The Ministry for Public Service and Administration has an exceptional chance to break the chains of dependency for women in the deep rural areas, townships and mining towns.
These were the words of Public Service and Administration Director-General, Ms Yoliswa Makhasi, when delivering her opening remarks at the MPSA Women’s Day commemoration recently.
“As the MPSA portfolio, we have a unique opportunity to make real changes in the lives of marginalised women in townships, rural areas, and mining towns. Ours is to focus on protecting and empowering women and girls to access the services that they need such as education, health and especially reproductive health services and being respected, believed and served by the criminal justice system from the police to the courts.
“As officials and female public servants, we have a responsibility to ensure that there is an end to abuse, prevent these crimes in the public service and most importantly, ensure that there is an improvement in services.
“Advancing women’s political, social and economic status is an important end in themselves, however, the eradication of discrimination due to gender and the promotion of women’s rights are an integral part to ensuring sustainable development,” she said.
The MPSA Women’s Month was commemorated under the theme of “Women’s Socio-Economic Rights, Empowerment and Resilience”.
This theme according to Ms Makhasi, challenges those in the public service space to reflect on where they are with regard to the empowerment of women in the portfolio and in the public service.
“I dare all of us here not to take any of these challenges lightly. We should fight for a minimum of 50% Women representation at SMS throughout the portfolio without feeling any shame. We should set the bar for the rest of the public service and the country on this issue of women’s leadership.
“We are, after all, duty bound within this portfolio to comply and develop programmes that strive for the empowerment of women,” she said.
Women’s Month
When the late Nelson Mandela was elected as the first President of democratic South Africa, his administration declared August as Women’s Month to pay tribute to the thousands of women who marched in 1913 and 1956 respectively.
Throughout this month, government and the people of South Africa commemorate Women’s Month. In 1913, the apartheid government in the Orange Free State declared that women living in urban townships would be required to buy new entry permits each month.
This led to women collecting thousands of signatures for a petition and organised massive demonstrations to protest the permit requirement. In June 1913, an anti-pass defiance campaign took place which was recorded as the first recorded incidence of protest by black women against the Union government.
Ms Charlotte Maxeke led about 700 women, who marched to the Bloemfontein City Council in the then Orange Free State to petition the mayor. The campaign gained momentum and spread to other areas in Bloemfontein, with unrest spreading throughout the province and hundreds of women being sent to prison.
Another heroic march led by women took place on August 9, 1956, at the Union Buildings to protest against the extension of Pass Laws to women.
