Durban – Government needs to develop strategies that will address the plight of rural women when it comes to women economic empowerment.
Michael Mabuyakhulu, MEC for Economic Development in KwaZulu-Natal, said rural women still lack access to education to prepare them to benefit from opportunities created by government.
He was speaking at the Women Economic Empowerment Conference, where he also called for collaboration on efforts to eliminate practices that seem to add to the suffering of rural women.
“This could be achieved through continuous interaction with them through projects directed at empowering them, whilst our education system could assist in preparing girls for more challenging and leadership responsibilities in the society,” said Mabuyakhulu.
The MEC said women empowerment can no longer be confined to street side stalls, cleaning, catering and spaza shops.
“We must ensure that women become big players in such sectors as telecommunication, energy, construction, manufacturing, mining and logistics. Critically, any introduction of women in these sectors should be accompanied by skills development in levels to ensure their meaningful and broader participation to fulfil the socio-economic equity targets.
“It should be our mission to create women entrepreneurs that can hold their own in any global market. This means that we must invest the necessary resources and make sacrifices to ensure that this becomes a reality,” said Mabuyakhulu.
Bridgette Gasa, Managing Director of Elilox, during her address said women also needed more assistance with finance. She said there has to be a business climate in the country that offers tailor-made services to women.
Gasa also said in the construction industry, it’s not enough for women to be involved in the building parts of projects, they need to be investors and operators as well.
With regards to the pace of transformation, the Commission for Employment Equity reported that the level of blacks at top and senior management respectively is still embedded at 16.9% and 35.9% in the private sector.
“This is a disturbing situation considering the effort put in place by government in creating legislative and policy framework to encourage change in our society,” said Mabuyakhulu.
If South Africa is to become as powerful as the Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs), women economic empowerment must be seen as an urgent project.
“All social partners need to come on board and not look at this project as the baby of government… Women economic empowerment, therefore, is not just a moral move to address the historical injustices, but should be seen as one of the vehicles to accelerate real economic development and growth,” said Mabuyakhulu.
But South Africa has got a lot right since 1994. Mabuyakhulu said superpowers such as the USA can learn a thing or two from South Africa.
“When Nancy Pelosi was appointed as the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, a lot of hoo-ha was made out of the development. Little did they know that South Africa had started the trend when it appointed its first woman Speaker of Parliament in Frene Ginwala in 1994,” Mabuyakhulu said.
South Africa enjoys the distinction of being one of the few countries in the world which have a woman as its Reserve Bank governor. – Kemantha Govender, BuaNews
