Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, hon Ministers, hon Deputy Ministers, hon members of the NCOP, hon special delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure to take part in a debate which is at the core of our struggle for a prosperous, nonsexist and nonracial democratic South Africa.
I am not only excited, but also feel honoured and humbled to address this very important Joint Sitting of great sons and daughters of our nation who are at the forefront of the struggle to advance women's freedom and empowerment. Our nation joins the rest of the world in celebrating a century since the Second International Conference of Working Women which was held in Copenhagen in 1910, as other speakers have already mentioned. This important gathering laid the foundation for the adoption of a profound resolution that changed the women's struggle for equal rights and freedom across the world.
The origin of International Women's Day is at the heart of the issue addressed by the Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises. International Women's Day originated from the cry of women who faced the harshest and most brutal working conditions, which undermined and attacked their dignity and basic human rights. These were women who were underpaid and overworked, had no security, worked long hours under dangerous conditions and were abused by their employers.
It is therefore fitting that the ANC should choose the creation of decent work for women as one of the key messages to honour this day. I want to put it categorically that we have never paid lip service to this important call. We will continue to put our shoulders to the wheel to ensure that we lead our people on the path of growth, development and employment.
The evolution of the concept of decent work in South Africa gained momentum through the ANC and its alliance, with reference to economic policy discourse. It found expression in the Freedom Charter, which states: "The people shall share in the country's wealth!"
We have seen a number of programmes, policies and initiatives that continue to give life to this expression. The Reconstruction and Development Programme is one of the initiatives that embraces an inclusive process that recognises the need for the creation of jobs and decent work as a necessity to fight unemployment, poverty and gender inequality for a better life for all.
The concept of decent work is entrenched in the South African Constitution, which also embraces the principles of equality and respect for the dignity of all women and men as equals before the law. We have fought and defeated the might of apartheid to ensure that women enjoy a better quality of life, equal opportunities and decent work.
We as the ANC have always said that the national liberation from racist white minority rule and the legacy of colonialism of a special type would be incomplete unless it also meant the liberation of the women of our country. We remain resolute and profoundly committed to ensuring that women enjoy equal rights and opportunities in all aspects of life.
The ANC continues to lead our nation on a path of dismantling discriminatory legislation, practices and policies that undermine and attack the dignity and rights of women. We have moved decisively in expanding opportunities and programmes that are geared to dismantling apartheid's social and economic relations, and are creating a democratic society based on the principles of equity, nonracialism and nonsexism.
We are under no illusion about the fact that the landscape of women's rights and the fight for equality is no longer so much about women's legal status as about the socioeconomic conditions that women face in their daily lives.
The ANC recognises the necessity to transform the economy in order to ensure that women too benefit and remain at the centre of the opportunities for economic advancement. The key task for ensuring economic growth and decent jobs is to ensure a strong and responsive economic system that serves all South African women.
We have committed ourselves to ensuring that women remain the key drivers of the economy. We remain even more resolute in our quest to avoid a narrow economic path based on the accumulation of wealth by a few males. In this regard, we recognise that our industrial policies should ensure that women feature prominently in the growth path. We have committed ourselves to transforming the skewed patterns of ownership and production which reflect the legacy of apartheid, inequalities, dualism and marginalisation of women. We are indeed humbled that our nation has made advances in expanding economic opportunities for women.
We know for sure that the ANC government remains committed to ensuring that it uses its rural development programmes, infrastructure programmes and Expanded Public Works Programme in empowering women, particularly those in the rural areas, as prioritised by the NCOP in its fourth-term oversight agenda.
We are conscious of the fact that much still needs to be done to bridge the gap between urban and rural communities, particularly in the communication and information technology sectors. We are aware that communication and its associated technologies are great economic enablers for many women in many parts of the continent. They can facilitate the establishment of enterprises and co-operatives, and better and more efficient household management, amongst other things.
We are indeed happy that the Expanded Public Works Programme has created over 1,6 million job opportunities which have mostly benefited women. This truly attests to our belief that a developmental state cannot simply play a regulatory role if it has to create decent jobs.
We are also aware of the enormous challenges that our nation and many women in our country still face. We are aware that the constant growth that our nation experienced between 1994 and 2005 has not really translated into better opportunities for some women across Africa. We are aware that women still constitute the majority of those in poverty, the unemployed and illiterate.
Despite some of the challenges that our nation faces, the ANC-led government remains committed to ensuring that women enjoy equal rights and equal opportunities. We will continue to work tirelessly to dismantle all forms of discrimination against women.
At the ANC 52nd national conference in 2007 we reaffirmed our position to move decisively in creating decent work for our people, particularly for women. We recognise the fact that in 1994 the new government inherited an economy that was designed to meet the needs of a minority at the expense of women, rural communities and the majority of our people. It was an economy in deep structural crisis and consequently it required fundamental reconstruction. This economic problem emanates from the discriminatory policies of the apartheid rule.
The international economic balance of forces contributed immensely to unequal patterns of distribution, thus adversely affecting the local economy. Similarly, at present the South African economy is affected by the international economic crisis as part of the global economy.
I wish to declare, on behalf of all South African women, our solidarity with the women of Kenya. The challenges that they are faced with in their country are gruesome, and I stand to condemn all those who believe that perpetrating abuse of women and children in that part of our continent will lead to their being healed of their demons. I take this opportunity to call on all South African men to condemn those barbaric actions against elderly women and children in Kenya.
As I conclude, I want to say without a shadow of a doubt that the ANC will continue in its endeavours to ensure that women enjoy equal rights and equal opportunities. We will continue to ensure that all South African women are secure, have the right to collective bargaining and worker power, and have better wages and better conditions of service. We say as long as there are still disparities in access to opportunities and the majority of those who live in poverty are women, the struggle for freedom in our country remains incomplete.
Malibongwe! [Praise!] Thank you. [Applause.]