More needs to be done to ensure women access to economic power, says Pandor

By Johnathan Paoli

Despite decades of progress since the iconic 1956 Women’s march, South African women remain largely excluded from meaningful economic power, according to Nelson Mandela Foundation chairperson and former International Relations minister Naledi Pandor.

Speaking during a recent interview alongside her daughter, scientist and entrepreneur Aisha Pandor, the former cabinet minister stressed that South Africa has not yet broken free from the historical legacies of apartheid that continue to shape women’s realities today.

“African women, Black women in particular, continue to face the triple challenges that we used to speak of when we were theorising the economics of apartheid. They are Black, they are without skills, without high-level education and they live primarily in rural areas. Those triple challenges impact extremely negatively on women and continue to place them in a situation of inequality and disadvantage,” she told the SABC.

The former minister reflected on the enduring structural