Hon Chair, hon members, I am really honoured to have been invited to address the House on this subject today. It is a very special day and a very special matter to talk about. We all know that Parliament is a tribune of the people and that parliamentarians are, in real terms, people's deputies.
The question of democracy is a very important one in terms of the heading, the topic or subject matter today of Parliament entrenching a people- centred democracy in achieving developmental goals. In reality, we understand democracy in the very traditional sense of "government of the people, for the people and by the people". Our view is that this is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for democracy. This is because in reality the democracy we are speaking about in South Africa in particular goes beyond just a representative democracy which really expresses itself in terms of what we just said. Democracy, in terms of content, refers rather to a system in which everyone has an equal, proportionate share in the rights and responsibilities, duties and services and constraints and opportunities which are accrued to or emanate from their own society. This is a very important definition of democracy, and one which speaks to a participatory democracy.
Government of the people by the people speaks to a representative democracy. Therefore, we are talking about sets of entitlements and obligations. These are very important in our view, because they are basically the head and tail of the same coin. They reflect the dialectical relationship between individual members of society and their society. We speak about democracy most of the time without reflecting on the obligations of people. We speak more about entitlements in terms of the conservative or perhaps the traditional definition of democracy.
In our view in the ANC, we think development refers in the main to economic, social and cultural progress brought about by certain political choices. We make choices. Apartheid was a political choice - an unfortunate political choice - which was driven by certain administrative processes and programmes that reflected the structures of government.
We can look at the subject matter we are talking about now and use it as an example. If you look at the migrant labour system - the manner in which it impacted negatively on land possession - it actually served to dispossess the land of different cultures of people and actually broke down the fabric of African communal society. That was a political choice driven by certain administrative programmes and processes.
When we refer to goals as the ANC, we are talking about social cohesion and development - the development of outcomes. Social cohesion is something that binds people together and defines people as people. In other words, it does this as a cultural entity defined in geospatial terms or contexts. At a broad national level, symbols of social cohesion include the national anthem, the national flag, heritage sites and legends. These legends who are defined are often males.
The other day the hon Minister of Transport, who was the Premier of KwaZulu- Natal, asked me who the legendary women in my province were. I come from the Eastern Cape province. I was really confounded. I started thinking and eventually thought about where I come from - a small region in the Eastern Cape called Cacadu, where we have the legend about a woman called Sarah Baartman. I started thinking about that, but that was about it. I was talking about other women there and he said that I should go back further in time. We talked about Manthatisi and others. He started relating to me just how important this subject matter is - the role of women in the past, how they actually contributed to the transformation of society over time and the kind of leadership they provided to society. So, social cohesion talks about legends, and we should begin to address these legends in terms of both male and female.
Development refers to shared growth and prosperity and full employment. It speaks to cultural progress and equality and equity, particularly with regard to women: the question of equality and equity in terms of content and form for women and whether in fact women do have the right to own land and to own assets in rural areas in particular.
The entrenchment of a people-centred democracy in achieving developmental goals therefore talks to transformation and fundamental change, particularly in terms of land, livestock, cropping and community. Talking to community particularly refers to the manner in which society relates to women; not how women relate to society, but how society relates to women in terms of rights and responsibilities.
We still find, in some of our communities, that women can't own land, that women can't own immovable assets, that women who raise children can't even be regents. Sometimes we have women who are unable to take responsibility when their husbands depart. This is a central issue in terms of the relations of power in some of our traditional communities. So, we are talking of relations of land, livestock, cropping and community. Who is in charge of homes when men are out there in the mines? Therefore, we are talking about the relations of land as a substance in relation to the way in which women are related to by society as a whole.
Therefore, rural development talks to social infrastructure, which impacts very strongly on women. We still have a lot of women having to go long distances carrying water and firewood on their heads. This is a matter that relates to the manner in which society relates to women. One won't find husbands carrying water and "inyanda yezinkuni" [a bundle of firewood] on their heads. They don't do that. Husbands don't do that.
The President raised the question of economic infrastructure. The President says that we still don't have kinds of infrastructure in rural areas which can make things easier for women, in terms of both social and economic infrastructure. We are talking about cultural progress. In fact, let's start with cultural facilities, libraries, schools, recreational facilities for young people, playgrounds for children and early childhood developmental centres in rural areas in particular, ICT infrastructure and the way in which we manage national resources in rural areas. All of these impact on the manner in which women live their lives in rural areas. These things must be there or else the burden falls on women.
Therefore, what this means is that when we are talking about land reform and rural development we are talking about issues that affect women directly. We are talking about issues that relate to how women carry the burden of society by raising children, having to carry firewood and water for long distances and having to cook for their children.
I think Saba Mbixane related a story about this very well. He said that one day a man asked God to make him a woman so that his woman could feel the burden of being a man because he went out there to work every morning and the woman stayed behind. God said it was fine, that he would grant his request and that he would be a woman the next day. The next day he woke up as a woman. She had to cook for the husband and make tea. The husband then left. She then washed the children, gave them food and took them to school. When she got back, she had to wash dishes. When she realised it was lunch time and the husband came back she had to cook lunch for the husband. When the husband left, she realised that she had to go and fetch the children from school, etc. Then in the evening she had to cook supper for the family. After that, the man went to bed and she was still busy. She thought the man was asleep but he was waiting for her. He said, "Well, there you are." And that's it - you know what happens. [Laughter.]
Of course she felt that she couldn't be a woman again. She didn't want to be a woman the next day. She said, "God, thank very much. I've experienced it. Could you please change me. I want to go back to being a man." Of course, God answered back. He said, "Unfortunately, what you were doing last night resulted in your conceiving a child. So, you are going to have to wait another nine months before you can go back to being a man."
So, this is the burden of being a woman. Can you imagine carrying a child for nine months, having to carry water and a bundle of firewood on your head, cooking every day - doing all of those things - without respite? That is what the life of a woman is worth in rural areas. Then a woman is told that she cannot own a herd of cattle or livestock because it belongs to her little son - the son she is still raising and the son she carried for nine months; again, because the girl-child cannot inherit these things so easily. These things are changing, thanks to our democracy. The Constitution that we brought about as a nation is changing all of this.
We are talking about equity and cultural progress. The days of girl- children not being able to go to school beyond standard five - when they said that one should just write a letter and get a response - are over. We are talking about women who are running the country. The place of women is not in the kitchen anymore.
Daardie dae is verby. [Those days are over.]
Chair, we are talking about a very important matter - a matter that is at the heart of rural development and land reform. When we are talking about rural development, we are therefore talking about development of women that talks to cultural progress so that we no longer have women who are supposed to be uneducated, women who must request their husbands' permission before they walk out of the yard, women who must request their husbands' permission before they can look for a job. We are talking about women who themselves can take responsibility for the running of not only their homes, but also their communities and society.
Our Constitution is said to be one of the best in the world because it created an opportunity for women to realise the best they can be as human beings, as South Africans and as citizens of the world. Thank you very much, hon Chair. [Applause.]