Women’s Parliament shouldn’t be ritual talk shop, says Speaker

The women of South Africa convened at Parliament and virtually to observe women’s month and celebrate the year of Charlotte Mannya Maxeke: advancing gender equality, through inclusive economic growth and the precepts of a capable developmental state. In her opening address, the Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, pointed out that the event took place just after the launch of the Review of the Women’s Charter, which seeks to advance the mainstreaming of gender equity in all spheres of our society. Abel Mputing reports from the event. A frank interrogation of tangible progress since the inception of the charter in 1994 is necessary, the Speaker believes, as it is a living document whose progress should be constantly monitored. “Women’s Parliament shouldn’t become a ritual talk shop. But should assess if there was any follow-up on issues discussed previously. “Embraced in this vein, it would be a progressive platform to receive feedbacks on the implementation of previous commitments by the three tiers of government, to also identify failures, skewed progress and whether was there any implementation of tangible targets.” She cautioned that the success of the provisions of the Women’s Charter would depend on the collective effort of all political parties in Parliament and should not be sacrificed at the altar of partypolitical partisanship and bickering. Growing rates of gender-based violence (GBV) are a concern, she went on, but the plight of men should also be given the attention if we were to find lasting solutions. The Speaker also noted the devastation wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic on women’s economic situation. “During lockdown we have seen the reversal of women empowerment. And it poses a dangerous scenario in relation to the gender targets and objectives of the National Development Plan.”

Also speaking at the conference, the Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities, Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, said: “We are supposed to be celebrating the women’s month and commemorating the August resolve of our forebears in championing the women’s cause, but we have instead witnessed a rise in GBVF [genderbased violence and femicide], which serves as a tragic reminder of a pandemic that continue to rob women their basic human rights.” She then gave an extensive report of her department’s initiatives in upholding the government’s commit to the national strategic plan (NSP) on GBVF. She reported that, as of 9 August 2021, her department has released a year-one report on its response to the commitments outlined in the plan and that departments have been helped in integrating the plan into their annual targets. Covid is a global crisis, but nonetheless it has brought its own set of opportunities, Ms NkoanaMashabane said. One example is that during the pandemic, government has seen an acceleration of the institutionalisation of the NSP’s GBVF instruments in many departments, who have allocated well over R20 billion in the past financial year towards the implementing them. Moreover, the establishment of Inter-Ministerial Committee on GBVF has facilitated an intergovernmental collaboration, which was not the case in the past. Her department has also forged ties with the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation to support it in refining its NSP targets, indicators and interventions. She further reported that her department has managed to operationalise and localise the NSP targets in municipalities and provincial governments to ensure that they are part of their Integrated Development Plans and they play a responsible role in realising them. As a measure to strengthen the NSP, the Department of Justice and Correctional Services has audited GBVF services in 30 hot spots across the country, Ms Nkoana-Mashabane reported. She commended parliamentary committees for using the Parliamentary Oversight Framework to promote accountability on the NSP. The proposed National Council of GBVF will also play an oversight role over the government’s implementation of NSP targets. It is significant, she pointed out, that the costing of NSP has been finalised, which will improve its capacity and effectiveness. According to her department’s projections, “it’s hoped that by 2030 we would have, as a country, dealt with the root causes of GBVF once and for all”. For this to happen, however, women’s economic empowerment will have to be accelerated. She is optimistic that the 40% set aside in government’s procurement policy for women and women-owned businesses “would bring women economic justice, will assist them to reach their full economic potential and will go a long way in eradicating this pandemic”. “Our lasting victory against GBVF,” she concluded, “lies in turning our commitments into actions.”

Women call for disruption of patriarchy at 2021 Women’s Parliament

Chairing the second session of the parliament, National Assembly (NA) member Ms Liezel van der Merwe said women no longer wanted empty promises and statements of intent. “What we want is progress and action; we are taking stock of whether we’ve made progress since the last Women’s Parliament ... The fight for women’s empowerment is not over. Provinces must report back on progress they have made to advance gender equality.” Another delegate, Ms Tlale Nathane, said disruption of patriarchy will start with action and connecting women from all walks of life. “We need to move beyond awareness around gender-based-violence (GBV). Everyone is aware; we need to move towards action and implement programmes.” “Women are real targets of abuse and inequality which is also supported by other women,” said delegate Ms Kgaretja Lekalakala. “We need to be seen protecting women every day, not only in August month. We must take a stand and let our voices heard.” Abusers and perpetrators are delivered and nurtured by women, she pointed out. The Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Ms Sylvia Lucas, called on delegates at the 2021 Women’s Parliament to “disrupt” patriarchy, which is sustained by inequality, landlessness and femicide, writes Sibongile Maputi

Ms Mary Florence Rose Louw said inequality and oppression are a direct consequence of cultural practices, especially those that put men on a pedestal. “It’s time we do away with practices that portray males as superior. Men need women and they should recognise women as equals at home, in the workplace and at church.” Women recognised that for their struggle to succeed they needed to put aside racial and political differences and commit to leading as a collective, as their needs are the same. Delegates called for the ratification of the ILO Convention 190 on Violence and Sexual Harassment, the finalisation of Hate Crimes Legislation and decriminalising of sex work. The Eastern Cape MEC for the Department of Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture Ms Fezeka Nkomonye informed the sitting that in the Eastern Cape 40% of senior management at government departments are women. “Women empowerment could be a game changer. Women are given business by government. The task of changing the economic landscape of the country to be truly representative of women is now,” she said. Ms Nkomonye pointed out that legislation does not seem to deter crimes against women, if crime statistics are anything to go by. “Men should change the narrative, so that we could feel safe. The hashtags and prayers seem to be ceremonial and are not helping … Our approach in the province is premised on the seven priorities of government of the sixth term. Gender equality and women emancipation find expression in all of the seven priority areas.” She also called for women to become landowners. “We want to see a sizeable agricultural land allocated to women. They will only break away from genderbased violence if they have financial means.”

The Free State’s MEC for Social Development, Ms Mamiki Qabathe, said the Free State government has appointed 12 500 women as education and general assistants; 30 of these are people living with disabilities and 92 social workers have been appointed. Over the past 6 years, Free State has spent R4.2 billion on women-owned companies through procurement. In addition, 25 companies have been empowered through a contractor-development programme. Total expenditure for the year is R59 million and 686 job were created. The Free State government envisages 1 095 women benefitting from 44 projects and 66 programmes, budgeted at R200 million. Gauteng’s MEC for Community Safety, Ms Faith Mazibuko, said more women were active in the economy through entrepreneurship. “Women have been advanced in Gauteng when looking at other provinces and other countries that we benchmark ourselves on. Allocation of work programmes target women and girls. Even in government, a number of them are deliberately deployed in senior management positions,” she said. The premier’s office’s policy unit conducts sporadic assessment of the effectiveness of the policies in terms of gender. There is gender-budgeting and women are deployed in senior positions. Arts and Culture are doing great work and achieve above 50% gender representation. Opportunities for women are created through the public employment programmes. The government trains women entrepreneurs in construction and business management, assists women to gain access to export and provides supplier development opportunities. Ms Mazibuko told the Women’s Parliament that challenges still persist, but through the efforts of the Office of the Premier and the Treasury the budget is woman-friendly and there is capacity for gendermainstreaming. Ms Masco Manopole, who represented Northern Cape Province, said that through government policies, legislation and through the Premier’s office, the Northern Cape has a series of webinars advocating for women’s participation in the economy. The province has trained activists to achieve this in all municipalities. About 118 volunteers have been identified to render advocacy awareness services and some 16 women-owned businesses will receive training on ICT skills at an N Level in Galeshewe. Support, recovery and growth in the tourism, cultural and social relief sectors will be prioritised for funding. The province supported various women-led initiatives and 10 cooperatives that benefit 52 women had been tasked with developing masks. “The newly stabilised and functional provincial inter-departmental task team chaired by the Premier [Dr Zamani Saul] made serious progress to date and has developed a gender-based violence and femicide action plan. The plan is aligned to the national strategic plan on gender-based violence. The premier is committed to ensure that the plan is reflected in the district development model and the local municipalities.” The Speaker of the Western Cape Legislature, Ms Beverley Schafer, said change needs to come from within. “We as parliamentarians and legislatures cannot pay lip service to gender equality when we cannot ascertain how our own programmes are measured,” she said. Ms Schafer said gender-disaggregated reporting on government programme indicators is necessary for successful gender responsive budgets. The WC is looking to be the first gender-sensitised parliament. “Without this step we cannot have the gender-based budgets that are crucial to ensuring a more equal society.” The South African Local Government Association representative, Ms Flora Boltman, said local government is at the core of attending to the needs of communities. “Women in this space have an opportunity to coordinate and influence the desired change in the nation and its implementation,” she said.

Empowering women in local government is priority to ensure they influence the implementation of the law. Member of the National Assembly (NA), Ms Marie Sukers, highlighted the violence perpetrated on women on farms. “In the Boland area, women are forcibly removed with the help of the police and municipalities. They are assaulted on farms, and dumped in pig’s farm,” she said. Women’s Parliament could not talk about goals, she said, when it fails to speak about the fact that women and children are being made homeless, especially on farms. She also noted the lack of information on how women-owned informal business are affected, and the inequality arising from lack of access to digital platforms. Member Ms Nazley Sharif called on Women’s Parliament consider which interventions it could introduce to reduce the huge gap between men and women. Ms Nkomonye called on the NA to speed up the passing of the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Bill and the Domestic Violence Bill. Concluding session two, the Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Ms Sylvia Lucas, said: “For too long, we allowed men to reign over us.”