Target: The media's obsession with President Jacob Zuma and his family makes 'objectivity impossible'
The Commission for Gender Equality has reprimanded President Jacob Zuma over comments he made about women, Beeld reported on Saturday.
“We admonished him to be more careful in the future,” commission chairman Mfanozelwe Shozi was quoted as saying.
In August 2012, the commission received a sexism complaint from the Democratic Alliance about remarks Zuma made about women on a television talk show. Zuma was being interviewed by Dali Tambo on his show ‘People of the South’ broadcast on SABC3.
Speaking about his daughter Duduzile’s marriage to Lonwabo Sambudla, Zuma said he was happy for her. “I was also happy because I wouldn’t want to stay with daughters who are not getting married, because that in itself is a problem in society. I know that people today think being single is nice. It’s actually not right. That’s a distortion,” Zuma said. “You’ve got to have kids. Kids are important to a woman because they actually give an extra training to a woman, to be a mother.”
The commission compiled a report relating to the complaint, but it was not made public. The commission requested a meeting with Zuma to explain to him why his remarks were wrong and to warn him not to insult women again.
Zuma’s spokesman Mac Maharaj said he did not know if Zuma was prepared to meet with the commission. – Sapa