National Women’s Day is important in continuing the struggle for women’s emancipation
Baleka Mbete Seeing the veterans of the 1956 march on the Union Buildings on National Women’s Day had an invigorating effect. For as long as women do not yet enjoy most or all their human rights, we need National Women’s Day. This day is an annual point of convergence of memories, energies, views and efforts focusing on women. Every day should be women’s day, but we are not there yet. It will take a lot more deliberate effort from the government, women’s organisations and society before we get there. Women should enjoy the dignity of the human person. But the majority of women struggle harder than men for recognition and respect.
We who debate in newspapers and seminars may say with irritation that we do not need National Women’s Day to remind us that we are women, but we dare not forget what the 1956 veterans fought for. Let us debate,constructively, so we can continue the struggle for women’s emancipation. To see Aunt Sophie de Bruyn, Amina Cachalia, Beata Lipman, Ma Lerole, Ma Bertha Gxowa, Ma Motsoaledi and many others at the Union Buildings was rare and inspiring. I heard that Aunt Sophie and the late Ruth First were bridesmaid and matron of honour respectively at the wedding of Ma Bertha. Ma Bertha is now a member of Parliament. Aunt Sophie calls herself the youngest veteran. At 18 she was one of the four women who led the march and whose portraits were unveiled by the president. She is the only one of them who has lived to see the women’s monument and the portraits. National Women’s Day gave South Africa the opportunity to honour these heroines. We hope the younger generations were inspired to follow in their footsteps. National Women’s Day does not mean that every single South African woman must attend rallies or meetings. Those who fought achieved on behalf of everyone, including those who prefer to stay home, go shopping, picnicking or visiting. What is valuable is that now we all have a choice to hold and express different views. We can celebrate our victories, talk about present challenges, have fun and plan how to conquer the future. In her speech to the United Nations Special Session, dubbed “Beijing +5”, in June, Minister of Public Service and Administration Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said: “It has been a long march from Beijing to New York … As we stand at the threshold of a new century, we are confronted with a world, which … still faces the same challenges that we faced at the beginning of the dying century … The gap between rich and poor has widened … Poverty, including its female and racial dimensions, remains one of our biggest challenges globally and locally.”
The challenges require strategies, campaigns and structures that will ensure unity of action nationally and internationally. We must regularly assess what we are doing and where and how we can strengthen our efforts. Let us focus locally, but remember our commitment to the continent and strengthen our efforts there as well. South Africa’s report to the United Nations, submitted as part of the global exercise to evaluate the five years since the adoption of the Beijing Platform of Action, shows that we have achieved something. It also points to the many challenges that lie ahead.
We have put in place a network of structures, our national machinery. The report points out that while these structures exist, the people who must make them work effectively to attack sexism do not all understand what is expected of them. People need to be trained to understand the problem of unequal gender relations in our society. They must be able and ready to challenge their socialisation, the stereotypes and assumptions they internalised about women. We have not failed; these are challenges on our way to success.
It is natural that we should be impatient. The processes of addressing our many problems are too slow. They have to be allowed to unfold properly if consideration is to be given to all relevant factors. South African women debated for years before there was consensus on the women’s machinery. We must acknowledge as progress the fact that the machinery has been put in place.
The next step is to ensure that the machinery is grounded, is effective and informed by ordinary women’s needs and views. The local community level is the most important in this respect. Unless the global picture makes sense to the village and township woman, she remains disempowered and marginalised. The Office on the Status of Women in the Presidency must spearhead a shift of focus to how this network of machinery can be operational at the local level.
South Africa has ratified a lot of international treaties. The United Nations Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child are two examples. We have submitted the initial reports to their relevant United Nations committees to spell out our plans, activities and progress in their implementation. The United Nations committees respond in detail to the reports. They require that the government should publicise the report widely as part of a public awareness campaign. The women’s community-based organisations must concern themselves and take the trouble to be informed on these matters. Information is power. An uninformed person is limited when it comes to making their representatives or government officials accountable. Women fought for democracy and are the majority of the electorate. They must know what is being done in their name. The challenge is to deepen democracy, to identify actions that should be undertaken at community level. An example is the crimes against women and children that are on the increase internationally and in South Africa – crimes such as the illegal trafficking of women and children for sexual exploitation, child prostitution and pornography. The victims come from communities who must not be helpless and silent. These crimes must be attacked from all levels, through a partnership between communities and the relevant government agencies. Government action must be guided and informed by facts and an understanding that only community structures can give. Women’s groups must lead in this. They should take into account national and international legislation. Baleka Mbete is deputy speaker in the National Assembly
ENDS