WEDNESDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER 2003 __

                PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
                                ____

The House met at 15:06.

The Speaker took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.

ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS - see col 000.

QUESTIONS AND REPLIES - see that book.

The SPEAKER: Order! Hon members, the first item on the Order Paper today is questions to Ministers in the Peace and Security Cluster. Before we start, and since we have been away, I want to remind members that the Rules provide that the supplementary question may not consist of more than one question. I want to appeal to hon members to please adhere to this Rule, because I don’t want to stop you at the end of one. But I will do so.

Question 139 has been asked by hon Mr Ramgobin to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The hon Minister of Foreign Affairs is abroad and has requested that her questions stand over.

         ARMAMENTS CORPORATION OF SOUTH AFRICA LIMITED BILL

                       (Second Reading Debate)

The MINISTER OF DEFENCE: Madam Deputy Speaker, one of the responsibilities that we carry is that of carefully taking charge of our inheritance from history and to reshape that to better serve the interest of the people of our country in the period that lies ahead. One of those inheritances is Armscor, which was created at the height of apartheid. Armscor was created in 1968. At the time, it had three major functions. These were the development and manufacturing of armaments, the acquisition of armaments on behalf of the then SADF, and control over export and import of armaments into or from the Republic.

With the ushering in of democracy in 1994, and the change in posture of the SANDF from an offensive to a defensive one, a number of measures were taken by the first democratic Government to restrict and contain the movement and supply of arms into and out of South Africa. Firstly, the development, manufacturing and sales of armaments was transferred to a wholly commercial enterprise, Denel. Secondly, control over conventional armaments was transferred to the National Conventional Arms Control Committee. Thirdly, the creation of the Defence Secretariat led to greater civilian control over the acquisition process by the Department of Defence.

These changes led to a review of the role, functions and mandate of Armscor. The new Bill was drawn up in consultation with four other government departments, the South African Aerospace, Maritime and Defence Industry Association and the Centre for Conflict Resolution at the University of Cape Town. The objectives were to meet the defence matériel requirements of the department, and to meet the defence technology research, development, analysis test and evaluation requirements of the department. Its function is to acquire defence matériel on behalf of the department and to manage technology projects.

The affairs of Armscor will be managed and controlled by a board of directors. There are rules governing the chief executive officer, the chief financial officer, non-executive board members, board meetings and decisions. The Bill covers conflict of interest and possible punishment for failure by board members and employees to disclose. The Bill explains where the corporation’s funds must come from, the audit of its financial statements and a system for evaluating acquisitions.

Regulations will be made by the Minister in terms of the provisions of the Bill for the location of Armscor, the conditions and restrictions of the Board, procedures for meetings and the keeping of records, security clearance for employees, code of conduct for employees and grievance procedures for employees.

The Bill spells out the position regarding delegations by the board, the safeguarding of information, records, property and premises, intellectual property, laws that have to be repealed, and so on. The Bill further stipulates that the state remains the sole shareholder of the corporation and that the Minister exercises ownership control on behalf of the state.

The redefining of the role of Armscor has not been an easy task. A balance had to be found between limiting the activities of the corporation while not suffocating the industry. There were particular areas of difficulty around reporting lines and the role of the Defence Secretary and the acquisition division in the Defence Secretariat. This has finally been worked out, helped by the active participation of the portfolio committee.

I would like to acknowledge the role of the chairperson of the committee and to formally thank her on behalf of the Department of Defence and of the defence industry as a whole for her positive contribution, assisted, naturally, by the members of the committee. I thank you. [Applause.]

Ms T R MODISE: Madam Deputy Speaker and hon members, today we proudly place before this House the Armaments Corporation of South Africa Limited Bill. When Armscor was established in 1968, it was expected to meet the defence matériel requirements of the apartheid South Africa. As the Minister stated, it was a development and production unit for that regime. It bought and sold equipment, components and information almost in a James Bond-like fashion.

The coincidence of 1968 is also very interesting. We know that, in 1968, civil military relations took a dip. We know that what little civilian oversight existed was certainly removed then. Defence and all military- related issues and matters disappeared from the public view. The structure of the South African Defence Force changed. Since the dawn of democracy, Armscor has undergone a number of changes. It has recruited non-white people into senior positions. It currently has its first-ever black CEO. It has an acceptable racially integrated board of directors, but it has yet to achieve a respectable gender balance.

Armscor, as the Minister said, has had to shed a number of its original functions. Denel has taken over the marketing and manufacturing side of things. Armscor no longer has to regulate the export and import of weapons because there is a Cabinet sub-committee, the NCACC, which is now responsible for this, subject to the NCACC Act, which requires that this Parliament receive at least three types of reports.

The Bill before us renews Armscor’s mandate and should facilitate its restructuring. It spells out the functions and confirms Armscor as the acquisition arm of the Defence department. Armscor is required to establish a programme management system that supervises the tendering and contractual processes of the Department of Defence. Armscor is the department’s chief quality assurer and the board of directors must necessarily reflect experience, expertise and interest, and ensure that a quality service is rendered to the Department of Defence and all other related departments which Armscor might be required to service. It is important to note that the Department of Defence does not lose its internal acquisition function for non-military procurement.

This Bill makes provision for Armscor to acquire defence matériel on behalf of other state organs and on behalf of other states with the approval of the Minister of Defence. This also means that as we go and look at the provisions of Nepad and a dream of an Africa that is at peace, Armscor’s role becomes even more fundamental. The enabling of Armscor to procure for other states actually means that Armscor is in a position to facilitate regional integration, which is one of the basic tenets of Nepad.

This means that we can then dream peacefully about a SADC that has integrated policies, equipment and systems. It means that we can rest assured that systems and equipment that we will be using in South Africa will be of the same quality as those used by Botswana, Mozambique and Tanzania. This also means that South Africa, as a little superpower in the Southern hemisphere, will begin to exploit the expertise it has. When Armscor procures on behalf of another state, it necessarily has to receive commission. We hope that this commission will be used to finance other projects that Armscor has, such as their black empowerment project and the talent-scouting project, where they bring in little children and help them.

The fact that Armscor, through this Bill, is now enabled to expand a little bit on the commercial side means that we can look forward with excitement to what is going to come out of the Simon’s Town Dockyard. Will Armscor manage the Simon’s Town Dockyard better? We hope it will. We hope that it will also manage it at a profit. We hope that not only will we be able to manage to attract South African civilian vessels for maintenance at this dockyard, but that we might be able to refit ships from neighbouring states using that dockyard.

Yesterday they informed us that they are busy exploiting military technology for civilian use. One of the things that they are using is to ensure that tyres are reinforced in such a way that we can have less accidents. They are also using Gerotek to retrain taxi drivers, and more lives will be saved this way. This technology can then be exported to other SADC countries, of course, at a profit for Armscor and this country. The ANC supports this Bill. [Applause.]

Adv H C SCHMIDT: Madam Deputy Speaker, the need for an institution with high technical ability to assist the DOD in the defence environment should be a well-established fact. Armscor, with the state as the only shareholder will, due to this Act, continue to provide the defence matériel and requirements of the department, and, more importantly, manage all issues pertaining to the defence technology requirements of the department. To fulfil this role effectively, high priority should be placed on the level of expertise of the approximately 2000 employees in its service, of which 480 employees hold a Masters of Engineering degree, with 451 engineers employed.

Companies have been formed by Armscor to fall in line with accepted commercial practices and to meet existing business requirements. In this regard, entities such as the Institute for Maritime Technology, Gerotek, Protechnik, Alkantpan, to name but a few, has provided the bulk of funding which Armscor needs to be sustainable. In addition Armscor’s funding problems are exacerbated by a transfer payment from Government, which has increased by a mere average annual rate of 5,3% for the past five years. Considering the inflation rate of between 6% to 8%, this was a decrease in real terms.

As stated in a briefing yesterday to the Portfolio Committee on Defence, these funding problems have led to increased resignations particularly from engineers due to the fact that their salaries are not market-related, with the resulting erosion of technical capabilities. Not only has these strategic defence packages caused an increase in the workload of these engineers, but the funding problems have manifested itself in an inability to transform the workforce.

The purpose of the strategic importance of Armscor is evident in the conclusion of a public partnership agreement in terms of which Armscor will manage the Simon’s Town naval dockyard. Not only will it be responsible for ensuring that the dockyard will be commercially viable, hopefully, but will also be responsible for the disposal of excess stock, being excess equipment and ammunition from the Department of Defence.

While we are on this issue, it appears to be of great concern and needs to be dealt with as effectively and speedily as possible; in fact, urgently. Failing to do so might lead to severe embarrassment to the Government and possible loss of life and property in the event of excess and redundant ammunition stocks not being dealt with effectively and timeously.

It is important to know that Armscor has also been at the forefront of commercialising technologies which have been developed in the past years relating to the so-called run-flat tyre inserts, portable X-ray machines and containerised medical units. These attempts will not only ensure the commercial viability of Armscor, hopefully, but will also ensure that society benefits from the commercialisation of equipment that was initially intended for exclusive use by the military. Attempts to address the transformation requirements of Armscor is evident in the fact that it intends employing an additional 47 engineers within the next three years. However, despite all of the above, Armscor is strategically poised to ensure the survivability of the local defence industry in South Africa. It should do so with the greatest of care and consideration, not only to the major local defence industries, but also the smaller companies.

It is within this context that allegations have started to surface to the effect that the previous Chief of Acquisitions of the Department of Defence, Mr Chippy Shaik, now employed by a company dealing in defence equipment, which I shall not name for the present purpose, is allegedly intimidating employees of other companies not to tender for certain contracts, and that in the event of them doing so he would ensure that they would not receive contracts from entities such as Armscor.

I mention this because, in light of these allegations, Armscor should ensure that practices of this nature, where it has the ability to exhort a tremendous amount of influence over the local defence industry, do not raise their ugly heads.

As you are well aware, we are currently experiencing the consequences of such similar alleged actions with regards to the arms-deal scandal and they should not be allowed to prevail again. In light of the above, the DA supports the Armaments Corporation of South Africa Limited Bill. I thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Mr N S MIDDLETON: Mr Chairman and colleagues, during the apartheid years the name Armscor conjured up visions of a state-controlled international arms dealer, and perhaps smuggler, that was a law unto itself and which dominated the isolated sanctions that affected the South African armaments industry.

It is not a subject of this debate to go into Armscor history too deeply. Suffice it to say that the closed and secretive nature of the international arms trading market was very much part and parcel of Armscor’s corporate culture during those days.

Of course the advent of democracy in 1994 changed all that and the co- operation of all functions of developing, manufacturing, and acquiring arms for the Government and controlling the imports and exports of arms were somewhat out of step with the current realities. This was particularly true after the formation of Denel as a dedicated arms manufacturer and the establishment of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee and the creation of civilian acquisition bodies via the Civilian Defence Secretariat.

It was, therefore, no surprise that the question was asked: “Quo vadis, Armscor?” In response, the Minister of Defence launched a review of the future role of Armscor within a drastically changing environment. The Bill before us, therefore, sets out a new and somewhat limited role for Armscor. The corporation will in future have two major objectives. Firstly, meeting the defence matériel requirements of the Department of Defence effectively, efficiently and economically; Secondly, meeting the defence technology, research, development, analysis, tests and evaluation requirements.

The continued controversy over the South African arms procurement deal has brought to us two crucial reminders about the nature of international and other arms deals. Firstly, there seems to be almost unlimited scope and opportunity for corruption; and secondly, secrecy and confidentiality still rule supreme to the detriment of openness and transparency.

This debate is not about the arms procurement deal and its controversy, but viewed against this background, it is clear that the Bill would have to spell out very clearly what Armscor’s roles and functions would be in future. The IFP is satisfied that Armscor has a role to play in future. We are also satisfied that the Bill creates adequate checks and balances and oversights. It will, of course, be up to this Parliament and its successors to ensure that these checks and balances are applied vigorously and without fear to ensure openness, transparency and accountability. For these reasons the IFP will support this Bill.

Mr J SCHIPPERS: Chairperson, after the democratic elections, the defence establishment started a broad programme of transformation. This process has been the central feature of most military forces in response to the new post-Cold-War environment. The aims of transformation in the DOD included characteristics such as modern, effective, affordable, accountable and appropriate defence capabilities. The rationale was to redesign and to rightsize the SANDF.

The Bill provides for the continued existence of the Armaments Corporation of South Africa. It provides for the functions, accountability and finance of the corporation and also provides for the matters connected therewith.

Previously Armscor was also responsible for the importation and exportation of weapons, but this function has been transferred to the National Conventional Arms Control Committee, which has been promulgated in the NCACC Act. The Bill will enable Armscor to restructure itself to reflect the new endeavours and ventures, like the roles played by Armscor Pty Limited and the Simon’s Town naval dockyard.

All the business activities conducted by Armscor through its various strategic facilities is to generate supplemental income. The Bill will also allow Armscor to fulfil its role to support the SANDF in its increasing role in peacekeeping and peace enforcement operations in SADC and on the African continent. For Armscor to function optimally and to meet future challenges, its resource needs have to be addressed urgently, inter alia, renewing the Aids profile, reflecting the demographics of the country and keeping up with the international technology.

A few concerns were raised by the members of the committee in order to get clarity. For example, will the PFMA and all the mechanisms be sufficient to ensure that the state’s investments are safe and secure and will the reserve fund be applied for marketing research, building renovations and operating shortfall? Chairperson, the New NP supports the Bill. I thank you.

Mnr A BLAAS: Mnr die Voorsitter, die ACDP steun hierdie wetsontwerp. Weens moontlike oorvleueling in die funksies van ander diensleweransiers soos in klousule 3 bepaal, en finansiële reëlings soos in klousule 15 bepaal, het die wetsontwerp die potensiaal vir konflik tussen die Departement van Verdediging, die bedryf in die algemeen en Krygkor.

Krygkor sal hom moet bepaal by dié funksies wat, om welke redes ook al, nie doeltreffend deur ander leweransiers gelewer kan word nie. Krygkor beskik egter oor unieke kundigheid en bates wat hoofsaaklik deur die staat gefinansier word. Die bates moet op aanvraag aangewend word, nie net ter ondersteuning van die nywerheid, die Departement van Verdediging en die staat nie, maar ook om inkomste vir Krygkor te genereer. Dit mag nie ten koste van ander diensverskaffers wees nie, en moet primêr gefokus wees op die behoeftes van die SA Nasionale Weermag en die verdedigingsomgewing binne die SAOG-konteks in die algemeen.

Die wetsontwerp verseker die voortbestaan van die unieke vermoë van Krygkor binne ‘n bepaalde raamwerk ter ondersteuning van die SA Nasionale Weermag en die wapenbedryf in die SAOG in die algemeen en word dus as sodanig gesteun. Dankie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Mr A BLAAS: Mr Chairman, the ACDP supports this Bill. As a result of possible overlapping in the functions of other service providers as stipulated in clause 3, and financial regulations as stipulated in clause 15, this Bill has the potential for conflict between the Department of Defence, the industry in general, and Armscor.

Armscor will have to direct itself toward those functions which, for whatever reason, can not be delivered efficiently by other providers. Armscor, however, has unique expertise and assets at its disposal, which are mainly financed by the state. These assets should be applied on demand, not only to support the industry, the Department of Defence and the state, but also to generate income for Armscor. This may not be at the expense of other service providers and should primarily be focused on the needs of the SA National Defence Force and the defence environment within the SADC context in general.

The Bill ensures the continued existence of the unique capacity of Armscor, within a specific framework, in support of the SA National Defence Force and the weapon industry in SADC in general, and is thus supported as such. Thank you.]

Mr D M DLALI: Mr Chairperson, this Bill is one of the Bills within the transformation process of the Department of Defence in which we are finalising the legislative process to make sure that the Defence Force and its support structures are managed in a manner that the ANC Government can achieve its transformation agenda and its goals.

This Bill seeks to address one of the core objectives of the corporation, namely to meet the defence matériel requirements of the department effectively, efficiently and economically. Having said the above, the lack of transformation in this corporation is noted with great concern. Armscor needs to move with great speed in the transformation process. It is clear that this is one of those institutions which are led by an African chief executive officer and an African board member, but its body structures are dominated by a white male workforce. I hope that this Bill is going to assist in the acceleration and fast- tracking of transformation in Armscor because of the new agreed functions of the corporation, particularly in view of the fact that we have agreed that this corporation will also be involved in marketing of defence matériel and in assisting the organs of state in defence matériel, including the SADC countries and the continent at large.

These resources will therefore impact on Armscor’s funds, assisting with the generation of revenue so that it can be sustainable without having to depend 100% on transfer payments from the Department of Defence. I also hope that this will assist its efficient processing. I am raising this matter because Armscor is claiming that the lack of transformation in its institution is the result of a lack of funding.

The chief executive officer of Armscor, in his annual report for 2002-03, said:

Armscor’s ageing and predominantly white workforce makes it imperative for the corporation to transform and renew its personnel profile. However, this corporate goal has been frustrated by inadequate funding. To systematically transform and renew Armscor’s workforce, a typical lead time of two or three years is required in order to transform expertise from a current incumbent to a new appointee who has limited or no experience in the defence-related industry.

I therefore hope that the two-to-three-years target will be met. We shall monitor this target on transformation very closely on an annual basis. We’ll make sure that the chief executive officer is accountable for its wares and make its wares transformable. The chief executive officer of Armscor made it clear that he is confident that this problem of a lack of transformation will be resolved by the next financial year. I hope this commitment is made clear.

The other issue raised by the Armscor report which needs urgent attention is the loss of capabilities within the SA National Defence Force. Therefore I also hope that this Bill will address this concern, and we’ll further monitor how the corporation will address this matter. I also hope that the next financial year is not going to bring the same problems again, and that these problems will have been addressed accordingly.

The commercialisation of Armscor has been one of the contentious issues and in the public hearings this matter was raised as a matter of concern, also by the SA Aerospace, Maritime and Defence Industries Association, herein referred to as AMD, and the industry would like to have a clear assurance that Armscor’s commercial activity will not have conflicting interests with those in the commercial sector.

Since Armscor is 100% funded by the Department of Defence, the AMD made it clear that Armscor is determining its commercial interests and the manner in which its revenue is collected. There should be no conflict with the interests of the commercial sector, including the defence-related industries. I therefore hope that these matters are going to be addressed by the corporation accordingly, and that there will be no conflict of interest within the defence-related industries, and also that the checks and balances will be addressed accordingly.

The representivity within the corporation is of great concern because it does not reflect the demographics of the country, particularly within defence itself. There are no women at all in managerial positions. All general managers are males. In particular in strategic positions it is worse because they are all white males. The African males are managers in human resources and corporate services because this is what they are allowed to do. I’m raising this issue because it is becoming a trend that Africans are not found suitable for IT, finance, corporate services and acquisitions.

I hope these matters are going to be addressed accordingly. The board members of the corporation are again linked to this issue. It seems to me it’s a boys’ club. This must change as a matter of urgency. We cannot allow these issues to continue unattended. It is because it is business as usual. This Bill should assist in the process and we need to monitor this process as a committee. The ANC supports this Bill. I thank you.

The MINISTER OF DEFENCE: Thank you, Chairperson. Well, first of all, I would like to thank all the parties for their support for this Bill. I do need to say that this is not the end of the story. The passing of this Bill is not the end of the story about Armscor. We have to continue to engage the task of further clarity on the role of Armscor. That is the one issue.

The second issue may perhaps be critical. I highlighted the fact that there are a number of outstanding issues that must receive the attention of the Minister. Of those issues I’d like to highlight two, because I consider that if Armscor is to play a role and serve the country, two issues must be prioritised and attended to urgently.

One is the issue of the security clearance of all the employees, because it is a highly security-involved institution. All the people employed there must address this question of security clearance. The experience of the country has shown clearly the difficulties that can arise as a result.

Then, of course, linked to that is the question of the code of conduct for employees. These two issues must receive our undivided attention if the institution is to serve the country properly.

I seriously take on board the issue of representivity on the board, and I noted that as the point was being made one of the members of the Opposition indicated that they would be ready to resign and to serve on the board. I shall consider this application. With those few words I’d like to thank the parties for supporting the Bill. Thank you. [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

Bill read a second time. A REVIEW OF THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN RESPECT OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF WOMEN DURING THE FIRST DECADE OF OUR DEMOCRACY AND OF THE CHALLENGES THAT LIE AHEAD

                      (Subject for Discussion)

The DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS: Chairperson, hon members, there were times when I wondered whether it was the designed effect of chronology that the adoption of the Freedom Charter in Kliptown and the historic women’s march of August 1956 happened within a year of each other, during a period that spanned two decades of the intensification of mass mobilisation against the system of apartheid.

Of course, what has been certain has been the fact that by this time in the mid-1950s the role played by women in the struggle for our liberation had grown in significance. For its part, the 1956 Congress of the People epitomised the essence of the logical conclusion of that struggle by proclaiming, through the Freedom Charter, that all will be equal before the law; that in South Africa we envisaged that there would be no regard to sex, colour or creed in determining our place in society.

The battle cry, ``all shall be equal” became the premise on which our struggle was based, and it has had great significance and meaning to the struggle for women’s emancipation as well. Ordinary South African women from all walks of life, some whose names the struggle has engraved in granite, stood side by side for decades to advance the cause of women. I would like to recall the names of our stalwarts that have since passed the baton to us to see the struggle through.

We all remember the humility and the compassion for people of leaders such as Albertina Sisulu, Gertrude Shope, Ruth Mompati, Helen Joseph, Amina Cachalia and Winnie Mandela. Who could forget the bravery of Helen Suzman and Ellen Kuzwayo, and their determination to, from the same benches on which we sit in this House, champion the cause of women? To this day, their role continues to demonstrate that South Africa cannot wish away the resilience of its mothers, the wisdom of its women and the love that all these patriots had for their country.

Others have passed on, and we specifically remember the recent loss of a member of this House, Comrade Ntombi Shope. Robala ka kgotso ngwanana. [Rest in peace, girl.]

Wena Ntombi wakaMark, wakaWilliam, oshay’ ibhuluemayini wathi voetsek, ngizokunik' udade wenu". [You, the daughter of Mark William who beat a boer in the mines, saying:Voetsek, I will show you your sister.’’]

Wena wa ra ka rikulu Ngwanzenyama, wa ka Ximukavukosi. [You, of the great Ngwanzenyama of Ximukavukosi.]

We pay tribute to these and the many other women who have made a contribution not only to our politics, but also in respect of the maintenance of our culture, heritage, folk lore, education and history. To these noble women and to the many unsung heroes on whose shoulders they stood in order to be tall, we offer our gratitude on behalf of the nation and of South African women in particular.

We need to thank our leadership in this institution of Parliament for making it possible for us to have this debate. As hon members will know, our country recently celebrated August as the month of women. In its conference that was symbolically concluded at the end of last month, the ANC Women’s League resolved to work for unity; that, even as we take a glance at the achievements made in the past 10 years, we should already be looking at what it is that women can do together to advance those gains and correct their shortcomings.

We are all for the intensification of the process of establishing a women’s movement through which women can engage honestly on matters regarding the advancement of the struggle for women’s emancipation.

So as we look back over the past 10 years, where do we start? In my view, we would not have done justice to this debate if we did not touch on the issue of the role of women during the negotiation process in the run-up to the establishment of a democratic order in our country. Not only should we ululate at the fact that women played a key role in these negotiations, perhaps we should also stress that a great effort was made to ensure that all women speak with one voice.

So the call for the establishment of a women’s movement that transcends our isolated political corners is neither impractical nor unrealistic, as our own experiences can attest. We believe that there is more that can be achieved by women working together. It is my view that if Helen Suzman and Albertina Sisulu could walk different paths to achieve one objective, that of the recognition and emancipation of women, then those of us who remain cannot shame them by abandoning such a cause.

We must also declare that South Africans cannot afford to be indifferent to the suffering of others, particularly of women of other nations here in Africa and globally. In this regard, I would like to reiterate the call for us to add our voice as a nation, as members of Parliament gathered here, in support of the growing pleas for the life of Amina Lawal, a young mother of 31 years, who has been condemned to die by the Sharia courts of Nigeria. The case of Amina Lawal and millions of other women in her position demonstrates the long and tedious road to eradicating all forms of women’s oppression, be they political, economic, national, religious or in the guise of tradition.

We in the ANC have already launched a campaign to mobilise the nation, particularly women, around Amina Lawal’s case. We believe that one of the things that South African women should celebrate with the attainment of our democracy is the fact that they do not have to be subjected to the same treatment Amina Lawal is subjected to in her country; that in this country the state will implement laws that regulate human conduct, in line with the constitutional order which we so painfully fought for, side by side. Gone are the days when state security forces acted as self-appointed police of morality, who regulated and infringed on personal lives of people in a manner similar to what the Sharia courts are doing in Nigeria. For this and many other reasons, South African women have a lot to celebrate.

I now come to the coming of age of our democracy. I must be quick to mention here, at the beginning, that whatever inroads we have made in the past 10 years, such inroads will not be substantial or qualitative if they do not change the lives of ordinary women at the lowest level, in the most remote corners of our country. I would, therefore, like us to look at the amount of progress made in turning around the lives of women, with specific reference to those in the rural areas.

We have heard reports that in the past 10 years more and more of our people who never had access to basic services such as water and electricity, now do have such access. We have also heard reports that these services have not reached everyone, and that, in fact, the lives of the majority of our people have remained the same or gotten worse during the same period.

What we know, however, is that there are real stories about real people, to whom we can point and say, ``Here are women, in our community, who used to wake up in the early hours of the morning to fetch firewood and water, and that the electrification process has now improved the quality of their lives”. We have surely started to move away from the times when women were reduced to being hewers of wood and drawers of water. And I must say that to those women to whom this change has come, it means a lot.

Of course, as a caring Government, we cannot afford peaceful sleep when there are many others who still go to sleep hungry and are subjected to the harshness brought about by the lack of progress in bringing these services closer to them. If you were to talk to these women, however, you would learn that they share our optimism and hope that change is possible, and that it is certainly coming to them as well. This is because in the past 10 years they have seen many communities that were once in a same position as them, that never had water, roads, electricity, and which today they do have.

It is true that others have noted that our effecting of the concept of universal access to services has only resulted in communal taps, and that not everyone has clean water in their backyard. However, in that communal tap is dripping fresh, clean water. Of course, this is criticism we should accept, but we should also recognise that in the meantime, that communal tap is providing a community with clean, healthy water where there was once nothing.

The majority of our hon members here have first-hand experience of rural life. They would know that when husbands and wives leave to work as migrant labourers in far-away places of glitter, such as Johannesburg, communication with the spouses that remain at home becomes very difficult. It took forever to send, through the post office, letters and urgent messages about death or harvest in the family. Today, this Government has made it possible for telecommunication networks to reach the most rural corners of our country, and this has ensured and preserved the necessary family contact.

Whereas some of our people in the rural areas have access to television, the added benefit with the advent of democracy is that they can watch all their programmes, including the news, in the language of their choice because all 11 of them are used by the public broadcaster.

Many of us would like to forget the days when women died whilst giving birth, and some as result of back-street abortion. When we introduced legislation that protected women and passed laws on reproductive health rights, we were given all sorts of labels. Today women enjoy the choice and right to decide about their bodies, and they are protected and empowered with information that educates them in this regard.

Mr G B D McINTOSH: What about dead babies?

The DEPUTY MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS: The HIV/Aids pandemic continues to be a thorn in the flesh of our public health system. We are not going to win this war until such time as women are empowered to exercise their right to sexual choice and to be protected from abuse such as rape. From its part, Government has already poured vast resources into an awareness campaign to address some of the salient factors contributing to the spread of this disease, and this is now going to be complemented by a well-planned treatment plan, agreed upon by our Government. It might not be enough, but I think we should commend Government for its efforts in providing relief to those who are left with the burden of caring for children orphaned by Aids.

The child support grant provided by social services to caregivers goes a long way towards distinguishing us as a caring nation where ``every child is my child, and your child is our child”.

It is my honest conviction that if we are to build a society where women have the confidence and ability to contribute to life in this country, we need to take seriously the issue of education of the girl child. Again, the Freedom Charter declared that ``the doors of learning and culture shall be opened”.

We have already deployed resources to the education of our children and, as Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, I have called on parents to allow the girls to go to school and not force them to enter into marriages at a young age. We need the support of this House in ensuring that children are put first when deciding whether minors can wed or not.

Still on the issue of marriages, we have called on all women of our country to go to our Home Affairs offices to inspect the records and verify their marital status. This is because some of our women are reflected in our records as being married, without their knowledge, owing to the ongoing scam of illegal marriages.

Women who are already married also need to go and check to ensure that their marriages are actually registered and whether their status is correctly reflected. This they should do in order to avoid getting surprises on separation or divorce, or when a husband dies.

Once more, I must conclude by saying that all the things we believe need to be done for the advancement of women’s emancipation can only be done if we are genuine about our intentions and if all women put their differences aside and work together. This is a challenge that I put before all of us here this afternoon. I thank you, Madam Speaker. [Applause.]

Hon MEMBERS: Malibongwe! [Praise!]

Ms J A SEMPLE: Chairperson, on behalf of the DA I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the hon Deputy Minister of Home Affairs on her election as President of the ANC Women’s League. Congratulations to her and her committee. [Applause.] Much has been achieved on behalf of South Africa’s women during the first decade of democracy. It is a well-known fact that women make up 52% of the population, but did you know that there are 1,7 million more women in South Africa than there are men?

In the latest edition of The South African Survey, published by the SAIRR, is shown that African women form the majority group demographically in this country. In the past they have also been the most marginalised. This is because prior to 1994 black women suffered under the dual burdens of race and gender discrimination.

South African women in general have been discriminated against because of the patriarchal nature of our society. Many laws have been passed in the past 10 years to improve the quality and status of life of women. All legislation that is passed now has to be gender sensitive. This is ensured through the use of appropriate language and by ensuring that the legislation in no way discriminates against women.

Our Constitution is the prime example and it is the most significant legislation passed that impacts on women. The equality clause of the Constitution in the Bill of Rights guarantees equal treatment for all South Africans. The state may not unfairly discriminate against anyone on the basis of race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin.

The Constitution also provides that legislation be enacted to promote the attainment of quality as well as to prevent unfair discrimination. Other examples of such legislation that have been passed since 1994 include the Divorce Courts Amendment Act, Act 65 of 1997. This Act opened the then black divorce courts to all races, giving women access to less costly divorce proceedings and making it easier for women to leave abusive marriages.

The South African Citizenship Act, Act 88 of 1995 said that citizenship may not be lost or gained due to marriage, giving effect to obligations under the Convention for the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

The Births and Deaths Registration Amendment Act, Act 67 of 1997, ensures that a woman can keep her surname upon marriage or add her previous surname to her married surname without applying to the director-general for permission. Our Government can be complimented on passing some of the most progressive legislation in the world, but often the implementation leaves a lot to be desired.

The Maintenance Act, for example, has been described by Lawyers for Human Rights lawyer, Danaline Fransman, as mere tourist legislation. It looks good and sounds good, but to most people it is just good on paper. The Maintenance Act defines a legal duty that parents owe their children and married people owe each other. For hundreds and thousands of South Africans this law makes a difference between having food and shelter and not having any at all. The lack of resources, however, hampers its implementation.

The new Act came into effect in November 1999 and includes provisions for the appointment of maintenance officers to provide legal support to those who apply for maintenance. The Act also allows for investigators to trace defaulters, but the Department of Justice has not yet fully implemented this provision.

A pilot project launched earlier this year placed 55 trained investigators in select courts. But while the appointment of investigators is a crucial part of bringing that to fruition, many problems arise from the first day. When individuals apply for maintenance, for example, application forms are only available in English, despite the fact that many applicants do not speak English or are illiterate. Thus, there are still many challenges to be faced. We can be justly proud of the progressive legislation that has been passed since 1994 to improve the quality and status of the lives of women, but unless it can be implemented and enforced, it is not worth the paper it is written on. [Applause.]

Prof H NGUBANE: Chairperson and colleagues, I must begin by congratulating Mrs Mapisa-Nqakula on her new position of leadership. We wish you well and we hope you shall find all support from us whenever you need it. [Applause.] Let me also begin by reminding this House that at the World Women’s Conference held in New York in the year 2000, the best accolade was received by South African women regarding the place of women in this country. The chair of the European Parliament informed the august New York conference chamber about the sterling achievement that South Africa women had achieved, especially in view of our fledgling democracy.

He said that South Africa had managed to appoint women as presiding officers for both Houses of Parliament. This is an achievement that is a rarity even in the most advanced and older democracies. While such accolades speak for themselves, I would, nevertheless, like to mention briefly the major examples of difference to quality of life that have been brought about by having more women in our legislatures.

The presence of women in legislatures make a quantitative and qualitative difference in the type of legislation that is proposed and passed into law. There is evidence that the presence of women decision-makers does influence the outcome or even the issues debated, such as this one today.

Women bring different and more humane qualities to the political process and, thus, are more committed to women’s and children’s rights. Our experience in South Africa has demonstrated that women in Parliament have advocated for and managed to obtain positive outcomes on issues such as public health, nutrition, equality in education and employment, child care and other related family-friendly policies.

There has been a definite transformation within Parliament. Recesses have been aligned with school holidays. Gender-sensitive language is used in the drafting of legislation. Parliamentary sessions now commence earlier and closer earlier than before 1994 to allow for more quality time for members of Parliament and their children. The list is long and I have limited time.

Regarding the future, I believe the biggest challenge is the ability to attract more male activists who will speak with one voice with women. We should not allow a situation to develop where men feel excluded and even guilty. The programmes in our society need to be tackled by both men and women who, after all, constitute the backbone of society.

South Africa has been lucky to have top leadership who are sensitive to women’s issues. With regard to this, I would like to pay a special tribute to my leader, Inkosi Mangosuthu Buthelezi. As women in the IFP, we have never felt the need to make demands for our interests, since the leadership has always put women first.

Some will remember that during the Kempton Park negotiations many women were dissatisfied because their parties had left them out. They had to make this demand loud and clear before they were heard. In the IFP, right from the beginning of negotiations, the hon Faith Gasha and I were members of the negotiating team. Right now, here in this House, IFP women constitute 30% of the party, despite the fact that the IFP is a small party, when compared to the ruling party.

Some will also remember that there was an extremely offensive law that was known as the Natal Code, produced by the colonial government of the time. This code denied African women all rights in that province and it reduced them to the status of children.

In the very first opportunity Inkosi Buthelezi had, he repealed the Natal Code. He protected women from the various forms of harassment emanating from the notorious section 10, which I am sure most of us remember.

It is necessary, from time to time, to acknowledge contributions in easing the lives of the down-trodden, especially during the most difficult times of apartheid. It is in this spirit that I want to say: Siyabonga, Shenge Sokalisa. [We thank you, Shenge Sokalisa.]

The CHAIRPERSON OF COMMITTEES: Order! The hon C B Johnson will be making her maiden speech.

Ms C B JOHNSON: Chairperson, hon members, may I too take this opportunity, on behalf of the New NP, to warmly congratulate the hon Deputy Minister on her election as president of the ANC Women’s League. [Applause.]

Next year we will be celebrating our first decade of democracy. In 2003 the preamble of the Women’s Charter, which we adopted in April 1954, is still as relevant as it was some 50 years ago. The preamble reads, and I quote:

We, the women of South Africa … hereby declare our aim of striving for the removal of all laws, regulations, conventions and customs that discriminate against us as women, and that deprive us in any way of our inherent right to the advantages, responsibilities and opportunities that society offers …

Since 1994 we have made great progress towards the empowerment of women. Not only does our Constitution guarantee our equality, but it continuously commits us to striving towards a truly nonsexist and nonracial society.

There have been many achievements and accomplishments. On the issue of gender representation, 20% of our judges and 28% of our magistrates are female; 21% of our ambassadors and high commissioners are female; 24% of senior managers in the Public Service are female; and, best of all, 31% of the members of this House are female. But it is not a simple matter of statistics and figures; the principle of equality and the principle of empowerment must directly benefit the lives of women, and it has.

Since 1994, more women and their families, especially those in rural areas, have gained increased access to the provision of public service and public health facilities. There has been increased access to service provision, running water and electricity and, importantly, the main beneficiaries of Government’s housing programmes have been women or households headed by women.

In the area of access to justice, much has been achieved by the establishment of family courts, maintenance courts, and courts dealing with sexual offences.

But our commitment to equality extends beyond the borders of our country. Since 1994, South Africa has become an international participant and co- signatory to, amongst others, the Dakar Platform and the Beijing Platform of Action for Women, as well as the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development.

However, there are still many challenges that we have to face. Women constitute 52% of South Africa’s population. Nearly half of these women live in rural areas where job opportunities are scarce. Twenty-one percent of adult women are still illiterate today, and 60% of households headed by women live in poverty.

But the women of South Africa have shown, in the past as we do today, that we do unite for what we believe in - the vision of a better South Africa and a better tomorrow. Given this commitment by this Government and the women of South Africa, these challenges too will and can be overcome. I thank you. [Applause.]

Ms J MOLOI: Hon Semple, we have all noticed that you look beautiful.

Chairperson and members, let me start by congratulating the President of the ANC Women’s League and I want to say to her that we wish her all the best. [Applause.]

When this day comes it usually reminds - I’m sure almost all women including myself - us of some of the harsh experiences that we encountered. It also reminds me of some harsh experiences that I had as a young girl. In the family in which I grew up, dominated by boys, everyone loved playing soccer so much. Like all of them, I also liked playing soccer. Unfortunately for me, no one approved of my love for soccer and I was reminded from time to time that I was a woman and that soccer was only a men’s sport.

Funnily enough, the local soccer team would, reluctantly, call me to join them when they were running short of a member, and my own brothers would be the first ones to decline having me as their teammate. I must be honest, my mother did not like it either. It was worse with the community members, who would label me as a tomboy and many other things. Little did they know that we would be having Banyana Banyana as the national women’s squad. [Applause.]

Perhaps Banyana Banyana would have started long ago. Unfortunately, because of the societal stereotypes that women cannot do this and that, it was delayed. Most women died before they could realise their potential, and others displayed only half of their potential while most struggled to put across what they were capable of doing.

If most women could share the experiences of the difficulties they had in society by virtue of being a woman, we would all agree that as women we have come a long way to where we are, thanks to our Government which opened up doors for women through the development of all progressive laws that provides an enabling environment for women. When we look back over the past decade of our democratic governance there can be little doubt that we have scored major victories in terms of advancement of gender rights and equality in South Africa. The date 27 April 1994 liberated all South Africans, both black and white, from the bondage of discrimination and subjugation. But, in the case of women, it brought liberation of a special kind.

Throughout the centuries, South African women suffered the brunt of hardship and oppression. It is often said that South African women were victims of triple oppression because of their race, class and gender. Rural women in particular were not only denied the most basic political rights but were relegated to the outer fringes of economic and social development. Their lack of access to health and social services, the complete ignorance of their educational and training needs and the poverty of opportunity for development have left deep scars on our society.

At the same time, we must pay homage to the women who remained at the forefront of the struggle for emancipation and fundamental dignity, freedom from colonialism, sexism and racism that we have emerged from victoriously. Indeed, we have made significant progress in the past decade. It’s a tribute to the perseverance and tenacity, and also to the vision and foresight, of South African women.

However, as we celebrate the significant advances that we have made since 1994, we must also agree with each other that all the battles have not yet been decisively won. Stripped of all the niceties, we should realise that the struggle for gender equality is in essence a struggle about power relations. Unfortunately, too many women in South Africa have won their basic rights on paper, in terms of our much-admired Constitution, but in practice, they have not been emancipated because of unequal power relations.

The major challenge facing us in the coming decade will be to address these issues, which are still ingrained in our society in the guises of religious beliefs and traditional customs. We have to confront the deep-seated stereotype that men are there to dominate society and to take decisions for and on behalf of women. We have to challenge the last remaining vestiges of patriarchy, where women are often regarded as mere objects. Unfortunately, this line of thinking is often manifested in public. We see it in the high incidents of rape and assault on women and girl-children, in spousal abuse within relationships. We hear it in the abusive way in which women are often still referred to.

As we progress through this first decade of the African century, we must recommit ourselves to a wide array of issues that affect all of us, especially the women of our country and continent.

At the root of this is the issue of poverty and its devastating impact on our society. Most of the other issues that occupy our minds, from malnutrition to diseases, illiteracy to homelessness, can all be brought back to the central issue of poverty. It is for this reason that so many of the government programmes and legislation introduced over the past decade to facilitate gender equity has focused on the central issue of poverty alleviation. If we want to make a difference in the lives of the majority of South Africans, we should all wholeheartedly support government programmes and actions designed to address the issue of poverty, especially in the rural areas.

The ANC has correctly identified the fact that the struggle for transformation of society will never be complete unless women, as part of the society, are liberated. We therefore do not envisage a situation in which a certain sector of society is free while the other sector is still in bondage. As the ANC, we are serious when we say we are against all forms of oppression, be it racial or gender oppression, with specific reference to women who are at the receiving end at present.

We can look around the African continent for work done by women in their attempt to build sustainable peace: For instance, in East Timor, women created collectives to provide one another with emotional support. They established employment schemes to keep their families and villages going. They instituted literacy classes and, at the end of the war, demanded political elections.

In Sudan, women from the North and the South took initiatives. [Time expired.] Thank you. [Applause.]

Mrs R M SOUTHGATE: Mr Chair, the increasing influence of women on our society is a clear indication that our democracy is maturing at a fast pace. The social security of women is growing, and many have access to a number of grants provided by the state. However, the challenges that women face are still great. Although there is a steady growth in the entrepreneurial capacity of women, more public platforms need to be created to showcase women as role models and mentors to future generations.

In certain parts of Africa, women are still treated as second-class citizens. South Africa must continue to pave the way to ensure that women enjoy public respect and moral esteem so that no woman has to suffer under unjust and oppressive customary laws or belief systems.

The bold step taken by President Mbeki to speak out against Nigeria’s inability to protect a women against an oppressive law, must be applauded. All South Africans must hear this message, especially those who criminally abuse and sexually violate the sanctity of women.

Although we celebrate our democracy, there are certain pieces of legislation and international agreements that the ACDP did not support, owing to their destructive nature towards the very core of families. Violence against women is a direct violation of the family unit. The family ought to provide respite and a sanctuary for its members. Women are central to the proper functioning of the family. When there is abuse and violence against women, either publicly or in the home, the value of the family unit is threatened. Where this occurs, our social foundations, such as the community and its public responsibility, stand to disintegrate.

The ACDP believes that if we want to contribute to the effective wellbeing of women, the need for stronger family-based legislation must be introduced. The road ahead for women is positive, however, we need to enforce current legislation to root out crime, corruption, victimisation and violence in our communities. The role of women, in this regard, is equally powerful. As women we can hold the power of peace in our society, if we would only apply the will to do so.

Ms N C NKABINDE: Deputy Chair and hon members, ten years into our democracy a cursory glance at the statistics for unemployment, poverty, Aids, illiteracy, salaries and even political representation will reveal that across the board women are facing the brunt of suffering. We would be fooling ourselves if we do not acknowledge that these realities point to an ingrained system of subjugating women to an inferior role in society. Yes, there are many individual success stories for women, but by their very nature these successes point to the harsh reality, because we celebrate success where it should be the norm, but it is not. On average, women, though representing the majority in this country, are still lagging far behind their male counterparts in every considerable measurement of development and participation in our society.

We need to salute the many men who have campaigned for gender equality. Certainly we should not accuse the entire male population of actively undermining equality. However, this does not change the inequality that is currently an established feature of our society. It is a reality rooted in the patriarchy that prevails in many South African institutions. Nowhere is this patriarchy more manifestly witnessed than in the staggering high rates of violence and crime committed against women. Thousands upon thousands of women are annually murdered, raped and abused, often by men known to them.

It is of extreme concern to the UDM that it appears that these crimes are steadily on the increase. We should not underestimate the extent of this problem. It is an insidious attack on democracy and makes a mockery of our celebration of freedom.

We cannot speak glowingly of freedom when half the population are prisoners of fear; fear of being oppressed, fear of being abused, fear of being violated and fear of being killed. If we are to establish anything here today, it should be that, when we celebrate the second decade of freedom, we must be able to say that women have at long last achieved the social and economic freedom and equality that is guaranteed under the Constitution. [Applause.]

Mme M A SEECO: Batlotlegi ba ba fano, UCDP ya re, nonofo eno ya bomme e raya go neela borre tlotlo e e ba tshwanetseng. Go tswa kwa ga Lowe, rre e ntse e le tlhogo ya lapa. Re tshwanetse go rata borre, re ba tlotle, re rerisane le bona le go ba itshokela, re sa lebale gore more go betlwa wa taola, wa motho o a ipetla. (Translation of Tswana speech follows.)

[Ms M A SEECO: Hon members present, the UCDP says that women should give the men the respect that they deserve. From time immemorial, the man has been the head of the family. We should love the men, respect them, discuss with them and be patient with them.]

In 1994 South Africa improved its position from 141st to 7th in so far as female representation is concerned. The experience of South African women and the role they played in the various capacities during our process of democratisation are invaluable. There are provinces that have made some strides with regard to the employment of women on management level.

Women are primarily responsible for maintaining the household and community. There should be no categorisation of jobs on the basis of gender, nor should gender stereotypes determine the work that women do. Women achieve success in the work they do in the home, in the workplace and in the community.

Regarding women’s health, the late Leah Mangope strongly felt that … mmaya botsetsi … [midwives]

… should be informally trained to assist women in the community with deliveries. The development of the potential of our women will enrich and benefit the whole society.

In terms of the economy, empowerment of women and equity in the workplace, as mothers, we have to build a future for our children.

Mmangwana o tshwara thipa ka fa bogaleng. [A real mother is one who stands up for her child.]

Let each of us find a way to empower, educate and uplift our women and our people. Use your social or financial success to uplift your people, particularly the women. Women have to face challenges in the present day … [Interjections.] [Time expired.]

Dr M S MOGOBA: Chairperson, the Beijing Conference in 1995 stressed the empowerment of women as one of the central developmental goals of the 21st century. It adopted a programme of action which called for the mainstreaming of a gender perspective in the design, implementation and monitoring of all policies and programmes, including developmental programmes. It committed countries to design their own specific programmes and activities in consultation with women’s groups and other NGOs to implement the Beijing Platform of Action.

Women in South Africa continue to face enormous obstacles. The growing recognition of their contribution has not translated into significantly improved access to resources or increased decision-making power, neither has the dynamism that women display in the economic, cultural and social lives of their communities, through the association and informal networks, been channelled into creating new models of participation and leadership.

Beyond such political challenges, the material conditions under which most African women live and work continue to deteriorate in many parts of our country due to economic and social decline and the spread of Aids. Women constitute the majority of the poor and the illiterate in both urban and rural areas. Many young women between the ages of 15 and 25 have been pushed into sex work and face the risk of HIV/Aids infection.

Food security in South Africa cannot be assured without improving the situation of women producers. Women have shown themselves to be ready to take advantage of new opportunities. Unfortunately, some of the obstacles that women farmers confront have been worsened by the impact of Gear.

For women, inadequate potable water, sanitation and waste disposal in urban and rural areas in our country leave populations vulnerable to waterborne and other environmental diseases. Malaria and other respiratory diseases are still major killers in Africa. This country must wipe off the legacy of oppression that we have inherited. Only by developing our womenfolk, can we develop the whole nation.

Rev A D GOOSEN: Chairperson, the struggle for gender equality is a struggle for human rights and social change. We find ourselves in a situation where, because of our past, we are saddled with the sad phenomenon of gender inequality, which is still a reality, even in our time and age.

We must recognise that apartheid, with its repressive customs and traditions, have disempowered women to such an extent that it will take a long time to reverse the state of affairs. We find that women were regarded as minors, even in a marital relationship.

The Bill of Rights is very specific on achieving gender equality and the inalienable rights of all women. It is, therefore, within this framework that both men and women must participate in gender emancipation efforts. We must recognise that in order to coexist, we need to recognise each other’s worth as human beings and realise that we are all equal and that there is no such thing as one being superior to the other.

The patriarchal society and its systems inculcated these wrong attitudes towards each other between men and women. Men, in particular, must try to make an attitudinal change towards women. These wrong attitudes can be found in the workplace. Women are regarded as the weaker sex and they therefore do not qualify to do certain jobs. Women have shown that they are not inferior to anybody and that they can compete with men on an equal basis in any work situation.

Whilst Government has done so much to address the gender issue, by streamlining it into its programmes, there is still a lot that needs to be done by society as a whole. Both men and women need to be sensitised to gender relations. To co-operate with one another on this very important issue, what we need is an actual change of attitude in society of men toward all women in South Africa. We need this change of heart simply because women cannot finish the task of emancipation and social change on their own. It is a corporate responsibility.

It is true that women have been struggling for their rights for many years, and they have accomplished a lot and gained much ground. But they have not yet attained the ultimate in gender equality. The struggle therefore continues and men must be drawn into the picture more and more, because we have a responsibility in this regard, and if we continue to turn a blind eye to gender inequality it will only be detrimental to us as South Africans in the long run.

Because women are not a homogeneous group, they need different levels of empowerment and interventions to make them conscious of the situation society has put them in. For instance, women in rural areas would want the quality of their lives to be improved by way of the improvement of the infrastructure in the areas in which they reside. This is an area where local government can play a meaningful role in terms of service delivery. It is when, for instance, they have their right to water and sanitation recognised that it would greatly eradicate some of the discomfort and hardships which women have to endure day by day. The need in urban areas might be totally different. There it would involve issues like skills development and putting them in a better position to compete on the open labour market.

Women must realise that they are the masters of their own destiny and that no man, no person, has the right to determine what they ought to be and can be. Men, on the other hand, must be sensitised to this new life to which women can aspire, without seeing them as a threat to their own livelihood. This will go a long way to closing the gap of gender equality.

At the march in Pretoria in 1956, the women of South Africa proved that they could take their destiny into their own hands by displaying their contempt for the pass laws. We salute the women of South Africa for the courage they have displayed, even when the odds were stacked against them, in fighting for their rights.

They must be celebrated as the nurturers of the vulnerable in society, as well as the first teachers in our communities. It is no fallacy that if you educate a woman, you educate a nation. It goes without saying that a country’s development can only be as strong as the empowerment of its womenfolk.

As we as South Africans aspire towards hitting the high road of development and competing on an equal footing with other countries and their economies, we need to bear in mind that the women in our society and in our country must be at the forefront of that development. Can we then disregard gender equality as the basis for a flourishing economy? Most certainly not.

Government has done a lot to address the plight of women, and since 1994 a great deal has been achieved. Women are in positions of authority in Government, in the Public Service and in Parliament. Thirty per cent of our Ministers are women and eight women are Deputy Ministers. There are women occupying high positions in all walks of life; they are Speakers, premiers, mayors, DGs and DDGs in medicine, in education, in agriculture, even in the judiciary, in the navy and in the army. So, you find women in all walks of life and they need not stand back for anybody in attaining what they think is best for them as womenfolk.

All is not rosy, for there are still many open spaces. So, in spite of this country coming a long way, there is still a lot that needs to be done, because we have not attained the ultimate as gender equality is concerned. Government departments, the private sector, labour organisations and the Department of Labour must ensure that leadership positions are awarded equally to both men and women.

Women, and mostly rural women, are amongst the poorest in the country. This is a situation that needs to be addressed in the form of informal education. Literacy projects need to be undertaken regarding the poor, the rural and the unemployed. Government is leading the process in the empowerment of women, and the rest of society must follow suit.

We salute the women of South Africa for their steadfastness, their courage and the dignity which they have shown even in difficult situations. They are indeed in need of the support of all men in South Africa to attain gender equality. This is the way to go. It is the right thing to do. Malibongwe! [Praise!] [Applause.]

Miss S RAJBALLY: Thank you, Deputy Chair. May I also take this opportunity to congratulate the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs on winning the presidency seat of the ANC Women’s League. [Applause.] Remember, you will always have our support. May I also compliment hon C Johnson on her maiden speech. Well done.

Deputy Chair, the accomplishments of 10 years in respect of the life and status of women have to be viewed in many ways. The question is: Have the women of South Africa really accomplished their aims regarding their degree of participation in the various forums of decision-making? Yes, to a certain degree, but there is still a long way to go to achieve their goals.

They say in politics, “If you want anything, ask a man. But if you want anything done, ask a woman.” [Interjections.] So, without the active participation of women and the incorporation of women at all levels of decision-making, the goals of equality, development and peace cannot be achieved. The presence of women is not enough. It has to be women who can make an impact.

Some of the countries with a higher percentage of women representatives have achieved a great deal through the use of the quota system. In South Africa the high proportion of women MPs is largely a result of the ANC adopting a one-third quota on its list. [Applause.] And the MF proudly followed their system.

The challenges that lie ahead are great, especially with poverty, HIV and Aids, also regarding the responsibilities of domestic involvement and family commitment.

Since 1994, the participation of women in the public sphere has been greatly enhanced. Taking into consideration the representation in our Parliament, in Cabinet and in the NCOP, etc, the women of South Africa are hoping and aiming for a 50% representation at all levels in the coming elections, to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

We, the women of South Africa, call on all abusers of women and children to stop now. Thank you.

Mrs S V KALYAN: Deputy Chairperson, the World Organisation of Parliaments resolutely affirmed in 1997 that the achievement of democracy presupposes a genuine partnership between men and women in the conduct of the affairs of the society in which they work, in equality and joint mutual enrichment from their differences.

But regrettably, a decade later, in South Africa, women are still treated as vulnerable groups that require special treatment. It is as though women have not left the starting blocks yet in respect of their status. They still have to fight every inch, every point, to preserve their identity as women and yet be equal to men.

According to the African Gender and Development Index, HIV/Aids is perhaps the greatest single threat to gender equality to date. In fact, where Aids is concerned, gender inequality is lethal. In Barcelona, in 2002, it was stated that 58% of women were living with HIV/Aids, and that the women of Africa appeared to be most affected. One in nine South Africans are HIV- positive.

There are many contributory factors, like a lower socioeconomic status, discriminatory cultural practices and increased occurrences of sexual violence, which contribute to the higher risk of infection, and which could easily be addressed.

But instead of finding practical solutions, the Department of Health developed an HIV/Aids strategic plan. Is the plan gender sensitive? No. Does it address gender inequalities? [Interjections.] No. Read the plan, familiarise yourselves with it. Women’s rights are only mentioned in the plan in relation to sex workers and survivors of sexual assault. Social cultural practices that impact on women’s vulnerability to Aids are not addressed.

There is a marked absence of gendered information on HIV/Aids. There is no plan on the provision of antiretroviral drugs in the public sector. HIV/Aids services have not yet been fully integrated into reproductive health services, owing to a lack of information, lack of skills, high staff turnover and general lack of capacity in the Department of Health. This aspect is a real tragedy, because South Africa has been at the forefront in guaranteeing women’s reproductive freedom and their right to free, reproductive health care.

There has been a deafening silence from the political leadership in respect of gendered messages addressing gender inequities. A case in point is South Africa’s ambassador to Indonesia, who was found guilty in December 2001 on 21 counts of sexual harassment. He has another charge against him, but he is still at work. It is an absolute disgrace. I cannot begin to imagine what kind of message this is sending to the international arena. The message I get is that it is okay to be a sex pest at work and demean women. Swift treatment of the vile culprit will send out the correct message.

There is a danger that the demographic skewing of gender as a result of the HIV/Aids pandemic may result in the voice of women getting fainter. We know how to do VCT, we know that vertical transmission can be reduced by the use of Nevirapine and we know that by pooling our knowledge and resources collectively the pandemic can be turned around.

However, implementation, ten years down the line, has been slow and uneven. We have to face many challenges. In conclusion, I would like to leave you with the words of my leader, hon Tony Leon … [Interjections.] … who said:

A particular mark that has distinguished successful countries over the centuries is their treatment of women. The better women are treated, the more the nation advances. Women are the hidden key to the treasures of civilisation, and humanity can only progress if women are given rights, opportunities and equality.

I hope that we will all work collectively to achieve this, and avoid the “ag, shame” syndrome that many people buy into when it comes to women’s rights. [Applause.]

The DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Chairperson, colleagues and hon members, there is no doubt that the quality of life and the status of women in South Africa is today overall far better than it was in 1994, when the ANC-led Government came into power.

This has been achieved because of the vision that the ANC has had, even as far back as the time of the Freedom Charter and also because of the approach of the ANC with regard to promoting gender equality in our society. Economic empowerment is not an isolated activity, but is linked to the broader empowerment of women in our society. This has already been mentioned by other members. Just having women comprise 31% of members of Parliament and MPLs has resulted in a completely different environment and culture in all our legislatures.

The laws that have been passed have been far more gender sensitive, and specific pieces of legislation that promote gender equality and empowerment have been promulgated. Also, having almost 40% of our Cabinet Ministers and Deputy Ministers as women, has forced Government departments to start taking the needs of women into account. New programmes and projects have been developed that focus specifically on women.

It is important to recognise that even seemingly unrelated pieces of legislation, such as the Child Care Act, the Social Assistance Bill, the Firearms Control Bill, the Domestic Violence and Maintenance Act, amongst other legislation, have a positive impact on the economic empowerment of women. This is because such pieces of legislation offer protection and support to women and gives them more confidence to enter the workplace and find new opportunities - not to mention legislation such as the Employment Equity Act and the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Bill that we discussed yesterday, which directly provides for the economic empowerment of women.

As a direct consequence of our democratic approach to achieving equality between the sexes and the work that we, on our part, the political party, has done in Parliament, Government and the private sector, there is a substantially more favourable environment for women in our country and in our economy. From the data that we have available on the participation of women in the economy, we can see that women are increasingly entering the economy. They comprise approximately 42% of all businesses in South Africa. I believe that this debate could not have come at a better time. Realising that a lot of work has been done to support women in business yet it all goes unreported, the Department of Trade and Industry brought out a publication in honour of national women’s month. This publication highlights some of the success stories of ordinary businesswomen and profiles over 30 successful women entrepreneurs who represent just a sample of the many women-owned businesses that have become successful in the past nine years. Copies of this publication can be obtained from the DTI information centre on the 6th floor of 120 Plein Street. It is called Real People because it tells you exactly what is happening out there.

I want to just read a little bit about a few of these women. With regard to Bulelwa Qupe from the Eastern Cape, the Nelson Mandela Metropole, if you had told Bulelwa three years ago that she would own her own business, she would have laughed in your face - a fishing business, nogal! Bulelwa was then a registered nursing administrator and a community health nurse, concerned with healing her fellow human beings. But now she is fighting a different struggle, that of economic liberation, not only for herself, but for other women in the Eastern Cape. Listen to her own words:

I approached the Eastern Cape Development Corporation in 1997, which offered a R50 000 loan, and luckily business went well and I paid it off in two years. I used to have fish-supply problems and when I heard on radio that Government was offering fishing rights to women, it seemed like a God-sent opportunity. I formed a co-operative with seven interested women and, as Ezabantu, applied and eventually obtained a quota of 33 tons of fish, an equivalent of three boat trips per annum … Each year our quota increased and we’re now at 122 tons.

At the moment Bulelwa is aready exporting her fish to overseas destinations. [Applause.]

Take Yolisa Kashe-Mzamo. She is one of King William’s Town’s greatest business success stories, unemployed only a few years ago, but now with a multimillion-rand contract under her belt. The accolades are just pouring in. In 1999 she established what she called YKM Productions in King William’s Town with a staff of 32, specialising in manufacturing uniforms for Daimler-Chrysler and corporate clothing. Various well-known shops and retail stores bought her products, including Game Stores, Pep Stores, Ackermans and Shoprite. What she says from her heart is:

From winning Twib and associating with the DTI group I have changed my mind-set and I am now more focused at lifting other women up as I also grow economically. I’ve also expanded my business interests and gone into construction in a big way. I’ve learnt that when opportunity arises one has to grab it.

Going on, talking about real people, ordinary women doing extraordinary things, the next story to tell is that of Maud Dikgetsi. Relocated from Pretoria to Kimberley, Maud Dikgetsi refused to be deterred by different circumstances. She was a Telkom community relations national senior manager, based at the head office in Pretoria. Arriving in Kimberley, she was faced with gross inequalities, poverty and underdevelopment. Most important was the information drought affecting women in business in the province.

Unlike others, Maud refused to sit back and do nothing. This highly motivated woman bade goodbye to a lucrative and comfortable job with comparable options in Kimberley, but, besides the fact that she today runs a flourishing florist’s business, Maud established Moribo Public Relations and Communications in the year 2000. The company specialises in all public relations and events management.

That is the last one that I think I want to talk about. If you go through this book, you will read about women who have gone into construction, tourism and everything else, and what runs through their stories is the fact that each and every one of them has been assisted by this Government either to start or to grow their businesses or to expand and to export. [Applause.] The support available to businesswomen such as these includes programmes supported by the Department of Trade and Industry. I won’t talk much about Twib - a lot of us know what Twib is, Technology for Women in Business, which is aimed at encouraging women to access and use technology. Policies have been introduced by the National Treasury such as the preferential procurement policy, which gives women-owned businesses preference when tendering for Government contracts and contracts from state-owned enterprises. We have joint DTI and private-sector intiatives like Sawen, the SA Women Entrepreneurs’ Network, which is a network of women entrepreneurs that, amongst other things, acts as their advocacy, their eyes, their ears and their mouth.

There are programmes run by the Department of Agriculture that assist women small-scale farmers with access to finance, assist them to run agroprocessing industries, assist them with access to markets and assist them to start nurseries and other small-scale farming projects. Programmes run by the Department of Minerals and Energy promote and encourage women to start businesses in the energy sector. The Mining Charter sets a target of 10% of ownership of all mines and oil to be in the hands of women within five years. There are also projects that facilitate the entry of women into the jewellery industry so that they are able to add value to the minerals that South Africa mines.

There are other initiatives from the private sector and NGOs which provide substantial support to women in businesses. Amongst these I can count the Businesswomen’s Association, the SA Women in Mining Association, or Sawima, SA Women in Oil and Gas, SA Women in Fishing, SA Women in Construction, or Sawic, the ISU Women’s Initiative and Network and the African Women Chartered Accountants’ Association.

But I would be the first one to acknowledge that, despite all these successes, we still face many challenges in the way in which support is accessed. The support is there, but to get it to the women who need it is a major challenge.

So we need, as policy-makers and elected representatives, to remain vigilant in ensuring that the environment for women in business continues to remain favourable and that any new legislation that we pass here is gender-sensitive and empowering to women. Secondly, we need information about our support structures and programmes to be given to women so that they are aware of how they can be assisted. Thirdly, our departments, Government agencies and the private sectors must be pushed to find new ways to promote and support women enterprises. Fourthly, we need to ensure that women move up the value chain; currently the majority of them occupy the lower echelons in business.

To conclude, it is clear that a lot has been done to support women enterprises in South Africa and that we have made substantial progress. It is also clear that, through our support mechanisms, we are just touching the surface of the possible impact that we can make in improving the lives of women across our country, and that over the next 10 years much more work needs to be done so that women no longer comprise the majority of businesses in the micro and survivalist sectors, but actually start becoming medium-sized and also becoming industrialists in their own right. Malibongwe! [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

The House adjourned at 18:52. ____

            ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. Introduction of Bills:

 (1)    The Minister of Home Affairs:


     (i)     South African Citizenship Amendment  Bill  [B  55  -  2003]
          (National Assembly - sec 75) [Explanatory summary of Bill  and
          prior notice  of  its  introduction  published  in  Government
          Gazette No 25420 of 1 September 2003.]


     Introduction and  referral  to  the  Portfolio  Committee  on  Home
     Affairs of the National Assembly, as well as referral to the  Joint
     Tagging Mechanism (JTM) for classification in terms of  Joint  Rule
     160, on 3 September 2003.


     In terms of Joint Rule 154 written views on the  classification  of
     the Bill may be submitted to  the  Joint  Tagging  Mechanism  (JTM)
     within three parliamentary working days.

1. Draft Bills submitted in terms of Joint Rule 159:

 (1)    The Minister of Social Development on 14 August  2003  submitted
     the following Bills:


     (i)     Social Assistance Bill, 2003.
     (ii)    Children's Bill, 2003.
    (iii)    Older Persons Bill, 2003.


     Referred to the Portfolio Committee on Social Development  and  the
     Select Committee on Social Services.

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

1. The Minister for Provincial and Local Government:

 Reasons for the Declaration of a State of  Disaster  in  the  Ehlanzeni
 District Municipality: Mpumalanga Province, in terms of section 2(4) of
 the Civil Protection Act, 1977 (Act No 67 of 1977).

1. The Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology:

 (a)    Report and Financial Statements of The Afrikaans Language Museum
     for 2002-2003, including the Report of the Auditor-General  on  the
     Financial Statements for 2002-2003.


 (b)    Report and Financial Statements  of  the  Voortekker  and  Ncome
     Museums for 2002-2003, including the Report of the  Auditor-General
     on the Financial Statements for 2002-2003.


 (c)    Report and Financial Statements of the Performing Arts Centre of
     the Free State (PACOFS) for 2002-2003, including the Report of  the
     Independent Auditors on the Financial Statements for 2002-2003.


 (d)    Report and Financial Statements of the Africa Institute of South
     Africa for 2002-2003, including the Report of  the  Auditor-General
     on the Financial Statements for 2002-2003.
 (e)    Report and Financial Statements of the Artscape  for  2002-2003,
     including the Report of the Independent Auditors on  the  Financial
     Statements for 2002-2003.


 (f)    Report and Financial Statements of the Robben Island Museum  for
     2002-2003, including the  Report  of  the  Auditor-General  on  the
     Financial Statements for 2002-2003 [RP 149-2003].


 (g)    Report and Financial Statements of the Natal  Museum  for  2002-
     2003.


 (h)     Report  and  Financial  Statements  of  the  National  Research
     Foundation for 2002-2003, including  the  Report  of  the  Auditor-
     General on the Financial Statements for 2002-2003.


 (i)    Report and Financial Statements of the National Arts Council for
     2002-2003, including the  Report  of  the  Auditor-General  on  the
     Financial Statements for 2002-2003.


 (j)    Report and  Financial  Statements  of  the  National  Zoological
     Gardens of South Africa for 2002-2003, including the Report of  the
     Auditor-General on the Financial Statements for 2002-2003 [RP  148-
     2003].


 (k)    Report and Financial Statements of the Freedom  Park  Trust  for
     2002-2003, including the  Report  of  the  Auditor-General  on  the
     Financial Statements for 2002-2003.


 (l)    Report and Financial Statements of the  Iziko  Museums  of  Cape
     Town for 2002-2003, including the Report of the Auditor-General  on
     the Financial Statements for 2002-2003 [RP 119-2003].


 (m)    Report and Financial Statements of the  Human  Science  Research
     Council (HSRC) for 2002-2003, including the Report of the  Auditor-
     General on the Financial Statements for 2002-2003 [RP 60-2003].


 (n)    Report and Financial  Statements  of  Business  and  Arts  South
     Africa, including the Report of the  Independent  Auditors  on  the
     Financial Statements for 2002-2003.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

National Assembly:

1. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs on the Sectional Titles Amendment Bill [B 43 - 2003] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 3 September 2003:

   The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Affairs, having considered the subject of the Sectional Titles Amendment Bill [B 43 - 2003] (National Assembly - sec 75), referred to it and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a section 75 Bill, reports the Bill without amendment.

2. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development on the Public Protector Amendment Bill [B 6B - 2003] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 3 September 2003:

   The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, having considered the Public Protector Amendment Bill [B 6B - 2003] (National Assembly - sec 75) and proposed amendments of the National Council of Provinces (Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports, 27 August 2003, p 852), referred to the Committee, reports the Bill with amendments [B 6C - 2003].

 Report to be considered.

1. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development on the Judicial Officers (Amendment of Conditions of Service) Bill [B 33 - 2003] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 3 September 2003:

   The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, having considered the Judicial Officers (Amendment of Conditions of Service) Bill [B 33 - 2003] (National Assembly - sec 75) and proposed amendments of the National Council of Provinces (Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports, 27 August 2003, p 853), referred to the Committee, reports the Bill with amendments [B 33A - 2003].

 Report to be considered.

1. Report of the Portfolio Committee on Finance on the Special Pensions Amendment Bill [B 3 - 2003] (National Assembly - sec 75), dated 3 September 2003:

   The Portfolio Committee on Finance, having considered the subject of the Special Pensions Amendment Bill [B 3 - 2003] (National Assembly - sec 75), referred to it and classified by the Joint Tagging Mechanism as a section 75 Bill, reports the Bill without amendment.