South Africa’s freedom weakens when women excluded from economy

Khanyisa Tabata
25 August 2009

South Africa’s freedom is diminished as long as women remain outside the mainstream of its economy, says North West MEC for Public Works, Roads and Transport, Mahlakeng Mahlakeng.

She said eradicating the legacy of discrimination, inequality and fighting poverty requires the contributions that women can make to the national effort for faster and shared growth and development.

Mahlakeng said her department will soon establish a structure within it Special Programme Directorate so that there is consistency, monitoring and follow-ups to issues raised with the department during the indaba for possible implementation.

The MEC also noted that the National Women’s Day or Women’s Month is not a commercial or frivolous period but a period of solemn reflection.

She further noted that women empowerment and gender parity is not about numbers but opening the space for women to influence meaningful change and make a difference in society.

She warned that government including her department is about service delivery. “Our mandate was never and will never be to make people wealthy or rich,” she said.

The MEC further discouraged women contractors from harping too much on issues like “what is in for me, to how can you help the department to fulfill its mandate”.

She also warned that soon the department may even have to reprioritise, by scaling down tremendously on programmes and divert resources previously allocated to those programmes to key projects aimed at addressing pressing issues like job creation, fighting poverty and rural development where women are subjected to abject poverty in their majority