Keynote Address by Minister Maropene Ramokgopa, Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Free State Provincial Women’s Dialogue
Premier of the Free State, Honourable MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae
Chief Executive Officer of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, Ms Gugu Ndebele
Members of the Provincial Executive Council Members of the Provincial Legislature
Executive Mayor of Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, Councillor Gregory Nthatisi
Esteemed guests Members of the media
To all the women present here today
Good morning!
I am pleased to join you today, as we conclude this year’s commemoration of Women’s Month and pay tribute to the gallant women of 1956 whose strength and resilience laid a foundation for the empowerment and emancipation of women. Beyond Women’s Month, we should continue to honour the legacy and contribution of the class of 1956 on a daily basis and stay true to their principles.
This year’s Women’s Month has been observed under the overarching t
heme, ‘Celebrating 30 Years of Democracy Towards Women’s Development’, which represents the journey women of our country have travelled over the years. This theme also reflects how women’s development and empowerment have been a priority since the advent of democracy in 1994 and our Government’s unwavering commitment to women empowerment.
Notwithstanding the many milestones our country has achieved towards women empowerment, significant challenges remain.
It is for this reason that engagements and gatherings such as this Provincial Women’s Dialogue remain important not just as once-off occasions but should be a collective commitment throughout the year.
In our efforts to make sure women are prioritised in the country’s development goals, we need to consistently engage and ensure that there is consistent and on-going action to implement plans and strategies to support women empowerment.
Programme Director,
Women’s empowerment and gender equity are inextricably linked to our country’s development trajector
y. As the Government of National Unity, we are focused on putting women and other previously marginalised groups (including youth and persons with disabilities) at the centre of our
development priorities, as we implement the National Development Plan (NDP), Continental African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and the global United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Over the past 30 years of South Africa’s democracy, we have made significant strides in advancing the agenda for women’s empowerment. We have an enabling legislative environment, which has seen women making key strides in traditionally male-dominated sectors, including finance, energy, trade, transport and logistics, mining, and emerging economies such as the digital economy and artificial intelligence.
In this regard, the 2023 Global Gender Gap Report by the World Economic Forum confirms that South Africa and 15 other countries have closed more than 70% of the gender gap. In addition, the Development Indicators report by the Department o
f Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), which tracks progress against the NDP, also shows notable improvement in gender representation in legislative bodies in South Africa since 1994.
Furthermore, in 2019 our Parliament had a 45% representation of women, which reflected an increase from before 1994, where only 2.7% of people in Parliament were women.
Today, South Africa is proudly ranked in the top ten of countries with the highest proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments. In 2023, our Judiciary had at least 113 women serving as judges in the judiciary, including our first female Chief Justice Mandisa Maya, in contrast to the two female judges in 1994.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
South Africa has also made significant strides in policies to support women empowerment in the country. Women-headed households receiving government housing subsidies have increased from 6,3% in 2002 to 23,1% in 2019. We are also seeing more women purchasing homes in their own right. In 2019, for example, 27% of
homeowners were single women, compared to 26% of single men.
In the field of education and skills development, more female learners sit for matric and achieve bachelor passes than males. Young women make up the majority of students enrolled in higher education institutions. In 2021, government’s National Research Foundation supported two thousand three hundred and fifty-nine (2 359) PhD candidates. From these, 75.6% were black students, while 51.9% were women. This shows more women today have access to education and training, and are thus empowered to succeed in the labour market.
Programme Director,
We need to ensure collective action from all levels of government to continue to advance the strides being made to empower women in the country.
As the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), our role is to ensure policy coordination and implementation in Government, and that policies are aligned to the NDP. When we work effectively together as Government, at all levels, we can enhance our e
fforts to empower women in the country.
As we advance the empowerment and progress of women through our developmental plans and interventions, we also need to unite even more in the fight to eradicate the scourge of gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF) in our country.
We cannot continue to be the ‘skunk’ of the world with the highest femicide rates in the world. All of society must support efforts of Government and civil society in working together to end this scourge in the context of implementing National Strategic Plan on GBVF.
Our Department (DPME) plays the role of monitoring and evaluating this plan and the progress of other government interventions to end GBVF.
As reflected in the latest quarterly report of the National Strategic Plan, many South African citizens believe that physical force is not justified for disciplining women, and many acknowledge that gender-based violence happens and is a prevalent issue in their communities. Many South Africans see the wrong in gender-based violence, ye
t we continue to see many cases of GBVF in our communities.
This month, His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa led a pledge and clarion call to all men to take a stand against GBVF.
On my part, I reaffirm the President’s sentiment and call on all men join the pledge made by the President, and to not remain silent as communities continue to face the gender-based violence and femicide scourge.
As Government, we call on all sectors of society to work together to combat GBVF, and to create a safe and enabling environment for women to participate in socio-economic activities of the country.
In conclusion, I wish to thank Premier MaQueen Letsoha-Mathae for your dedication and commitment to women empowerment and development. Let me assure you that you have a partner and ally in me.
I would like to once again stress that if South Africa is to achieve its developmental goals and have economic opportunities for all, women’s empowerment is necessary and should be at the centre of those efforts.
I thank you! Mali
bongwe!!
Source: South African Government News Agency