South Afica on upward trend towards achieving gender equality: Ramaphosa

... but gender-based violence remains a huge concern

Despite successes, SA is still battling gender-based violence which must be fought tooth and nail by all, especially men, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. File photo.
Despite successes, SA is still battling gender-based violence which must be fought tooth and nail by all, especially men, says President Cyril Ramaphosa. File photo.
Image: ESA ALEXANDER

President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa is on the right track towards achieving gender equality — and for this, women of today have the generation of 1956, who marched to the Union Buildings against pass laws, to thank.

Because of their heroics, said Ramaphosa in his weekly newsletter, women today are reaping the rewards in a democraticSouth Africa.

In line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, he went on, South Africa is well on its way to achieving gender equality.

In parliament, 46% of National Assembly members are women. Currently, 62% of the entire public service is female, and 44% of senior management posts are filled by women,” wrote Ramaphosa.

“The current administration has accelerated the agenda for advancing women’s representation by appointing the first woman to head the National Prosecuting Authority and the first female directors-general in the State Security Agency and the presidency.

“Last week we appointed the first female deputy national commissioner of the South African Police Service, and last month justice Mandisa Maya was appointed as the country's first female deputy chief justice.

“Out of 256 judges on the bench, 114 are female and nearly half of all magistrates are female.

“Representation of women matters a great deal.”

Ramaphosa said SA had also done well in embedding women's rights in its constitution.

Even as we work as a collective to rid society of gender-based violence, we should not diminish the progress we have made in building a non-sexist society
President Cyril Ramaphosa

The democratic state has worked to repeal all laws that discriminate against women, and over the years our courts have ruled against policies and practices that unfairly discriminate against women on the grounds of motherhood, sexual orientation or other factors.

“We have laws that protect women against harassment in the workplace and that address modern forms of victimisation of women. Women in traditional communities have rights to own land, to enter into contracts and to inherit.”

Despite these successes, he went on, the country was still battling gender-based violence which must be fought tooth and nail by all, especially by men who have caused this problem.

Even as we work as a collective to rid society of gender-based violence, we should not diminish the progress we have made in building a non-sexist society. We must celebrate the many achievements of women in our country and pay tribute to those who continue to lead the way.  

“As we work to achieve gender equality in all areas of live, we must acknowledge that we have come a long way — and that we still have much further to go.”

TimesLIVE


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