In conclusion, may I put a challenge to all of us as Members of Parliament, MPs, and say that we should not only fight for equal opportunities concerning this theme, but we must fight or develop a campaign that is aggressively biased in favour of women. [Applause.]
It should not be about equal opportunities; it should be about bias onfavour of the upliftment of women. It doesn't matter whether this would be in the form of co-operatives or construction co-operatives or co- operatives in mining, agriculture, etc. As we do our oversight, the first and last question should be: How has this benefited women or how will this be of benefit to women? [Time expired.]
The MINISTER OF WOMEN, CHILDREN AND PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES: Hon Deputy Chairperson, I wish to thank the members for the vibrant debate that has taken place this afternoon in this august House. Furthermore, I also want to appreciate the historical context that was given in terms of tracing back the struggles of women, thereby proving that women can do it. I believe that, in this particular era, all of us as women - together with men - must unite to address the challenges that members have spoken about; challenges of poverty, unemployment, HIV, etc. We also need to ensure that women access opportunities, and so on.
However, I just want to make one point. The hon Chen made an input about the challenges faced by women. I would wish that the input that was given here should be given to the leader of the DA, who is also the Premier of the Western Cape, so that they too recognise that women have got a role to play in decision-making structures of political parties, organisations, and so on.
What we saw in the provincial government of the Western Cape was a reversal of the gains that were made by women in this particular province. So I just wanted to make that point and ask hon Chen to make this input to her own party so that we can see a conscious effort by all of us in our resolve to ensure that women are empowered, participate in all respects, and also make their input with respect to the challenges that are facing us.
What has also come out is the fact that we need to focus on rural areas. That has come out in different ways in terms of inputs made by different speakers today. Rural development remains a priority of our government. Whatever we do in the next four years of this administration, if we don't make a difference in the lives of our people then we would not have achieved much in rural areas. So all of us have got to unite and ensure that women in the rural areas are empowered. I have also noted the suggestions that members have made. We will look into those suggestions.
As I step down, hon Deputy Chairperson, I would like to say that we are going to have izimbizo, and I invite the NCOP to join us in that regard. We will be interacting, first and foremost, with women on day one, children and their representatives on the second day, people with disabilities on the third day and the communities on the fourth day.
So we are going to be crisscrossing the country, going to rural areas as government and as this new department. We will be doing this in order to interact and also ensure that we listen so that we empower ourselves in terms of responding to the needs of our people. We are going to be embarking on that programme. We will start with KwaZulu-Natal and then move to other provinces. I just wanted to let the House know that there is such a programme which will take us to provinces.
In October we would like to have a national conference or indaba of women where women of all political persuasions - women from all backgrounds of our country - will come together under one roof to deliberate on the challenges and receive reports from the UN, the Commonwealth, and SADC. We will also be talking about how far we have come as a country in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.
All I am saying is, let us work together for equal opportunities and progress for all women. Let's make the period from 2010 to 2020 truly a decade for all women of our country and Africa. South Africa cannot be truly free if the rest of the continent and its women are facing serious challenges. We've got to lead this process to ensure that whatever we do impacts positively on the lives of women on the continent as well. Thank you very much, hon Chairperson and hon members. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.