Hon Speaker, hon members, today marks the end of Women's Month. The ANC has long debated and agreed on the need for women to access decision-making structures. It has also long emphasised that quantitative presence or access is not necessarily representation of women in decision-making, nor is it an achievement of gender equality, but it has recognised the importance of access and presence as only one of the critical pillars of indicators on the road map to gender equality.
The critical issue for women wherever they are is to enter these spheres and grab power to use it for transformation. It is accepted that women do not enter spheres as representatives of women, nor as the ones solely responsibly for raising the gender flag. It is imperative that women lead. They should lead in a sense that they participate in capacity-building programmes. They are part of skills development programmes.