Minister of Science and Technology Naledi Pandor spoke at a First Lady Affair breakfast hosted at the President Hotel in Bantry Bay yesterday in honour of late Struggle stalwart Judge Essa Moosa and his wife Fatima.
South Africa has been a democratic country for 23 years. In that time, despite many intractable challenges, it has made noteworthy progress in economic growth, educational inclusion and the eradication of poverty.
But democracy is about more than material prosperity.
It’s about restoring the dignity of the oppressed people of South Africa. It’s about giving effect to the Freedom Charter’s vision of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, free, democratic, peaceful, and prosperous South Africa. It’s about creating a learning society in which everyone is able to share.
After winning political power and the right to vote, our target was economic emancipation and the pursuit of redistributive policies that would give equality, both race and gender equality, it’s real meaning. Freedom in political terms that excludes economic transformation is incomplete and a negation of true meaning of equality.
We have adopted the National Development Plan (NDP) as the framework to achieve a stronger economy that creates employment.
At the core of the NDP is the focus on high priority sectors such as energy, infrastructure, ICT, mining, as well as the underlying emphasis on building our manufacturing capacity and skills development.
We are looking for radical economic transformation and that means that there is urgent need for dialogue between the government and the private sector to appreciate that the task of building the economy belongs to all. Creative ways are needed to promote entrepreneurship and a more inclusive economy.
It is a sign of remarkable progress that in the past 23 years more than 10 million people, mostly black, have been added to the middle class. This is a consequence of economic transformation and the widening of participation through making the economy more inclusive.
The growth of the middle class in South Africa offers opportunities to industry and a chance to grow a stronger and more diverse economy.
We have also put in place a gender equality framework, in our constitution, in our law, and in our practices.
Over the last 23 years there have been fundamental changes in occupational structure, in qualifications, and in skills required in different economic sectors.
The overall pattern is for upskilling or an increase in “skill intensity”, especially in managerial, professional, and associate professional occupations. Despite these new opportunities gender inequality continues to persist in our economy.
This means societies and enterprises need to think differently about equity in economic inclusion. We should not rely simply on professions or established industry. We need innovative approaches to strengthening NGOs led by women, and to investing in women-led enterprises, to sustain promising initiatives and encourage them to grow.
Today, South Africa has achieved a level of gender equality that has only been accomplished in other countries after many decades of democracy.
For the first time we have many women in Parliament. For the first time, we have women leading universities. And for the first time we have women as business executives in South Africa.
But there is so much more to do. We have neither a woman-led bank nor a funding organisation dedicated to investing in female entrepreneurs.
Tourism is a significant economic sector in South Africa. Yet there is no woman-owned and led hotel group.
I think it has something to do with the business culture prevalent among women, which tends to be individual-enterprise focused rather than focused on harnessing the potential muscle of women’s economic power.
Women need to think in a different and radical fashion about the investment and enterprise opportunities available to them.
They should be encouraged to think of collective community ownership and investment and find ways of them empowering women through collaborative enterprises focused on creative sectors that are currently neglected - services, design, financial administration and property development.
Women should be encouraged to enter non-traditional fields such as science and technology and to become established researchers in emerging disciplines.
Women have all the qualities necessary for leadership and management.
Effective managers plan the goals of an organisation, recruit the necessary staff, organise them, and closely supervise them to make sure that the initial plan is executed properly.
Successful leadership goes beyond management of plans and tasks. Successful leaders mobilise all possible means and human resources. Successful leaders inspire.
We don’t need autocratic modes of leadership that favour men any longer. We need transformational modes of leadership in which leaders seek to change the unequal conditions of society.
Mentorship has always been important to women. It still is. That is why women must be in all fields of economic and social action. We need to change the current situation in which women corporate leaders are an exception rather than the rule.
Female chief executives are still very rare, women are the minority in engineering and hard-science fields, and there is still a gender pay gap. Yet women make up more than half the workforce and women are better than men at earning degrees. Let’s make these two facts work for women.
In closing, I endorse the First Lady initiative and wish all participants success in their chosen fields.