significant proportion - 57% - were black.
What is worrying is that only 5% of school leavers among the African youth with Grade 12 could find employment in the formal sector. It was very difficult. The government's review noted youth unemployment and poverty as matters for serious concern in our quest to break the cycle of generational poverty and marginalisation of our people.
So that I do not repeat what the Minister has said, let me say that I think it would be very wise for our committees to consider the speech delivered by hon Malusi Gigaba, the former president of the ANCYL, who still leads the ANC. He said that we in the ANC have a political school that cooks and prepares people for the future. How I wish others could do the same.
I also want to say that when we look at women, the poverty-stricken women in the rural areas in particular are often financially dependent, have limited access to employment, are unsupported mothers, and must fulfil the role of being caregivers. As a result they have few alternatives and options if they wish to leave a violent situation or even a violent relationship. Moreover, in most impoverished areas in South Africa women have limited access to health, education, and social, psychological and legal services. The result is that there is evidence to show that African women, who are undoubtedly the poorest sector of our society, are more than 10 times more likely to experience an incidence of violence, compared to their white counterparts.
Recent SA Police statistics also show that levels of rape are often highest in provinces which are economically less developed. That is what I was trying to teach you, hon Van Lingen. There are reasons for this relationship between violence against women and poverty. Apartheid's economic exploitation and segregation systematically resulted in much higher levels of poverty for black South Africans and women in particular. A range of factors have contributed to high levels of violence against women in poor areas.
We owe it to those women who suffered the double oppression of poverty and violence to help them transform conditions of dependency and hopelessness into those of empowerment and progress. It is our responsibility as women in this institution to make sure that we educate, assist and further equip them regarding resources to assist them.
It is a pity that I could not really continue with my speech because of time constraints, but I must say that as we approach June 16 in the next two days those of us who were there will remember it very well, and those who were not there know it even better than us, and that is why hon Mabe was the best choice of the ANC. Thank you.