Chairperson of the House, hon member Tau, the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces in absentia, our hon Minister Comrade Nkwinti, representatives from all provinces and hon members of this august House, one feels honoured and humbled to be given the great honour of addressing this House, representing the Free State. The International Day of Rural Women is a call to review all that relates to the development of rural women in our country, the continent and the world as a whole.
Yes, much has been done throughout the world. Many countries, including ours, have developed laws that seek to protect the rights of every citizen and ensure the development of their lives. The pace differs from country to country and, yes, we need to acknowledge that some countries are way behind and need to be assisted to accelerate the pace; hence recognition of this International Day of Rural Women.
In our country we appreciate that President Jacob Zuma has made it a priority that there be great development in rural areas and has therefore restructured his Cabinet and departments in a manner that will respond and contribute effectively and efficiently to rural needs.
Our Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform, the hon Nkwinti, is already working at a very fast pace. In the Free State his priority area is Makgolokoeng in QwaQwa, a former Bantustan that is so underdeveloped that it puts our people in severe conditions. Plans for an agri-village are at an advanced stage. Communities are very happy that the Minister is going to establish an agri-village in Makgolokoeng. As the Free State, tomorrow we will be celebrating World Food Day in Makgolokoeng.
We appreciate the fact that some of the women who were once farmworkers and farm dwellers are not only the tillers of the soil but are also landowners. There are still some challenges in ensuring that they then become full commercial farmers, but we are marching forward. Most of the farmers in the Free State are still at an emergent level. I am sure that standing here today, having done such a lot within such a short period, after 15 years in power, the Free State women who marched against the Native Land Act in 1913 are proud of us because of what we have done up to now.
For all of us this day should be a celebration of what has been achieved to date, but it should also be a time to look critically at issues and areas that still need a lot of attention in order to review our plans for accelerated service delivery. We need to join hands and look into our laws, policies and regulations. Where there are gaps, they need to be attended to.
The NCOP is our hope to ensure that when regulatory mechanisms are put in place they do not undermine or contradict our laws. The NCOP is our hope to ensure that the process of developing and amending our laws and Acts is not dragged out, but is short and effective. We need to ensure that all platforms that are created for the development of rural women, including the farm areas, work coherently and in an integrated manner.
At the moment there is no clear-cut coherence between the departments dealing with labour, land affairs and agriculture and the SA Human Rights Commission to work together. They still operate in silos. Therefore, there is a need for them to be clubbed together.
There are areas where human rights are extremely badly violated. We need these departments, together with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the police, and the committees of Parliament in all spheres, to respond qualitatively to these challenges. In the Free State we still have areas where people are made to drink water with animals.
We still have challenges where some areas are not easily accessible. Our transport modes need to be looked into in order to incorporate rural areas. In the Free State the train line that is being developed as we speak, from Bloemfontein to Botshabelo and Thaba Nchu, which was one of the Bantustans, is one of the areas we are looking into in our endeavours to improve transport in rural areas. In later years the train will reach Lesotho.
We still have areas where people are treated as slaves and not as farmworkers and farm dwellers; and most of the time these areas are not accessible, particularly farms that are within farms. The Department of Labour, the police and the SA Human Rights Commission are not able to enter such areas. These are areas that need to be focused on much more.
There are areas where our people are still deprived of opportunities to enter schools closer to their homes and where people are still not able to access government grants. These areas still need to be focused on. This day should be a day that we use to educate ourselves and our communities in that those who live with an abundance of service delivery make a call that for one or two years their areas are just maintained; that they say "hokaai" [Whoa] to development. Let most of the budget be redirected to the development of rural areas.
Chair, think of a woman in a rural area who is about to deliver a baby in the middle of the night where there is no clinic, no hospital, no ambulance, no electricity, and not enough water. Think of her rearing this child; when the child is ill and there is nowhere to go; no mobile clinic or any help. Think of the development of that child in an area where there is no school close to home and that child has to walk miles to reach one. At other times, when it is raining, the child cannot access the school. Think of the girl-child who ends up being raped and abused because of the rough paths she has to walk to get to any service delivery point.
I have been sent here by the Free State to do lobbying. If we, as the world, are genuine in our hearts about the International Day of Rural Women, we will drive and lead the campaign. Those with abundant service delivery should just let their areas be maintained, avoiding deterioration, with all the budgets directed towards our rural and remote areas. Let us do it.
Therefore, as the Free State, we are saying that this day should become a collective effort by all to assist in the development of rural women and that we should move at a faster pace. We dare not fail. In working together, women in the rural areas will enjoy the benefits of this democracy earlier than anticipated. I thank you, Chair. I thank the ANC and the ANC-led government for bringing about this democracy. Let us expand it beyond our areas to the rural areas. Thank you, Chair. [Applause.]