Glenda Daniels
The Commission for Gender Equality has 11 new commissioners who aim to create a new vision for women in the millennium, starting with a national gender summit in August.
The new full-time commissioners are theologian Bafana Khumalo, academic Sheila Meintjes, rural expert Nombulelo Siqwana-Ndulo and Gertrude Fester, a Western Cape gender specialist. They join the reappointed Manana Tlake and Beatrice Ngobo, both health professionals.
The five part-time commissioners are veteran activist Sophia Williams de Bruyn, educator Thabiso Dumisa, trade unionist Themba Kgasi, lawyer Rashida Manjoo and academic Teboho Maitse.
The gender summit is planned for August 5 to 8 to examine strategies for achieving the ideal of gender equality in society and ways to maintain an effective programme to make South Africa a non-sexist society.
Some of the themes at the summit will include land reform, discrimination against female learners, access to justice, the disproportionate impact of HIV/ Aids on women and girls, women and the economy, culture, tradition and religion.
The commission was established four years ago and is one of the key components of the national gender machinery including the Office of the Status of Women and the parliamentary committee on the quality of life and status of women which are tasked with the responsibility to promote, monitor and protect gender equality.
Newly appointed gender commissioner Dr Sheila Meintjes, senior lecturer in the department of political studies at the University of the Witwatersrand, and Women’s National Coalition researcher, is planning to concentrate full-time on the commission.
She said: “I’m thrilled to be given this position. There are exciting new possibilities and opportunities.
“Gender equality is not a woman’s concern, it’s a concern for the whole society. The commission will be looking at the roles and status of women in society and what the state is doing about this, the issues of power between men and women, both in public and private.
“There are exciting prospects around Aids activism, promoting an understanding of sexual and reproductive health. You’d be amazed at the ignorance and misconceptions there are around sex and women out there.”
Another issue Meintjes is passionate about is gaining access to justice for women. Women are discriminated against in the policing system and in court procedures.
She says that the public education system will be examined, especially curricula, to see how this contributes towards a sexist society in South Africa.
Meintjes is undaunted by the mammoth task, even though she says the present state of affairs is pretty “depressing”, but she feels that the state should recognise the importance of creating a non-sexist society by funding the commission adequately.
“We are promoting constitutional issues of non-sexism, but we can’t do this properly without the proper resources. We don’t get the same funding as the Human Rights Commission and other bodies.”