Chairperson, hon Minister, Deputy Minister present, hon members, I greet you all. I am both humbled and honoured to participate in this debate on the Budget Vote of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities.
I thank the Minister for her comprehensive report. The establishment of this Ministry stems from a resolution that was taken at the historic Polokwane conference in 2007 at which the ANC Women's League motivated for a women's Ministry on behalf of the women of South Africa.
The establishment of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities represents a progressive step forward for South Africa in its promotion of gender equality and women's empowerment and a better life for all.
We have to thank the ANC-led government for the establishment of this department, which is structurally different from what was envisaged in the mandate from the President. President Jacob Zuma, in his 2010 state of the nation address, outlined the strategic priorities for 2010. These priorities are identifiable in the 2009 manifesto of the ANC, and are as follows: education and skills development; ensuring a long and healthy life for all South Africans; rural development and land reform; the creation of decent work opportunities; and fighting crime.
These priorities are essential in the promotion of gender equality and women's empowerment in that they require a gender focus in order to impact positively on the quality of life of women. Poor and rural women represent the most vulnerable in society and, as such, require greater access to education and skills development, employment opportunities, improved health services and health care, and affordable housing and scaled-up infrastructure development.
The above-mentioned issues are interlinked and, as such, a holistic and co- ordinated governmental approach is required in order to effect real change in the lives of South African women. These initiatives have been spearheaded by the President, who has emphasised the importance of integrating a gendered approach in government service delivery. As such, President Jacob Zuma has prioritised women's service delivery needs into the government's programme of action. We therefore thank the President for his foresight and wisdom in the transformation of the state machinery for the emancipation of women.
In 1994, President Nelson Mandela stated in his first address to Parliament that "freedom cannot be achieved unless women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression". This maxim serves as a benchmark on which many gender activists base their judgment of the liberation of women in this country.
South Africans continue to suffer undue hardship owing to the lasting legacy of apartheid. Black South Africans, who represent the majority of the population, were discriminated against. Black women, in particular, regardless of their status in life, experienced oppression based not only on their race, but also on their gender and class. It is therefore critical that government programmes directly address the needs of women in line with the needs for social spending, the eradication of poverty and job creation.
I would like to speak to the mandate of the department. The mandate of the department - that is, its role - is essential to translate constitutional imperatives, international obligations, policy pronouncements and legislation into measurable and meaningful objectives. The aim of this department is, therefore, to drive, accelerate and oversee government's equity, equality and empowerment agenda of women, with a particular focus on the poor and rural communities. [Applause.] The department indicated that they will achieve these aims through collaborating with civil society, and civil society is here today; improving the planning alignment among the three spheres of government; monitoring policy implementation and the attainment of targets as they relate to halving poverty and unemployment by 2014; and developing global partnerships to strengthen the development of women.
I think my chairperson alluded to the fact that, while women constitute 52% of the South African population, they represent the most vulnerable and impoverished in our country. If one examines the total budget allocation of R97 million to the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, one would find that it constitutes only 0,02% of the total appropriation of all departmental Votes. Therefore it is the smallest allocation of all the Votes. This allocation does not speak to the allocations of other departmental programmes that relate to women. At present the allocation of R7,1 million for the Empowerment of Women and Gender Equality programme represents a meagre expenditure of R3,16 per woman in South Africa. I would like to reiterate that this excludes what is allocated to women's issues or programmes in other departments. I would like to appeal to National Treasury to heed the calls of various gender activists. I will start first with Debbie Budlender, who asserts that the budget process is but a relationship exercise. In terms of the budget for the improvement of the quality of life and status of women, Parliament needs to exercise its oversight function by being able to effect tangible changes to budgetary allocations to specific departments.
In motivating for the importance of the empowerment of women and for the budget to be engendered, the then Chairperson of the Commission for Gender Equality, Her Excellency Thenjiwe Mtintso - who is also a member of the central committee of the SA Communist Party and a member of the national executive committee of the ANC - said:
You can escape from racism by going home and shutting the door. You can't escape from gender discrimination in the same way, because it is about power relations that actually start at home, with the way in which boys and girls are socialised. Women's experiences are however mediated by race, urban or rural location, age, disability, sexual preference, religion and culture. These shape the relative weight of our burdens, the degree of invisibility of our contribution inside and outside the home and the silencing of our voices. This is a clear indication of how women were discriminated against.
As the ANC-led government, it is critical that we create a budget that enhances the vision of building a caring society and that works towards a peaceful, national, democratic society. It is imperative that we do not perpetuate the mistakes of the previous gender-neutral budgets. Instead, we should motivate for a gender-responsive budget for this department. I would like to give an example in order to illustrate the way in which the portfolio committee envisages how the department should give effect to their mandate. Cassandra Baadjies, who is 24 years old, is a professional sister with a Bachelor of Nursing Science Degree, B Cur. She completed her community nursing year in the peri-urban areas of the Eastern Cape at the Settler's Hospital in Grahamstown. Her decision was to study further and do her Masters degree in neonatal care. She passed the first year of her masters degree. That is a scarce skill that is required to address Millennium Development Goal 4 of reducing child mortality by two thirds by 2015.
Ms Baadjies has several challenges, such as upskilling herself and finding employment in a sector where skills are regarded as critical as they have a direct impact on the health outcomes of children. However, it is hard for her to find employment at the provincial hospitals which have midwifery posts. Even if she is the preferred candidate, nurses at certain hospitals, it is assumed, are only allowed to study after five years of employment.
This is but one of the many challenges facing South Africa, be it the feminisation of poverty, the slow progress with regard to attaining Millennium Development Goals 3 and 4 on child survival and maternal health - also stated here by the Minister - or addressing unemployment that gravely affects youth and the gendered implications thereof. The department has a very important role to play in addressing the aforementioned challenges by working collaboratively with the respective departments concerned to ensure that the rights of women and children and people with disabilities are fulfilled.
When it comes to Members of Parliament, the women belong to a women's caucus and they need to interrogate the budgets of the different departments in the committees they serve. A situation that we would like to see is the following, as taken from the ATC of the Eastern Cape provincial legislature and relating to the annual reports of 2008. The Department of Local Government and Traditional Affairs, a corporate service today, was headed then by MEC Toko Xasa, who is today the Deputy Minister. These are the recommendations made by the portfolio committee to her then department.
Firstly, the department should submit to the committee a co-ordinated action plan with regards to a special programme unit for all municipalities. Secondly, the department should give the committee disaggregated data of all disabled women in their employ, at provincial and municipal levels. Thirdly, the department must ensure that they come up with a plan that ensures that there is a gender balance at the top senior management level. That is how we work together with the department.
When we as a committee scrutinise the reports on Budget Votes to Parliament, which are in the ATCs, we would like to see such findings and recommendations with written replies from the departments on such recommendations after 30 days of tabling the departmental reports.
In conclusion, I would like to make an appeal to all stakeholders: For this department to be successful we need to move forward together. The Ministry, all Ministers from the different departments, public representatives, the national gender machinery, nongovernmental organisations and other relevant stakeholders should fully commit themselves to these processes. Let 10 years down the line be a watershed moment in history when we can proclaim and celebrate the positive impact this department has had on the lives of women.
Together we can do more. The ANC supports this Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]