August 9 in South Africa marks a day in 1956 when thousands of women marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against the oppressive pass laws in Apartheid South Africa. Their slogan “wathint’ umfazi, wathint’ mbokodo” (when you strike a woman you strike a rock) was one of the acts that led to a democratic South Africa albeit some years later. The 2011 edition of Women’s Day marks the 17th time that this new democracy will be celebrating the day. But how much have women achieved and what are the challenges that they still face.
This article by Gift Siphiwo Ngqondi,head, research unit, Office of the Chief Whip, Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality gives some great insight into the plight of women in this country.
South Africa celebrates Women’s Day – Many challenges remain
AS South Africa marks National Women’s Day for the 17th time, we must draw attention to many challenges that still remain.
During the first decade of our democratic government, the ANC replaced unjust and inequitable legislation with laws that facilitate social transformation and for the first time in the history of this country, gender equality and equity were included in the transformation agenda. While there have been great advances made towards gender equality and equity over the past 17 years, it is necessary to be sensitive to the harsh realities that still face the majority of women in South Africa.
It is women who bear the brunt of poverty. Their lives are still characterised by low levels of literacy and inequitable access to education, adequate food, healthcare, housing, water and fuel sources.
Moreover, many women are still subjected to various forms of violence daily, directed at them solely by virtue of their sex and gender. One of the greatest challenges in working to change patriarchal attitudes and practices is that patriarchy is ingrained in all structures and institutions of societies.
Women experience high levels of unemployment or underemployment, and in the case of domestic workers and farm workers, their working conditions are generally sub-human and their wages still unacceptably low. Women have minimal access to legal protection, formal justice and social security.
One of the central achievements for women in the first 10 years was the adoption of our country’s new constitution in 1996 and its emphasis on the right to equality. This has been strengthened by laws like The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, which makes provision, among other things, for equality courts to deal with charges of unfair discrimination, including on the basis of gender.
While there have been some important strides towards changing the power relations between women and men, there is still a long walk to gender equality. A number of challenges remain, including continued violence against women and children, ongoing marginalisation of women in the mainstream economy and the negative impacts of HIV and Aids.
Working together, men and women in society need to continue to strive for parity in all elected and government positions and ensure the provisions of the constitution are made a living reality. They need to continue to work for the skilling of women in areas of development from which they have been historically excluded, especially in maths, science and information technology.
A number of policies are in place and the environment is more conducive to change, but the necessary processes need to be put in place to ensure successful policy implementation, accompanied by proper monitoring and evaluation.
To read more about the National Women’s day in South Africa – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Other stories http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2011/08/10/labour-nightmare-for-e-cape-women
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