Gauteng Premier David Makhura yesterday urged women to take their rightful space in society and respective communities.
Addressing the commemoration of Women’s Day at Union Buildings, he said most of the pupils who passed matric in Gauteng last year were female.
In this regard, Makhura said: “The Gauteng government will give 60% of young female learners educational bursaries to study at tertiary institutions."
Earlier, scores of women marched from Church Square in the heart of Pretoria to Union Buildings retracing the steps of the historic march against the apartheid government policies 66 years ago.
For as long as women bear the brunt of criminality, particularly GBV, we will not rest. This morning I join the ANC Women’s League as we march to the Union Buildings as part of our recommitment to be at the forefront, 365 days, of putting an end to all crimes against women. pic.twitter.com/Oj1FAbRu7T
— David Makhura (@David_Makhura) August 9, 2022
The march, which was led by women in uniform, was held under the theme “Women’s Socio-economic Rights & Empowerment: Building Back Better for Women’s Resilience”. Struggle stalwart and the only surviving member of the 1956 march Sophie de Bruyn participated in the march.
Makhura also received a memorandum outlining the solutions Gauteng women felt they required to make it in all aspects of life, including the economic and wellbeing at home.
In the memorandum, it was stated that women faced injustices during apartheid and continued to suffer at the hands of men in the now-democratic society.
“Patriarch, gender inequality, socio-economic problems threaten our hard-earned democratic race.
“Challenges of poverty, equality, unemployment and gender-based violence and femicide which was declared a pandemic by the president haunt us everyday,” the memorandum read.
It also stated that incidents of sexual assault and murder had reached an unprecedented proportion.
In response, Makhura said the country had soldiers sitting in barracks who could help in fighting crime.
He promised a programme of action to address gender-based violence and empowerment.
“I am presenting to you a programme of action from the Gauteng government on addressing issues facing women in Gauteng ... a programme of action on how to empower women in the economy and the social sector. It is also to address the issue of gender-based violence in Gauteng.”
He spoke of the rising senseless killings in communities and described that as heartbreaking.
“The violence we see, communities getting attacked weekend after weekend, me and Faith Mazibuko (MEC Safety and Security) when we arrive we find that several people have been killed for nothing.”
The festivities at the Union Buildings had a panel discussion joined by among others, the only surviving leader of the historic march De Bruyn and young activist Zulaika Patel, a member of the Gauteng Youth Advisory Panel.
The panellists spoke about issues surrounding women in sports, fashion and other sectors.
De Bruyn highlighted poverty, unity and how far the country had come from 66 years ago. “I do not believe there is a spirit of unity among our women everywhere. There has been a lot of change since 1956, but there is still a long walk and a lot more women to bring what we desire.
“What we desire as women and as a country is to get rid of the ills. That is what I think should be done.”
De Bruyn said her heart filled up with pride and joy when she saw the achievements women had gained.
Pretoria News