Hon Deputy Chairperson, hon Minister, hon colleagues, once again South Africa is commemorating Women's Day. All South Africans are reminded to pause and remember the 20 000 women, from all walks of life, who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956.
When we talk about the women's march of 9 August 1956, four women who led the march and handed over the petition protesting against the pass laws to the then Prime Minister are mentioned. Today, as Cope, we would like this House to join us in acknowledging and paying tribute to the role played by Ms Bertha Gxowa and others who organised this political and historic day in our country.
As we are spending time reflecting on the milestones achieved in women development in our country under the theme "Working together for equal opportunities and progress for all women", women development is still a pipe dream, despite legislation and the establishment of the Ministry of Women, Children and People with Disabilities. Absolute poverty, feminisation of poverty, unemployment, increasing fragility of the environment due to climate change and continuing violence against women put emphasis on the need to continue the search for women development and gender equality.
One of government's key priorities is the reduction of poverty by empowering women economically through income support structures. We have witnessed the Minister of Social Development launching the Hemp Project on 19 October 2009 in Soweto. Guess what? The majority of people participating in the Hemp Project are rural women from the Eastern Cape, one of the poorest provinces in South Africa.
The Hemp Project has economic benefits; the potential to contribute to human nutrition, which gained worldwide recognition; and the potential for poverty reduction in the impoverished rural areas of the Eastern Cape. The Ministry of Women, Children and People with Disabilities should facilitate and speed up the legislation of hemp to be grown in South Africa for mass production and exportation, joining 27 other countries, like Russia.
Yes, it is time for celebration, but it's also time to reflect on the violence against women. Women in South Africa are six times more likely to be killed by their male partners than elsewhere in the world. This means that four women are killed every day by their intimate partners. This is unacceptable and as Cope we believe that more should be done to change the status quo.
Violence against women is an injustice that is putting them at higher risk of being infected with HIV. The department needs to ensure that violence against women is integrated into HIV prevention. HIV has a negative impact on the growth rate of the South African population. It is estimated that the growth rate of females is 0,94% lower than that of males.
The growth rate for females is not the only thing that is lower, so is the female labour force, according to the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Women's Advancement released recently: fewer women hold managerial positions; women's income level has dropped to a fifth compared to the peak of 2008; and women's positions in the workplace in South Africa also declined. Cope believes that the new Gender Equity Bill proposed by the Minister will not speed up the slow progress of gender equity in South Africa.
We, as Cope, propose that the Ministry should continually implement legal amendments designed to eliminate discrimination against women. We also propose that the Ministry should learn lessons from India - a country with a gap between policy and practice and one that is home to some 500 million women faced with discrimination. According to the MasterCard survey, women made the most gains there.
In conclusion, women play a critical role in the family. The family is the basic unit of a society and should be strengthened. Women make a great contribution to the family and to the development of society. Much of the progress can be made by increasing women's access to education and a greater awareness of their constitutional rights. Thank you. [Applause.]