By Simon Nare
President Cyril Ramaphosa has described gender-based violence as an epidemic created by men with no religious or traditional theme to attack women, calling on the country to rally behind equality for women.
Addressing the Women’s Day celebrations at the Union Building in Pretoria on Sunday, Ramaphosa urged the country to be united to move every obstacle that stood between women and their ambitions in line with this year’s theme of “Empowered women empower nations”.
“Women are more than half of our population, but they do not yet hold an equal share of our country’s wealth, its land or its enterprises.”
“Too many women are without work. Too many earn less than men for doing the same work. Too many carry the burden of caring for families and households, labour that goes unrecognised and uncounted,” he said
The president called for change on these norms and committed the government to working on changing these trends, saying there was no excuse to oppress women in the present day.
Ramaphosa said there was no justification for sexual harassment, physical or mental abuse, rape, or murder, including femicide.
He added that even how women dressed or how they behaved could not be used as justification.
“Not because some favour is given to them, not because they leave a relationship, and not because they are a junior employee, not because they believe themselves equal to men, violence against women and children is not a personal matter.
“It is a crime, and we must insist and make it clear to all men that violence against a woman is a crime here in South Africa, and that is how we will continue to deal with it. And we can no longer remain silent,” he said.
Ramaphosa called on the men to stand-up and let their voices be heard against a pandemic that he said was perpetuated by their gender.
The president said men and society could both longer remain silent on this scourge and it was about time the nation pulled together towards combating crimes against women so they could enjoy the fruits of a free South Africa just like every citizen.
“Today, we call on all of society to join in to combat this scourge, so that South Africa’s women can enjoy the most fundamental freedom of all, freedom from fear, even in the midst of hardship and devastation, we must enable the women of our country to rise, to fall fully and to feel fully empowered,” he said.
The president said this year’s focus was on empowering women’s access to quality healthcare was this was fundamental to equality, dignity, and freedom.
He said quality healthcare for women meant that every woman should receive care regardless of her income, or where she lives, or whether she has a disability.
This meant that pregnancy and childbirth and dignified reproductive healthcare access to family planning should be realised.
The president reminded the nation that struggle for women’s freedom had no borders and it must ensure therefore that, as the country dealt with the scourge, women must be supported in various spheres continentally and globally.
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The Women’s Day celebrations marked the commemoration of the 1956 march by the country’s women against the pass laws. This year marked 70 years since the historic protest when South African women across the racial divide took to the streets against the apartheid regime, specifically the pass laws
The protest was led by imposing and powerful figures of their generation such as Lillian Ngoyi, Rahima Moosa, Helen Joseph and Sophie de Buryn who is the last surviving member when they marched to the Union Building.
The Economic Freedom Fighters in its commemoration message pointed out that the defiance protest march was significant in that it was against a system that sought to control where black women could live, work, travel, and exist.
The party said 70 years later the defiance campaign remained a reminder that liberation was never given freely by those who benefitted from oppression.
The EFF said even though there had been advances towards the emancipation of women since the dawn of democracy, the majority of women remain economically vulnerable and they continued to experience higher levels of unemployment and economic exclusion, while millions survive through social grants, informal trading, precarious employment and low-paid work.
“Women remain heavily concentrated in domestic work, care work, cleaning, retail, agriculture and other sectors characterised by low wages and insecure conditions,’ said the opposition party.
