Hon Deputy Chairperson, hon Minister Mayende-Sibiya, hon members, referring to the theme that the Minister has alluded to, I think it is a fitting theme as we mark the 54th anniversary of the commemoration and celebration of the women's antipass march to the Union Buildings on 9 August 1956. This historic march led to 9 August being declared National Women's Day after 1994. Women's Day is a celebration of the struggles of women for a nonracial, nonsexist and democratic South Africa.
The sacrifices made by women over the years, in fact, for decades or centuries, provide the way forward on how we should be dealing with issues of women empowerment in our democratic order. Women have stood up to say: "Nothing about women without women". However, often we find that there are still tendencies to delay the advances made by the democratic movement in recognising the rights of women as equal citizens in our democracy.
Today, women are involved in a different terrain of the struggle. While their rights to participate in decision-making are entrenched, they are still the worst affected when it comes to poverty, diseases, violence and other social ills. As a result, the girl-child is the most vulnerable in society. This is indeed a concern because, in this way, the challenges that the mothers faced and are still facing are being visited upon the girl- child. This threatens to delay the struggle for the total emancipation of women.
At the centre of the challenges facing the girl-child is education. This is one of the reasons that education remains one of the key priorities of the ANC. To facilitate the emancipation of women, we must make sure that we reduce illiteracy levels amongst women so that they are able to partake in opportunities being made available under our democratic government. Without education, women will continue to rely on others for their own survival and development. They will continue to be subjects of abuse.
NgesiNtu sithi: Ukufundis' umfazi kuluncedo kwisizwe siphela, kuba abafazi banendlela yabo abazijonga ngayo izinto eziza nenkqubela. Banemfobe yendalo kuba badalelwe ukuncancisa isizwe. (Translation of isiXhosa paragraph follows.)
[In isiXhosa we say: To educate a woman is helpful to the whole nation, because women have their unique way of looking at things that bring about progress. They have natural compassion because they have been created to nurture the nation.]
Education for women is, therefore, very important, and it must be used as a tool to address the social inequalities resulting from apartheid laws and policies. It is our responsibility to also ensure that women are taught about their rights as enshrined in the Constitution and other legislation.
So far, we are proud that South Africa has done very well in expanding the access of women to education at all levels of the system. In higher education, women are a majority, but they are not a significant presence in science and engineering. Education and training must meet the economic, social, cultural and political needs of women in South Africa.
Government has made important interventions towards empowering women on other fronts. Some examples of government's strides towards women empowerment include, amongst others, the establishment of the Ministry for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, which consolidates our programme to continue the development of women in our country; the Women's Empowerment Fund and the Employment Equity Act, which continue to ensure appointment of and support for women in top leadership positions in government and the private sector; economic empowerment programmes for women; and initiatives by the Department of Trade and Industry in areas such as access to formal finance. There are many other areas of intervention, some of which the Minister has already referred to.
Hon members, remember that it is us, the public representatives and women leaders, who carry the hopes of vulnerable women and children, especially those in rural areas. We have to give them hope that indeed they have a future in the South African democratic order.
We are proud of the fact that today, as a result of the struggle that the masses of our people waged - including women - our country's Constitution includes the objective of the transformation of our society into a nonsexist society. This constitutional provision means that our country as a whole, including the government, has an obligation to ensure that this objective is realised.
It is an undeniable fact that women's access to political influence and to decision-making in Parliament has improved significantly since the country's first democratic elections in 1994. However, this is not enough since equality, logically, means 50-50. This significant desire to improve women representation was further entrenched in Polokwane, where the ruling party resolved that we needed to gear ourselves up to meet the new target of 50-50 representation.
Deputy Chairperson, may I take this opportunity to congratulate women of this House, Wendy Makgate and Elizabeth van Lingen, for their work and for reaffirming the 50-50 policy of representation even when they were abroad. That is good progress. This achievement reflects true empowerment of women across all races and class barriers, particularly black women. However, we need to ensure that this intended target is realised through, among other things, capacitating women meaningfully.
With regard to provincial progress and achievements, the Gauteng provincial government has launched 200 women-only co-operative schemes across the province since 9 August. Furthermore, in Gauteng, private and public sectors will support the Take a Girl-Child to Work initiative on 19 August.
The Office of the Premier of KwaZulu-Natal - my province - continues to co- ordinate the promotion of human rights empowerment, the protection of women committed to social programmes, and the development of women and other vulnerable groups. In the Eastern Cape, the department of agriculture and rural development has honoured the women of the Eastern Cape who have worked tirelessly to ensure that they participate in economic development, food security and job creation in the province.
In the North West, housing delivery received a major boost as the National Women Build 2010 was launched on 30 July. Therefore, the North West province will construct 1 956 houses by the end of August. The 54 units will mark the 54th anniversary of the Women's Month. Malibongwe! [Let it be praised!] [Applause.]