THURSDAY, 8 MARCH 2001 __

                PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
                                ____

The House met at 14:01.

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.

                          NOTICES OF MOTION

Ms N E HANGANA: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:

That the House -

(1) notes that -

   (a)  the court challenge to our Medicines and Related Substances
       Control Amendment Act of 1997 and the public debate surrounding
       it have drawn a flurry of statements by pharmaceutical companies
       about the prices of antiretroviral drugs used for the management
       of HIV/Aids; and


   (b)  the recent media statement by United States multinational Merck
       that it is prepared to sell two of its antiretroviral drugs to
       South Africa at a fraction of its US price has not been
       communicated to a relevant government office;

(2) calls on Merck and other drug companies to make any offer on the prices of drugs directly to the Ministry of Health as the relevant government office, and not seek to negotiate through the media and on the basis of press releases;

(3) expresses the need for the country to have effective legislation to ensure sustainable access to affordable medicines, and not rely on aid programmes and charitable gestures by drug companies; and

(4) supports our Government and the Minister of Health in an effort to fulfil our constitutional obligations …

[Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr E K MOORCROFT: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DP:

That the House -

(1) notes -

   (a)  recent media releases quoting the director of SA National Parks
       as saying that the Kruger National Park is R36 million in the
       red;


   (b)  the threat posed by this situation to the future status and
       existence of all our country's national parks; and


   (c)  the warnings issued by the DP as far back as October 1999 that
       unless the situation was addressed as a matter of urgency, the
       long-term survival of the entire organisation would be at stake;
       and

(2) calls upon the responsible Minister to deal with this matter with the urgency it rightly deserves.

Mr G B BHENGU: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the IFP:

That the House -

(1) notes that -

   (a)  there is imminent land invasion in Mpumalanga, as threatened by
       farm tenants of Wakkerstroom, Ermelo, Piet Retief and Volksrust,
       resulting from the perceived protection of white farmers over
       tenants; and


   (b)  countrywide, there are cases of severe abuse of farm tenants by
       farmers who hide behind the Government's rural protection plan;
       and   (2) calls upon the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs to secure
   alternative arrangements to protect farm tenants from such abuse.

Mr S T BELOT: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:

That the House -

(1) notes that an explosion occurred at one of Denel’s divisions, located in Philippi, resulting in the death of one person and six employees sustaining injury;

(2) expresses its condolences and deepest sympathy to the family of the deceased, Regina Robinson;

(3) wishes the injured a speedy recovery; and

(4) welcomes Minister J T Radebe’s statement that the incident will be investigated.

[Applause.] Dr S J GOUS: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move:

That the House -

(1) notes that the Minister of Health has given written notice that the South African Medicines and Medical Devices Regulatory Authority Act, Act 132 of 1998, which was supposed to replace Act 90 of 1997, the so- called cheap medicines Act, will be repealed this year;

(2) welcomes this move, as the New NP already predicted in 1998 that this was bad legislation and bad governance, and was, at the time, called ``a dog’s breakfast”;

(3) congratulates the Minister of Health on her eventual insight into the glaring problems of this legislation, and notes that I find it difficult not to say: ``I told you so’’;

(4) further notes that this is an example of the former Minister of Health’s bulldozed legislation that even led to the disgrace of Government having to take itself to court; and

(5) expresses concern that this kind of legislation reflects badly on Parliament and is a waste of taxpayers’ money, and would also be seen as an invitation to be challenged in court.

[Applause.]

Prof L M MBADI: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I will move on behalf of the UDM:

That the House -

(1) welcomes the HIV/Aids policy launched by Wits University yesterday, and applauds the university for recognising the immensity of this challenge that all of South Africa must face;

(2) acknowledges that it is especially appropriate for a university to take such a step since the youth are the primary infection group, and HIV/Aids education and awareness at this level can still make a difference and prevent the death of thousands of young people; and

(3) urges all other education institutions, at tertiary and school level, to follow the excellent example set by Wits, and to make HIV/Aids education and awareness one of the central themes of their programmes.

Mrs B M NTULI: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:

That the House -

(1) notes that -

   (a)  today marks International Women's Day; and


   (b)  International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women who
       have played an extraordinary role in the struggle for equality,
       justice, peace and development;

(2) believes that International Women’s Day is a time to reflect on the progress made by the national Government, and the people of the world in general, in promoting women’s rights and improving the quality of life and status of women;

(3) commends the South African democratic Government for the progress it has made in improving the quality and status of women; and

(4) urges the Government, in partnership with the people, to work towards overcoming the obstacles which hinder the complete social and economic emancipation of women.

[Applause.]

Adv Z L MADASA: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ACDP:

That the House -

(1) notes the judgment given recently in The Hague by the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, in which three Bosnian Serbs were sentenced to between 12 and 28 years in prison for using rape and sexual slavery as a weapon of war against predominantly Muslim women during the 1992-1995 conflict in the former Yugoslavia; and

(2) on this International Women’s Day, particularly welcomes the judgment in that, for the first time in legal history, mass rape has been judged to be a war crime and a crime against humanity by the International Criminal Tribunal.

[Applause.]

Mnr C AUCAMP: Mevrou die Speaker, ek gee hiermee kennis dat ek op die volgende sittingsdag namens die AEB sal voorstel:

Dat die Huis -

(1) sy misnoeë uitspreek oor die uitlating van die Minister van Onderwys dat hy self teen die einde van die jaar sal besluit hoe die land se tersiêre landskap sal lyk, aangesien raadplegingsprosesse te lank sloer;

(2) erken dat hierdie uitspraak van die Minister strydig is met die beginsel van raadpleging en deelnemende bestuur, waarop dikwels so hoog geroem word;

(3) erken dat hierdie uitspraak ‘n weerspieëling is van die sentralistiese en totalitaristiese aard van die ANC, en ‘n totale miskenning van die soewereiniteit in eie kring van gemeenskapsinstellings en instrumente van die burgerlike samelewing;

(4) meen die Minister se dreigement van raskwotas vir tersiêre inrigtings ten opsigte van studente, maar veral personeel, daartoe kan lei dat ons tersiêre inrigtings net so verlam kan word as wat die staatsdiens verlam is deur ondeurdagte regstellende aksie;

(5) meen die Minister se uitspraak dat instellings nie verteenwoordig sal word in taakspanne wat die tersiêre landskap in elke provinsie sal ondersoek nie en ook nie ten sy besluite kan appelleer nie, trotse tersiêre inrigtings tot die status van kindergartens degradeer; en

(6) die Minister versoek om eerder te konsentreer op sy primêre taak, naamlik om die skoolstelsel sodanig te verbeter dat ‘n groter getal studente van gehalte by universiteite en technikons kan inskryf. (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.)

[Mr C AUCAMP: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day I shall move on behalf of the AEB:

That the House -

(1) expresses its displeasure at the remark by the Minister of Education that he himself will decide by the end of the year what the country’s tertiary landscape is going to look like, because consultation processes have been dragging on for too long;

(2) concedes that this remark by the Minister is at variance with the principles of consultation and participatory management, which are often lauded so highly; (3) concedes that this remark is a reflection of the centralist and totalitarian nature of the ANC, and a total denial of the sovereignty within their own circles of public institutions and instruments of civil society;

(4) is of the opinion that the Minister’s threat as regards racial quotas in respect of students, but in particular of staff, at tertiary institutions could lead to our tertiary institutions becoming just as paralysed as the public service as a result of affirmative action;

(5) is of the opinion that the Minister’s statement that institutions will not be represented in task teams that are going to investigate the tertiary landscape of each province, and that they will not be able to appeal against his decisions either, degrades proud tertiary institutions to the status of kindergartens; and

(6) requests the Minister rather to concentrate on his primary task, namely that of improving the school system in such a way that a larger number of students of quality can enrol at universities and technikons.]

Ms B O DLAMINI: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:

That the House -

(1) notes that -

   (a)  following the decision taken in Beijing in September 1995, South
       Africa is hosting a World Court of Women against War for Peace
       in Cape Town;


   (b)  the court provides a suitable platform for women to express and
       share their experiences in respect of wars of this past century
       and their effect on women and children; and


   (c)  the court is international in character and is distinctively
       African with the theme ``Unsung Heroines of Apartheid"; and   (2) congratulates the women's movement on its efforts to raise the social
   consciousness about the plight of women the world over.

[Applause.]

Mnr T D LEE: Mevrou die Speaker, ek gee hiermee kennis dat ek op die volgende sittingsdag namens die DP sal voorstel:

Dat die Huis -

(1) gelukwensinge oordra aan Ian Syster, ‘n onbekende atleet, en sy afrigter, George Benjamin, wat verlede Sondag die nasionale marathon kampioenskappe gewen het;

(2) bewondering uitspreek vir Ian Syster se deursettingsvermoë om, ten spyte van die feit dat hy werkloos is, 21 uur per bus te reis en sonder enige finansiële bystand die kampioenskappe te wen; en

(3) ‘n beroep doen op Atletiek SA om Ian Syster en andere soos hy te help om hulle volle potensiaal te ontwikkel wat nie net tot voordeel van atletiek sal wees nie maar ook tot voordeel van Suid-Afrika in die algemeen. (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.)

[Mr T D LEE: Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day I shall move on behalf of the DP:

That the House -

(1) congratulates Ian Syster, an unknown runner, and his trainer, George Benjamin, who won the national marathon championship last Sunday;

(2) expresses its admiration for Ian Syster’s perseverance, despite the fact that he is unemployed, to travel for 21 hours by bus and win the championship without any financial assistance; and

(3) calls on Athletics SA to help Ian Syster and others like him to develop their full potential, which would not only be to the benefit of athletics, but also to the benefit of South Africa as a whole.]

Mr A M MPONTSHANE: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the IFP:

That the House -

(1) notes the moral decay that is affecting our society in general and our youth in particular;

(2) acknowledges the role which is being played by the Deputy President in his crusade for moral regeneration, the President of the IFP in his crusade for the revolution of goodwill and the Minister of Education in his efforts to introduce the teaching of values in schools;

(3) is accordingly dismayed at the indiscriminate and brazen use of foul and vulgar language in the Yizo Yizo programme on TV, which goes against traditional and cultural sensitivities, delicacies and norms; and

(4) appeals to the Minister of Education to have the programme either shifted to a time slot where the youth are not exposed to the vulgarities streaming from Yizo Yizo or to have the programme removed altogether.

Ms N D NGCENGWANE: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:

That the House -

(1) notes that -

   (a)  women are the most adversely affected by the scourge of
       HIV/Aids;


   (b)  sexual abuse of women increases the risk factor for women by
       exposing them to unprotected sex; and


   (c)  unequal power relations between men and women limit the ability
       of women to insist on safe sex; and

(2) calls upon all men and women to adhere to safe sex and get actively involved in the campaign against HIV/Aids.

[Applause.]

Adv A H GAUM: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move:

That the House -

(1) notes that -

   (a)  the statistics of the Salt River and Tygerberg morgues have
       revealed that murder has increased rapidly in 1999, compared to
       the previous 5 years;


   (b)  this is proof of the fact that violent crimes are increasing and
       not declining, as President Mbeki wants us to believe;


   (c)  this confirms that the ANC Government and Minister Steve Tshwete
       are losing control of their efforts to curb crime; and


   (d)  this indicates that the Government can no longer hide behind the
       moratorium on crime statistics to prevent the public from
       knowing that they have failed in their duty to protect South
       Africa's citizens; and

(2) calls on -

   (a)  the Government not only to lift the moratorium, but to start
       protecting its citizens; and


   (b)  Minister Steve Tshwete to be less involved in diplomatic faux
       pas and to direct his attention to this core business.

[Interjections.] [Applause.]

Mr T ABRAHAMS: Madam Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the UDM: That the House -

(1) notes -

   (a)  with dismay the comments made by Minister Essop Pahad in the
       NCOP, to the effect that opposition parties and certain members
       of the media are exploiting the negative and ignoring the
       positive, to the detriment of the country; and


   (b)  previous occasions on which Minister Pahad accused the media of
       undermining the country, such as his recent comments at an
       Independent Group function;

(2) acknowledges the wisdom of former President Mandela who has recently said that he accepts the patriotic commitment of opposition parties, and furthermore, referred to the ANC’s current response to criticism, stating:

     We (the ANC) must welcome differences of opinion. One of the most
     effective weapons in dealing with different opinions is tolerance
     even if a prominent individual is specifically identified and
     becomes a target for criticism ...

(3) urges Minister Pahad to realise that his continued attacks on the media and opposition parties demonstrate a serious lack of tolerance, ignore all the positive feedback from these sectors, and create exactly the type of negative media publicity that he accuses others of.

[Applause.]

                    CONGRATULATIONS TO TIM MODISE

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mr M F CASSIM: Madam Speaker, I move without notice:

That the House -

(1) learns with gratification that radio presenter Tim Modise has been named as the first-ever recipient of the annual Justice and Reconciliation Award;

(2) notes that this unique journalist has played a major role in allowing South Africans to explore life at the coalface of the new democratic society, in particular since he has allowed diverse and conflicting views to be interrogated freely and openly on his programme, the Tim Modise Show on SAfm;

(3) acknowledges that his endeavours and achievements provide South Africans with inspiration to continue, within our diversity, to search for a gathering and growing goodwill, reconciliation and unity; and

(4) acclaims Tim Modise’s nomination and expresses the hope that other South Africans will feel inspired through this recognition to contribute to a climate in which we easily find one another and, therefore, have a greater understanding of one another.

Mr D H M GIBSON: Madam Speaker, I cannot believe that the Deputy Chairperson of Committees does not know the Rules or conventions. There is an arrangement that these notices are circulated to all the parties by 10:00 and that generally they are moved by the Chief Whips or on behalf of the Chief Whips. I am surprised that Mr Cassim does not know that. But, of course, he appears very often on that radio programme, so he is very grateful. [Laughter.]

The SPEAKER: Order! Hon Mr Gibson, let us have the motion first and then I will recognise your point.

Mr D H M GIBSON: Madam Speaker, we really do not object to the motion, but we do object to the procedure. Could it, therefore, be treated as a notice of motion?

The SPEAKER: We will discuss the procedure, because I did not know that we were not entertaining motions by members of the House. Certainly, if there is some practice or private arrangement, we would have to discuss it.

Agreed to.

                      INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY

                         (Draft Resolution)

Mr D H M GIBSON: Madam Speaker, I move without notice:

That the House - (1) notes that -

   (a)  today is International Women's Day; and


   (b)  women form the foundation on which our society is built; and

(2) therefore -

   (a)  congratulates all women in South Africa on this day;


   (b)  assures them of its regard and respect; and


   (c)  expresses its continued commitment to making real progress in
       achieving equality between women and men.

Mr G Q M DOIDGE: Madam Speaker, the ANC supports the motion to celebrate 8 March 2001 as International Women’s Day.

Agreed to.

             WORLD COURT OF WOMEN AGAINST WAR FOR PEACE
                         (Draft Resolution)

Miss S RAJBALLY: Madam Speaker, I move without notice:

That the House -

(1) notes that the women of the South African Parliament welcome the World Court of Women Against War for Peace to Cape Town and congratulate its representatives;

(2) notes that women representatives from various countries around the world are in South Africa for presentations and contributions on the status of women in their countries;

(3) further notes that the women of the South African Parliament welcome their stay and express the hope that their mission will be successful, through working together, in bringing about the recognition of women in all sectors of society; and

(4) wishes them bon voyage until they meet again.

Agreed to.

            PARLIAMENTARY FOLLOW-UP TO BEIJING PLUS FIVE

                      (Subject for Discussion)

The SPEAKER: Order! Before calling on the first speaker, I would like to indicate that this is a day on which the focus should be on the conditions and status of women and for all of us to consider how we address them.

It would be regrettable if the significant minority of our population who are men decided to sit back today and let the women be the only ones who speak. [Interjections.] I know they will take the opportunity to articulate their concerns and involvement in the national issues.

Ms P GOVENDER: Madam Speaker, friends and comrades, today’s debate on the Parliamentary Follow-Up to Beijing Plus Five takes place on International Women’s Day. This debate is a tribute to the courage, love and power of women of the global South from over 60 countries who are today testifying in Khayelitsha in the World Court of Women against War for Peace. For the last two days and this morning we have listened to the stories about the wars, militarisation, armed conflict, genocide, trafficking in women and children, the wars of globalisation and poverty, nation states and nationalism, refugees, racism and exclusion; the war against indigenous people and their knowledge, and the patriarchy that establishes hierarchies and then defines and excludes others, male and female. Women have talked about how to end all these wars of poverty and violence, hatred and fear, how to build new notions of power based on love, and how to reshape our economies and our budgets so that they reflect our values and our priorities, as well as how to build justice and peace, and how to heal all the people of our planet.

The message of the women of the world court and the message of the countless women who put their voices into the Beijing Platform of Action and the Beijing Plus Five, is clear: Our planet and all its people will not survive unless we fundamentally transform our world so that we, firstly, share, respect and equitably redistribute the resources of our planet to end the growing and horrific levels of poverty caused by political, economic and social policies propagated by multinational corporations, the WTO, the World Bank and the IMF, all of which put profit before people, greed before love and which justify privilege on the basis of race, class, caste, gender etc.

Secondly, build peace through demilitarising our countries, our societies and our communities in the context where the self-perpetuating arms industry which defies logic continues to grow at a frightening pace. Thirdly, begin to revalue and respect ourselves and each other, so that we use our collective power to end the violence of battery, filicide, rape, incest, witch burning and more, to act against any form of injustice anywhere. The poverty, the wars, the violence against women and the violence against children and the poor are all interlinked. They stem from a world view based on hatred, on power and on fear. We have to question: Whose world view underpins our decisions and our actions and in whose interest?

I would like to quote from the Beijing Plus Five document itself in relation to what is happening globally. The globalisation process, and I quote:

… has led to more open trade and financial flows, privatisation of state-owned enterprises and, in many cases, lower public spending, particularly on social services. These changes have also adversely impacted on the lives of women and have increased inequality. They have led to wider economic disparities, the feminisation of poverty, increased gender inequality and, too often, including deteriorating working conditions in an unsafe working environment, especially in the informal economy and rural areas.

The application of certain economic policies have had a negative impact such that increases in women’s employment have often not been matched by improvement in wages, promotions and working conditions.

The dominant world view interprets women’s biology in ways which ensure that our worst experiences are often common across all the divides of race, class, caste, culture, religion, urban, rural, location, etc. For example, in the United States, the richest country in the world, one in five children live in poverty, and four women die every day as a result of domestic violence.

In 1996 - ie post-Beijing - our Government made inspired and critical commitments in our country of which it can be proud. It established one of the best constitutional and legislative frameworks in the world for gender equality, which this year will address legislation pertaining to sexual offences and inheritance under customary law as part of that framework. The challenge to ensure that these are not reduced to paper rights is an ongoing one and involves all sectors of our society - judges, magistrates, police, teachers, priests, traditional leaders, etc.

I am sure my colleagues will elaborate on these laws during this debate. Our Cabinet, in its commitments to the Beijing Platform of Action in 1996, committed itself to ``reallocating military expenditure to support women’s empowerment’’.

In the budget commitment in 1996 which was a response to the Beijing Platform for Action, Government committed itself to, and I quote:

… provide information on the impact of expenditures disaggregated by gender; the implementation of targets and indicators of gender equality and equity in spending and the development of a performance review mechanism to evaluate progress and report to Parliament; and conduct a study to contribute to developing a method to include women’s unpaid labour within the GDP.

In the 1998-99 Budget Review, the national expenditure survey, South Africa began an exercise for which it has become internationally renowned, and that is engendering the budget. This exercise reflected significant changes in the Budget Review of 1999. The Government committed itself to entrenching this analysis in the years to come. This week we received the National Gender Policy from the Office on the Status of Women, on which we will be holding hearings as the Committee on the Quality of Life and Status of Women getting feedback.

At the end of and in the course of this debate today, and on the basis of what Madam Speaker has already said in terms of International Women’s Day and what the speakers who have spoken on the motions without notice have said, we will be guided by what it is that we need to do to improve the quality of life and status of the poorest women in our country and to ensure that we break the cycle of poverty and violence, and end the increase of HIV/Aids among women.

I want to end by paying a very brief tribute to the women of our country and the women of the world on International Women’s Day. Before I do that, I would like to say that the 12 suggestions that are included in the parliamentary follow-up to Beijing Plus Five will be elaborated on in the course of the debate today by all the different members that will be speaking on the debate.

In honour of all the women that are meeting today in Khayelitsha, I want to say: The colonisers sailing around the world to Africa, Asia, America, Australia found people who honoured, in worship, the earth and all its creatures - the sky, the stars, the moon, each other. The knowledge that women and other colonised people of the world have had of the earth, of dance, of song, of creativity, of healing and of nurturing wildness has been spat upon and burnt at the stake.

A woman’s ability to create has become a power to be feared and so is used to control her. Women have been bought and beaten, and taught to obey the father, the priest, the slave owner, the employer, the husband, the doctor. Women themselves have learnt to uphold the patriarchy, to build the walls and imprison their sisters and their daughters, to teach them their limitations, to clip their wings and their clitorises.

The time has come to light up the parts of ourselves we have kept hidden in fear, and shame and ambiguity, to begin to realise the knowledge, beyond a hundred thousand colonisations, to see the fear that drove religious wars, witchhunts, genocide, slavery, Nazism, apartheid. We look to Minister Geraldine Frazer-Moleketi to speak with the courage that has won her the respect of the women of our country when she responds today to how Government is going to effect the commitments it has made in the years to come. [Applause]

Mrs B N SONO: Madam Speaker, as we honour and pay tribute to the women of the world, we in Africa, usually when we celebrate, break into song and we say: Igama lamakhosikazi malibongwe! [Praise the name of women!]

HON MEMBERS: Malibongwe! [Praise!] [Interjections.] [Applause.]

Mrs B N SONO: South Africa has witnessed dramatic changes in the past seven years through the adoption of one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, the enactment of various pieces of legislation aimed at entrenching women’s rights, the pressures of globalisation, and the pressure to transform, not only the economy, but also attitudes and perceptions about each other.

South Africa is a signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. This convention was intended as a weapon for women to fight discrimination, sexual harassment and gender violence. The convention demands of signatory states that they take appropriate measures to ensure women’s civil, political, economic and cultural rights. It also demands that they take action to eliminate discrimination in the fields of education, employment, health and other areas of economic and social life. When the convention was adopted in 1979, it was described as the most comprehensive, legally binding treaty on women’s human rights in existence. But bold aims are easy enough, getting things done is the hard bit.

In reality ordinary women here still face the same discrimination as their sisters in Africa. They often lack the knowledge about their rights or how to access them. In South Africa women’s rights are probably comparable to any First World country. The irony is how one makes paper rights equal rights. Little has changed for women in South Africa because budgetary realities have not matched the declarations of the convention. Allocations to sectors which might make a real difference to the lives of South African women have been poor, and the attention of Parliament has been on issues which have made little difference to women.

One of the conclusions drawn in the intense global debate around whether the new millennium belongs to Africa is that this continent can only claim its rightful place in the global economy when women have taken their rightful place in the African economy. Giving women higher status in our society requires genuine commitment and money, even if this means siphoning off funds from potential Defence Force procurements. For example, the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs has promised that men and women will have equal access to all the benefits under its integrated programme of land distribution and agricultural development, and that women will be actively encouraged to apply.

The Government’s land reform programme has failed to improve the status of rural women. Launched in 1994, its aims are to bring equal rights to women in rural communities, but the recent study of the Government-sponsored share equity schemes between white commercial farmers and state subsidised black farmworkers indicates that there remains a wide gap between the aims of the new laws and the application on the ground, a failure at policy implementation level.

Regarding violence against women, we have enacted the Domestic Violence Act, but criminal charges of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, sexual assault, rape and marital rape are all available to the abused individual. The problem, however, is the strict onus of proof which must be met in order to secure a successful conviction, which is problematic in most domestic violence cases. Thus, a comprehensive review of the criminal law in relation to sexual violence is required.

Regarding women’s shelters, current legislation offers no provision for victim support. Thus, the few women’s shelters that do exist are not state funded. They are an essential provision for women and children escaping from abuse and violence. This brings us to the Lotto, which is a year-old and has millions of rands to assist poor citizens, both male and female and, yet, no distribution has taken place. Could it be that the charities that qualify for help are not transformed or engendered enough?

Cedaw provides that the state must make sure that there is economic equality between women and men. South Africa also forms part of a Commonwealth pilot project to engender macroeconomic policies within member countries. The areas focused on to date are the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework and the Budget Review. The Department of Finance has committed itself to the development of methods of including women’s unpaid labour in the GDP but, to date, there is inertia on that front.

Experience has also shown that trade and investment have been effective means of bringing about economic progress worldwide. The USA is determined that women should fully benefit from its new African Growth and Opportunity Act, Agoa. What programmes are in place from our Government to ensure that women as employees, managers or owners of export businesses, or suppliers to export companies, are aware of Agoa and are poised to take advantage of its benefits?

Agoa should help the many women employed in industries that have traditionally relied on female labour, such as the textile industry. But does this industry have access, both technical and financial, to assistance from Government so that it can rise to the occasion? [Applause.]

Nkk L R MBUYAZI: Somlomo neNdlu ehloniphekile, ngifisa ukubonga ukuthi Somlomo ulethe lolu daba olunjengalolu namhlanje lapha sikhuluma khona ngezindaba ezithinta abesifazane, ezazidingidwa le komkhulu eBeijing. Ngifisa ukuqala ngokukubonga wena Somlomo njengomuntu wesifazane, ngibonge nesekela lakho. Ngalawo mazwi ngithi ukuba ngiyakwazi ukuzenzela, ngabe ngithi asibashayele ihlombe laba besifazane abasiphathele leNdlu. [Ihlombe.] Ngizothi mina: kuth’angigiye bese nina nithi: Giya. [Ubuwelewele.] Kuth’angigiye!

AMALUNGU AHLONIPHEKILE: Giya! [Ubuwelewele.] [Ihlombe.]

Nkk L R MBUYAZI: Namhlanjena-ke wusuku olukhulu. Sithi: Happy Women’s Day! Sithi halala komama bonke emakhaya. Siyahalalisa lapho kuzo zonke izigodi. Ezifundazweni zonke sithi: Halala! [Ubuwelewele.] Nakuyo yonke i-Afrika siyahalalisa, ngoba nakhona kudingidwa zona lezi zindaba. Sihalalisa kwi- Afrika nasezweni lonke. [Ubuwelewele.]

Izinjongo-ke ze-Beijing zinhle kakhulu ngakho siyazeseka. Kodwa-ke kuneminye imibuzo edinga ukuphenduleka. Uma ngikhumbula kahle, ngenkathi kuzoyiwa e-Beijing, sabuza kuyona le Ndlu ukuthi konje ngabe zithathisiwe yini izinqumo kubantu. Phela umbiko okwakuyiwa ngawo eBeijing sasiwufuna ukuthi udlule kule Ndlu ukuze sizwe nathi, sithake sifake izinongo, sibone ukuthi kukhona okuqhamuka ngasezindaweni lapho sisuka khona. Ngakho-ke umbuzo lowo usalokhu ufuna ukuphenduleka, ngoba ngithi kwaze kwahanjwa singazange sawubona umbiko. Uma ngingaphosisi, ngithi komunye umhlangano esasithunywe kuwo nelungu elihloniphekile, uNqodi, kwi-Commission for Sustainable Development, safike sahlangana nokuthi umbiko waseNingizimu Afrika wawungakafiki ekubeni isikhathi sasivele sesihambile kwangaleso sikhathi.

Sisho ukuthi-ke noma kukuhle kangaka, zizinhle kangaka nezincomo, siyadinga ukuthi sibone ukuthi kusukwa kanjani laphaya phansi kuya kohulumeni bezindawo, kwabezifundazwe nakokazwelonke kuze kuyodlulela ezingeni lamazwe aseduze kwethu; kuhambe kanjalo ngezigaba zonke. Ngisho ngoba abantu phansi bayabuza ukuthi eBeijing laphayana kukhulunywa ndaba zini. Basuke bengazi phela ukuthi okunye sisuke sesikunqume amakhanda khona lapha, mhlawumbe kuze kube khona nemiThetho eshaywayo.

Ngifisa ukubonga-ke uHulumeni kokuthile asekwenzile. Kukhona imiThetho emihle kakhulu enqunyiweyo esiphumelelisiwe yileli Phalamende ephathelene nazo izindaba zase-Beijing. Mhlawumbe kokunye umuntu angathintathinta nje laphaya imiThetho emihle eqhamuka emNyangweni wezemiSebenzi ethinta abantu besifazane ekusebenzeni kwabo. Leyo miThetho ngifisa ukuyibala yize ngingeke ngikwazi ukuyibala yonke. Umnyango engingawubalanga ngicela ukuthi ungasho ukuthi ngiwushiye ngoba unjani kodwa ngibala leyo efike emqondweni wami njengamanje. Yingakho nje ngiqala ngomNyango wezemiSebenzi ngoba kukhona imiThetho abayishayile esiza abantu besifazane, enconywayo ukuthi sekunezinto ezinhle ezenzekayo ngenxa yayo. Leyo yimiThetho efana ne- Employment Equity Act, iBasic Conditions of Employment Act kanye ne-Labour Relations Act.

Ngiyafisa futhi ukuncoma laphaya kwi-Customary Marriages Act ephethwe ngumNyango wezaseKhaya. Abantu bakithi kade benezinkinga ngalolu hlobo lomshado. Namanje kusafuneka ukuthi kulungiswe. Ziningi izinto okufuneka zilungiswe. Kufanele kuyolungiswa phansi ukuthi bazi ukuthi lomThetho uzosebenza kanjani, ngoba abakazi ngempela ukuthi uzosebenza kanjani. Ngakho-ke i-Customary Marriages Act kuyadingeka ukuthi thina sonke abesifazane siyazi ukuze sichazele esibamele ePhalamende ukuthi uzosebenza kanjani lomThetho. Baningi abantu abahlukumezekile ngezomshado kanti futhi laphaya emNyangweni wezobuLungiswa kukhon izindaba eziphathelene ne- Maintenance Act okudinga ukuthi abantu baziqonde kahle.

Udadewethu uzothinta ngezinto eziningi zase-Beijing, mina bengifuna ukuqondisa izinto ezithize nje kulolo daba. Ngithi-ke kuhle lezi zinto eziqhamuka e-Beijing zinikezwe isabelo semali ngoba oNgqongqoshe bethu bayathanda ukuthi zisetshenzwe laphaya phansi; kodwa izimali ziyadingeka-ke ukuze lezi zinto zixhaseke. Okunye esifisa ukuthi kwenzeke ngukuthi njengoba bese ngishilo, ngukuthi kuthathiswe phansi kubantu yonke into ezokwenzeka. (Translation of Zulu paragraphs follows.)

[Mrs L R MBUYAZI: Madam Speaker and honourable House, I would like to thank Madam speaker for bringing the discussion on women’s issues before the House. Issues regarding women were discussed in Beijing. Firstly, I would to thank you, Madam Speaker, as a woman, and your Deputy. If I had power I would have said let us applaud these women who chair debates in this House. [Applause.] I am going to say: I feel like I want to perform a war song''. You will respond by saying:Perform!’’ [Interjections.] I feel like I want to perform!

HON MEMBERS: Perform! [Interjections.] [Applause.]

Mrs L R MBUYAZI: Today is a big day. We say happy Women’s Day! We say congratulations to all women at home. We congratulate women in all places. In all our provinces we say: Congratulations! [Interjections.] We congratulate the whole of Africa because women’s issues are discussed even on this continent. We congratulate Africa and the rest of the world. [Interjections.]

The aims of the Beijing conference were very good and I support them. However, there are questions that still need to be answered. Before people from this Parliament went to Beijing, we asked this House if decisions were taken from the public. We wanted the message that would be taken to Beijing to be discussed by this House first so that we would hear it and then improve on it. We wanted to ensure that it included things that are happening in the places where we come from. Therefore, that question still needs to be answered, because people went with a message we did not know. If I am not mistaken, in one of the meetings of the Commission for Sustainable Development which the hon Nqodi and I attended, we found that the South African message had still not been delivered, yet it was already late at the time.

What we are saying is that although the message was so good, as were the recommendations, in future we will need to see how it starts at grass-roots level to municipal, provincial and national levels. And also how it continues from there to our neighbouring countries at all stages. I am saying this because people ask what sorts of issues were discussed in Beijing. They do not know that some of the things are first discussed here, and sometimes legislation is drafted as a result of those discussions.

I would like to thank the Government for some of the things that it has done so far. There are Acts that have been passed by this Parliament concerning the issues that were discussed in Beijing. I would like to quote the Act that comes from the Department of Labour and that affects women in the workplace. I would like to mention some of those Acts because I will not be able to mention all of them. If there is any department that I do not mention, it should not ask why I did not mention it. I will mention only those that are in my memory right now. That is why I will start with the Department of Labour. It is because this department has passed some acts that are now helping women. These Acts are appreciated for the good things they are doing. I am talking about Acts like the Employment Equity Act, the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Labour Relations Act.

I also want to express my appreciation of the Customary Marriages Act that is administered by the Department of Home Affairs. Our people have had problems with this type of marriage. Today it still needs to be rectified. There are many things in it that need to be rectified. Firstly, the rectification should be done at grass-roots level. People should be told how this Act will work. Therefore, we women in Parliament have a task to inform our constituencies how this Act will work. Many people are victimised by their types of marriage. In the Department of Justice, there are issues concerning the Maintenance Act of which people should have a clear understanding.

My sister will touch on many things that relate to the Beijing conference. I was just correcting a few things surrounding this issue. I would like to say that a budget should be allocated so as to implement these things that were raised in Beijing. Our Ministers would like to see them being implemented. Money is needed to sponsor these things. Another thing, I would like to see Parliament consulting with the public first before we make whatever endeavour.]

A way forward is to strengthen women’s economic capacities and commercial networks, and to adopt policies that support business organisations and co- operatives in order to provide service to women entrepreneurs in rural and urban areas. We should also have support programmes that enhance the self- reliance of special groups of women such as young women, women with disabilities, elderly women and women belonging to racial and ethnic minorities. We should support the economic activities for indigenous women, taking into account their traditional knowledge so as to improve their situation and development. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mrs S M CAMERER: Madam Speaker, you will be relieved to hear that I am not going to join in the singing and dancing, because I am not talented enough. [Interjections.] But I do want to say that it is a great pleasure to be part of such a joyous debate on this International Women’s Day. I think it is appropriate that we focus on South Africa’s international obligations as far as the promotion of the status, interests and benefits for women are concerned.

As a country we have subscribed to all the international instruments which directly relate to women. One of these instruments is, for the current decade, a living instrument which is intended to become part of women’s lives all over the world and which is intended to place obligations on governments internationally …

The SPEAKER: Order! Mr Manie, are you rising on a point of order?

Mr M S MANIE: Madam Speaker, I would like to know whether the hon member is prepared to take a question? Please say yes.

Mrs S M CAMERER: Madam Speaker, I have very little time - maybe if I get to the end of my speech.

It is intended to place obligations on governments internationally to improve women’s lives, and the United Nations is empowered and able to monitor this improvement, if any. The instrument that I am talking about is the Beijing Platform of Action which was adopted by South Africa, along with the international community, at the fourth UN Conference on Women in Beijing in September 1995, of which I was honoured to be a part.

We are now just over halfway into the decade. South Africa has delivered its first progress report, prepared early in the year 2000, at the Beijing Plus Five meeting in New York, last June. It is encouraging that the United Nations is keeping such a close eye on what is going on in relation to the platform of action in all the subscribing countries. Arising from the June meeting were 12 suggestions for parliamentary follow-up, which Madam Speaker has kindly circulated and asked us to address in this debate.

In last June’s progress report we gave ourselves a fairly glowing review, some of which is completely justified, and some less so. This report, it is true, was, as usual, hastily put together, because Government preparations for it started late, rather characteristically. It was, sadly, too late to be integrated into the central United Nations document. It was finalised only a week before the departure of our delegation and was certainly not presented by the executive to Parliament before it was submitted to the United Nations. The report also contains the following comment:

Parliament needs to be more proactive and alert and play a role in ensuring that the country’s processes are on time and thorough.

Amen to that! The executive had the job of compiling the report, and I suppose it will be up to the opposition members here to continue to try and prod the Government out of its inertia. If we could re-examine the first progress report a year on, I will tell hon members there are some glaring lacunae which we in the DA, as the official opposition, should point out in order to fulfil our parliamentary role of holding the Government to account.

Perhaps the most serious lacuna in the progress report relates to HIV/Aids. There must be a radical reassessment of South Africa’s plan of action on this score. United Nations officials are on record that this is South Africa’s most pressing gender issue, but the report deals with HIV/Aids in only a couple of lines. It claims to document programmes illustrating the Government’s commitment to addressing HIV/Aids, but it mentions only one: a school help programme. Parliament has concerned itself with a plan of action, though not specifically and extensively, and yes, we have set up a lot of the legislative framework and national machinery needed.

There is another noteworthy exception here, and that is the long missing national gender policy framework or Green Paper, which the Office on the Status of Women in the President’s Office has spent four years giving birth to. The project started in 1997. The first draft was unofficially presented to the Parliamentary Women’s Committee in December 1998, when we were able to give inputs. It remained invisible during the whole of 1999. In May 2000, in response to a question about its completion that I put in Parliament, the Minister in the Presidency claimed there had been no delay, and that the document had been submitted to Cabinet for approval. Thereafter it took Cabinet seven months to approve it last December.

The Green Paper is at last ready to be distributed to members of our committee and I managed to get a copy yesterday. It is marked ``the unedited version’’. This is just as well, as on the first reading it contains a number of errors and gaps, for instance, remarkably, there is no mention of the Promotion of Equality Act, passed over a year ago, which singles out women as a category for special attention in the section in it about the legal framework for gender policy.

Hopefully, on closer reading the document will prove to be worth waiting for. It must be one of the slowest and most expensive births of a Green Paper in this Government’s history. In the meantime, judging from the progress report, Government departments have had to gallop ahead without it. The process in connection with the Green Paper surely puts a question mark over the justification for the continued existence of this office in the President’s Office.

Where we fall down badly is in the area of budgetary resources to implement administrative and legislative initiatives aimed at achieving gender equality. Every departmental gender desk complains that they do not have funds to do more than draw up plans and programmes; there is no money to implement. The same often applies to legislation. One of the most glaring examples is the Maintenance Act, referred to by the previous speaker. This was passed with much fanfare in 1998. The Justice Minister at the time said the lynchpin of its success would be the extensive appointment of maintenance investigators to track down the errant fathers.

Maintenance problems are experienced by millions of ordinary women in our country. The current Justice Minister has admitted that the maintenance courts do not operate well, in spite of the new Act. The employment of maintenance investigators would make an enormous difference to ordinary women’s lives. Three years down the line the provisions of the Act allowing for maintenance investigators to be appointed, have not yet come into operation and no date has been set for them to come into operation.

A policy regarding their appointment has not yet been determined. No funds are available for their appointment. The women of South Africa will be excused for regarding this as a huge con by a cynical Government, and the DA calls on the Minister of Justice to come clean and tell us if and when there will be funds for this, or to stop holding out the prospect that this legislation will one day deliver something worthwhile.

A similar situation has risen in relation to the Domestic Violence Act and the obligations it imposes on the SAPS to respond to complaints and to assist victims. This Act was passed in 1998. In 1999 the SAPS drew up a 20- page national instruction for its members. A year later, the new national Commissioner of Police stated that the SAPS has neither the manpower nor the resources nor the vehicles to do what they are supposed to do in terms of the instruction under the Act, and since then nothing has really happened. A cloud of inertia has settled over the issue and the DA seeks clarification. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr M B NTULI: Madam Speaker, Deputy President, Ministers and colleagues, I feel proud to represent the minority group, in this case the males. International Women’s Day is an important day to all of us and I am indeed honoured to participate in this debate today.

One of the major challenges that we are tasked with in this country is to look after the people who elected us to power. Yes, we need to be proud of our children and women, and therefore to protect them from any foul play.

I want to start off by making reference to the case that is being heard in this country since Monday. The DA has been very vocal, saying that the Government is not prepared to do anything when South Africans are dying. However, today they are quiet instead of standing behind the Government and defending the Government against the pharmaceutical industries.

Efforts to develop national policies regarding HIV/Aids began with the ANC while it was still banned in this country. At a conference in Mozambique, in early 1990, the ANC drafted the Maputo Statement on HIV/Aids which acknowledged the urgent need to make HIV prevention a priority. The ANC decided to work with the previous government, through the Ministry of Health, before the 1994 elections. The 8 January statement of the President of the country, President Thabo Mbeki said, and I quote:

Millions of our people are still condemned to live miserable lives, to suffer physical and mental ailments and to die young because of preventable diseases.

One of those diseases which he cited was Aids. This not only shows commitment by the President and the Ministry of Health, but it also shows commitment by both the ANC and the Government. Where is the DA now and why are they so quiet? [Interjections.] It is very obvious that they have been saying things just to score political points. I would like to challenge the DA to tell the world and their bosom friends that the ANC wants to get the cheapest medication for our people and not be ripped off by pharmaceutical companies. Why does the DA not tell them that this is what they have been calling for and march with the ANC?

On World Aids Day, December 2000 - as we are reminded by the Treatment Action Campaign in their 12 February issue - the Minister of Health, Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, outlined the Government’s policy on the treatment of people who are infected with HIV/Aids. The TAC goes on to say that the decision not to implement a large-scale antiretroviral programme in the public health sector is not an ideological stance, but is based on the fact that these drugs, at current prices, still remain unaffordable. I am convinced that the South African Government remains committed to its people’s health and the Medicines and Related Substances Control Amendment Act, Act 90 of 1997, is proof of that.

Ngakho-ke asikwazi ukulalela amahunge o-DA bezihhumela nje. Isikhathi sabo saphela ngo-1994. [Therefore we cannot listen to the detractors of the DA. Their time expired in 1994.]

I want to address myself to rape and abuse of children and women. It starts with a man who has power over a child or a woman. When he realises that he is infected and has tested positive, he then decides to spread the disease so that he will die with many people. This is a fundamental challenge we are faced with as legislatures. We need to deal with it on a daily basis. It is a common trend in this country and it has raised an outcry in all provinces.

Regarding the issue of women and health, the quality of women’s health care is poor. They are treated with little respect and privacy, and get little information on health choices. Women’s mental and physical health suffers because of violence and negative feelings towards them, and lack of control over sexual and reproductive matters and other aspects of their lives. There is little counselling and reproductive health information for young girls and women. This increases unwanted pregnancies, unsafe abortions, Aids and sexually transmitted diseases as the increase in Aids infection is mainly among young women.

To show the commitment of the Government, the Health department is currently spending an amount which equals 10% of its 2002-03 fiscal year budget to treat Aids-related illnesses, a figure that is expected to rise. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Miss O N MNDENDE: Madam Speaker, I think that the time has come for us, as sisters, to be practical and realistic. I am so disappointed, because last year when I questioned Minister Pahad about his gender sensitivity, he promised that this year he would show us that he is gender sensitive. Most unfortunately, he is not on the programme and not even in the House. I am very disappointed about that because he is the Minister who is responsible for the status of women in the Office of the President. [Applause.]

Secondly, when we are in our portfolio committee on the status of women, we always say that we can differ according to our political parties but gender issues affect all women, irrespective of their political parties, which is true. We must be practical, especially as we are now discussing Beijing, which affects all of us irrespective of our political parties. But there is a party that has 70 minutes and others have seven minutes, three minutes and so on. Is there any equality there? [Interjections.] We cannot participate fully in that situation, and that is true.

Thirdly, talking about women and gender issues, when one looks at the national committees … [Interjections.] That member can howl, but I know that! When one looks at the gender commission, and the national coalition, one finds that only the women of one political party are in leadership positions. Does that mean that women in other political parties are less intelligent? [Applause.] Women are all intelligent!

So as women, we must begin to be practical and practise equality and no discrimination of any kind. We must not have women who are others’ big sisters. That is a reality! [Interjections.] It is therefore with great expectation that the UDM makes these suggestions for parliamentary follow- up on the crucial decisions taken in Beijing.

I would go as far as saying that gender issues like poverty, should be a standing item on the parliamentary agenda …

Ndiyaniva apho, Nomatyala. Ningamachule kwelo cala. Ningamachule apha ekubhombolozeni. [I can hear you there, Nomatyala. You are experts on that side. You are expert howlers.]

Gender issues should inform every decision that we take in this Chamber, and not just debates on days commemorating women’s rights. There is an overwhelming need for us as the representatives of the South African people to recognise that inequality arising from gender is an unacceptable fact of our current society. The House has recognised that poverty leads to inequality, but we seem to be less vigorous in our recognition that it is women who bear the brunt of this inequality.

I fully support the concept of a gender sensitive budget. We need active budgetary measures to address gender inequality, which is manifested by poverty. We need to go one step further and insist on measurement tools within the budgetary process, to ensure that progress can be monitored and where necessary corrective action taken. The need for measuring successes or failures is emphasised every single time that we hear of budgets that are either unspent or misspent. It is not acceptable that we accept a budget and call it gender sensitive, when women on the ground do not see any improvement in their lives.

When the Minister of Finance announces the next national Budget, it must be possible for the women of South Africa to observe a genuine improvement in their standard of living, disposable income and employment opportunities. Redressing the gender discrimination in legislation must remain a priority. We can only achieve that goal when women are adequately represented. [Interjections.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Is that a point of order, hon member? What are you rising on?

Mr M T GONIWE: Madam Speaker, this is a question. I just want to know …

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Hold on, hon member. Let us ask the hon member whether she would like to take a question. Would you like to take a question, hon member?

Miss O N MNDENDE: After finishing my speech, I will be willing to take a question.

Mr M T GONIWE: It is a point of order!

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: No, hon member, you said you wanted to ask a question. Please take your seat! Proceed, hon member!

Miss O N MNDENDE: We must be wary of a tendency to think that a special committee on women removes the responsibility of all parliamentary committees to take gender issues into account. In this regard, the notable successes achieved in certain parliamentary committees deserve mention, such as the Employment Equity Act and the Domestic Violence Act. Efforts have also been made to ensure that … [Interjections.]

Ms N G W BOTHA: Madam Speaker, on a point of order: Is it parliamentary for the hon member at the podium to refer to another hon member as Nomatyala? [Laughter.]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Well, hon member, it is normal practice for us to refer to one another as hon members. So, it would be good if the hon member …

Miss O N MNDENDE: Hon member Nomatyala! [Laughter.]

Efforts have also been made to ensure that people guilty of offences under the Domestic Violence Act cannot acquire firearm licences. I refer to this in the context of yesterday’s unfortunate shooting of a Cape Town teenager by her father. The abuse of women in domestic situations, and the incidence of family murders is an evil that we must totally obliterate from our society. Until that glorious day arrives, this Parliament must remain vigilante and proactive.

No attempt at describing the various challenges facing South African women would be complete if it did not address the issue of rape. The incidence of rape, if the latest available statistics are compared with previous years, is on the increase. There are those who would have us believe that the problem is under control, or even that there is no problem. How can one say that rape is under control? Even one rape is a lot. One has to note that there are men - regrettably, two such men - who believe that the rape figure is just an over-inflated statistic generated to discredit them. They are hon Ministers Tshwete and Maduna.

Wathi: Hayi kudala ndilapha akukadlwengulwa mfazi. [He said: I have been here for a long time and no woman has ever been reportedly raped.]

I urge them to acknowledge that rape is an unspeakable crime, that there is no such thing as acceptable or controllable levels of rape, that even one rape in a year is one rape too many. I would also like to urge both these Ministers to do everything in their power to ensure that the criminal justice system is accessible to the survivors of rape, and that the perpetrators are removed from society. International efforts to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women illustrate a growing awareness of gender equality in the world. I would argue that South Africa is morally obliged not only to support these efforts, but also to be in the forefront of these efforts. South Africa achieved a political miracle in the past decade. We must prove that the miracle is real and alive. We must take the lessons we have learned in our struggle to attain liberty and democracy, and apply them to end all forms of oppression wherever we encounter it.

As South Africa develops its role on the international stage …

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Hon member, your time has expired.

Miss O N MNDENDE: Abafazi mabalingane, singacalucalulani. [Women must be equal, we should not discriminate against one another.]

Mrs R M SOUTHGATE: Madam Speaker, between 1994 and our last election South Africa enjoyed centre stage on the world arena. Many of our leaders at the time were babes in the woods, willing to learn from powerful foreign experts who eloquently expressed that South Africa must align itself with their cause.

Many of these experts managed to set up shop in South Africa. Yet, after so many years of being able to prove their worth this country is not the solution for the ills of the world as we were led to believe. Due to some of our policies - and shaped in many respects by these well-meaning experts

• South Africa cannot seem to get to first base on issues such as a crime- free and investor-friendly society.

We seem to have learnt from the past, and it looks as if we are creating our own recipes to solve our own problems. We can learn and get assistance from the world, but we should do so from a position of moral strength, and not from a position of economic weakness, as they dictate the terms. Unfortunately, we will be doing so at the expense of the lives of many unborn children, and of the many who are suffering and dying of Aids due to the wrong messages we are sending out.

Let me give this House an idea of what resembles a wrong message. In South Africa we teach people that in order to have safe sex one must use a condom. This is a wrong message that subliminally encourages domination and displaces human relationships with cruel sexploitation.

The Cape Argus of Tuesday 6/3/2001 carries a story about a billboard in Malawi educating people on the same issue with the following message, and I quote:

Aids is killing Africa. Malawians, change your behaviour now! Let us save our country.

This is a correct message emphasising nationwide responsibility. The Beijing Plus Five Platform of Action is a process aimed at addressing the issues that mainly affect women. Yet the irony is that the importance of women and womanhood do not seem to feature.

The wrong message that the Beijing Platform of Action is promoting is that of convoluting the issues of women with the general description of gender. This is simply neither truthful nor respectful of women. I know that the implied idea behind the gender agenda is to promote equality between men and women. What is not so clear is whether we are succeeding in addressing the issues that affect women.

The South African message to women in our society is simply not getting through effectively enough. How do we fail our women in this country? We do so by tackling issues of women from the position as defined by gender. Let me quote the definition stated in the Beijing report. It says:

… social relations and processes embodied in the variety of institutions which underpin day-to-day life.

What is the consequence of this definition? The consequence is that the laws that are supposed to promote the issues of women are based upon such trite and useless definitions. I do not want to sound disrespectful because we do know that the Domestic Violence Act, the Maintenance Act, the Employment Equity Act, etc, are good laws that promote the rightful place of women in society. [Time expired.]

Ms J A SEMPLE: Madam Speaker, it is interesting to note that the final report of South Africa’s progress in fulfilling its commitments to the Beijing Platform of Action, which was presented in New York last year, does not include women and the environment.

It is common knowledge that the report was only considered by the Cabinet once the delegates were on their way. Women parliamentarians had no chance to view or comment on the report before it was submitted by the delegation, and one wonders whether anyone other than Essop Pahad, the Minister in the Presidency, who is not here, or the elusive Office on the Status of Women, had seen the report beforehand. So much for transparency and consultation!

There is a lot of talk about being gender sensitive … [Interjections.] Could someone please remind Minister Steve Tshwete, who is also not here, to be gender sensitive. There is a lot of talk about being gender sensitive and women’s decision-making abilities, but that is clearly not being put into practice.

Chapter 4 of the report, ie item programmes, policies and best practices, provides an overview of South Africa’s performance under the twelve critical areas of the Beijing Platform of Action. It aims to highlight policies adapted, legislation passed and evolving best practices. Women and the environment is one of the twelve critical areas, and yet it was omitted from the South African report. Is this because the environment is regarded as totally irrelevant? Did South Africa have nothing to report on this issue, or was it simply that the report was put together in such a hurry?

The UN Conference on the Environment and Development, and the follow-up international conferences, acknowledged the significant role that women can play in the development of sustainable and ecologically sound consumption and production patterns and in approaches to natural resource management. However, women remain largely absent at all levels of policy formulation and decision-making in natural resource and environmental management, conservation, protection and rehabilitation, though they would productively contribute their skills and experience in natural resource management.

Women experience the impact of environmental degradation when, with increased workloads and without choice, they exploit natural resources in order to survive. Even with clear knowledge of the need for environmental protection and sustainability, they grow and process agricultural products, and sometimes in order to provide shelter, mainly in distinctly poverty- linked mismanagement of natural resources and subsequent environmental degradation.

Women are affected by environmental degradation through wars, floods, drought and bush fires. Who can forget the birth of baby Rosita in a tree last year? Broadly, a country should aim, firstly, to strengthen or establish mechanisms to assess the impact of development and environmental policies on women; secondly, to integrate concerns and perspectives in policies and programmes for sustainable development; and, thirdly, to involve women actively in environmental decision-making at all levels and in the implementation of national plans-in-action.

Many examples are given as to how other African countries plan to implement and achieve these objectives. What a pity there is no mention of what South Africa is doing. Perhaps we did not submit a report on women and the environment at that conference either. Overall, I think it is common knowledge that the most disadvantaged group in South Africa is women living in rural former homeland areas.

In the country’s gender profile South Africa 1998 prepared for Sida - the Swedish International Development Co-operation Agency - it is pointed out that many women and young children spend time each day collecting water and firewood. Poor women often work, unpaid, longer and harder than others on household tasks because of a lack of facilities. Collecting water and fuel takes time, especially when one has to walk miles to fetch them. This also affects the health of those who fetch and carry, as well as that of those who use unclean water and dangerous fuels. The present cholera epidemic immediately springs to mind. Yes, since 1994 a large number of households have been provided with water and electricity for the first time, but there are still thousands of women - poor rural women - who do not have access to these facilities.

Minister Valli Moosa, in discussing South Africa’s agenda for the World Summit on Sustainable Development to be held in South Africa next year, recently mentioned the emancipation of women, in particular their need for renewable energy resources. This is a challenge for us all to meet, and it cuts across every Ministry and every department. This is not just a women’s issue, it is something that affects all South Africans. We all have mothers, sisters or wives. Let us show them we care and, in doing so, care for the environment that we live in, too.

Let us also broadcast our achievements to the world by ensuring that women and the environment, a critical area of the Beijing Platform of Action, are not left out in the next South African report-back and that this report is circulated for comment before it is published. [Applause.]

Dr C P MULDER: Madam Speaker, we in the FF have decided to adhere to the request by Madam Speaker earlier this afternoon that men should also participate in this debate, and we will not be using any women in our caucus today.

``Everything women do, they must do twice as good as men to be thought only half as good - luckily this is not difficult.’’

This was said by Charlotte Whitton, the mayor of Ottawa, Canada, way back in 1976. The question is: Is this general statement still true in the year 2001, or have things changed to such an extent that women are now in a position to compete on an equal footing with men and that they are judged as such? Ons debatteer vandag die kwessie van die parlementêre opvolging van Beijing plus vyf. Gedurende September 1995 het ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse afvaardiging deelgeneem aan die vierde van die VN se reeks wêreldkonferensies oor vroue wat in Beijing, China, gehou is.

Uit dié konferensie het ‘n plan van aksie gespruit waartoe die Suid- Afrikaanse Regering hom verbind het. Ingevolge dié plan van aksie is Suid- Afrika verplig om oor sy eie vordering verslag te doen met betrekking tot 12 belangrike terreine.

Vandag, 8 Maart 2001, wat ook Internasionale Vrouedag is, bied ‘n baie goeie geleentheid om hierdie onderwerp te bespreek. Die status en bemagtiging van vroue kan as ‘n baie sensitiewe saak beskou word en dit kán ook ‘n baie sensitiewe saak wees. Die vraag is waarom?

Nie waarom enigiemand daarteen gekant kan wees nie, maar juis omdat die risiko bestaan dat ons totaal by mekaar verby kan praat. Suid-Afrika is en bly ‘n baie plurale en diverse gemeenskap. Wat een groep vroue ervaar en aan onderworpe is, is nie noodwendig dieselfde as wat ander vroue ervaar nie. In die Afrikanergemeenskap waaruit ek kom, word ons vroue met respek, waardigheid en eer gehanteer. Natuurlik is daar uitsonderings, en kan ‘n mens nie veralgemeen nie, maar dit is die reël. In ander gemeenskappe mag dit weer anders wees, soos wat ek al in die verlede uit besprekings in dié Raad verneem het. Daar is verskeie … [Tussenwerpsels.]

Die agb lid sal nie weet nie, hoe sal hy weet? [Tussenwerpsels.] Laat die Afrikaner namens homself praat, die agb lid sal regtig nie weet nie, maar ons hanteer ons vroue met eer en waardigheid. Ek sê daar mag ook uitsonderings wees. [Tussenwerpsels.]

Die feit van die saak is, al die maatreëls wat die Regering getref het, wil ‘n mens graag onderskryf. Die agb lid mev Camerer het reeds daarna verwys, en ek wil spesifiek na twee aspekte verwys, naamlik die Wet op Onderhoud en die Wet op Gesinsgeweld. Albei hierdie wette handel in beginsel oor besonder belangrike sake ter bemagtiging van vroue, wat ons steun. Mev Camerer het korrek uitgewys dat daar in die praktyk sekere probleme met die implementering van hierdie wette is, maar die bestaan van hierdie wette is belangrik.

Op hierdie spesifieke dag wil ons graag hulde bring aan ons vroue, hulle eer en vir hulle baie dankie sê vir wat hulle vir ons doen. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Today we are debating the issue of the parliamentary follow-up to Beijing plus five. During September 1995 a South African delegation participated in the fourth of the UN’s series of world conferences on women, which was held in Beijing, China.

A plan of action arose from this conference, to which the South African Government committed itself. In terms of this plan of action, South Africa is obliged to report on its own progress with regard to 12 important areas.

Today, 8 March 2001, which is also International Women’s Day, presents a good opportunity to discuss this topic. The status and empowerment of women can be viewed as a very sensitive issues and it can also be a very sensitive issue. The question is why?

Not why anyone could be opposed to it, but precisely because the risk exists that we could talk at cross-purposes. South Africa is and remains a very plural and diverse society. What one group of women experience and are subjected to, is not necessarily the same as what other women experience.

In the Afrikaner community from which I come, our women are treated with respect, dignity and honour. There are of course exceptions, and one cannot generalise, but that is the norm. It may be different in other communities, as I have learnt in the past from discussions in this House. There are various … [Interjections.]

The hon member would not know, how would he know? [Interjections.] Let the Afrikaners speak for themselves; the hon member really would not know, but we treat our women with honour and dignity. I am saying there may also be exceptions. [Interjections.]

The fact of the matter is that one would gladly endorse all the measures taken by the Government. The hon member Mrs Camerer has already referred to this, and I want to refer specifically to two aspects, namely the Maintenance Act and the Domestic Violence Act. Both these Acts deal in principle with particularly important matters for the empowerment of women, which we support. Mrs Camerer correctly pointed out that in practice there are certain problems with the implementation of these Acts, but the existence of these Acts is important.

On this specific day we would like to pay tribute to our women, honour them and thank them for what they do for us.]

Mrs D G NHLENGETHWA: Madam Speaker, I would like to advise the hon Mndende, because she is new in this field. She should not come here and say that nothing has been done for women. It is said that new brooms sweep clean. I advise her first to sweep in her own party before she comes here and says that nothing has been done. [Applause.]

The Beijing Conference identified the persistent and increasing burden of poverty on women as one of the twelve critical areas of concern requiring special attention. One of these areas is the feminisation of poverty.

Ngitawutsandza kuchaza leligama lebuphuya ngesiSwati. Nasikhuluma ngebuphuya kubomake basemakhaya sisuke sikhuluma ngekweswela kudla, indzawo yekufihla inhloko, emanti lahlobile, timphahla tekwembatsa, tindlu tangasense, imali yekuyisa bantfwana esikolweni, kubate gezi etindlini lesihlala kuto, sikhanyise ngemakhandlela - solo ngichaza buphuya kutsi yini - kanye nekupheka ngaphalafini.

Laba labake bahlala kuletindzawo letisemaphandleni nasemahlatsini, njengale lapho ngibuya khona mine, bayangivisisa kutsi ngitsini. Angati kutsi bayangiva yini ngakuloluhlangotsi lolungale ngesheya. [Kuhlaba lulwimi.]

Ngitawutsatsa lelitfuba kubonga kuHulumende we-ANC losikhiphile emahlatsini nasemadvwaleni lapho sasifakwe khona ngulaba bekunene. Njengaloku ngime lapha nje, ngiphuma emahlatsini nasemadvwaleni lapho bengifihlwe khona. Ngime lapha nje ngitewukhulumela bomake, ngivakalise livi labomake labaphuma emahlatsini, emakhaya nasemadvwaleni lapho umuntfu ehluleka khona kugubha ngisho emamitha lasihlanu nje kuze akwati kufaka liphayiphi lemanti.

Mhla ka 9 Febhuwari wakhuluma Mengameli kutsi Hulumende usemkhankhasweni wekulwa nebuphuya. Ngicela-ke kutsi tsine sonkhe lesilapha kuleNdlu sibambisane silwe nalobuphuya, njengaloku sengike ngabuchaza nje. Ngicela kuhanjwe-ke kubuyelwe emuva, ngobe labanye betfu abakabetayeli futsi ababati nekutsi buyini kwabona lobuphuya. Asisukume sonkhe selekelelane naHulumende ekulweni nalobuphuya lobukhona, kuze singafiki lapha simemete ngebuphuya lesingabati nekutsi busho kutsini. (Translation of SiSwati paragraphs follows.)

[I would like to describe the concept ``poverty’’ in siSwati. When one talks about poverty as experienced by rural women one means having no food, no roof over one’s head, no clean water, no clothing, no toilets, no money to educate one’s children, no electricity in one’s house and having to use candles - I am still describing what poverty is - and having to use paraffin to cook.

Those who have lived in the rural areas and in the bush, such as where I come from, will understand what I am talking about. I do not know whether the members on the other side of the House know anything about what I am talking about. [Interjections.]

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the ANC-led Government which has taken us out of the bush and rocky areas where we have been hidden by our oppressors. As I stand before this House, I come from the bush and a rocky area where I have been hidden, and I stand here to speak on behalf of women and to raise the voices of the women who live in the bush and rocky areas where the ground is so hard it would be impossible to dig a 5 km stretch in order to install a water pipe.

On 9 February the President said that the Government had embarked on a campaign to eradicate poverty. I appeal to everyone in this House to work together in eradicating poverty as I have described it. Let us go back to the beginning, because some of us are not familiar with and do not know what poverty is. Let us all stand up and assist the Government in fighting against the prevailing poverty. Perhaps then we will not come here and pontificate about something we know nothing about.]

Let me say something about our achievements. Since 1994 our Government has provided more than 9 million people with basic water supplies and many people have access to clean running water for the first time in their lives. Electricity and telephone connections have been provided to people in previously underresourced parts of this country. Reports from our branches in impoverished areas attest to the impact that the provision of such basic infrastructure and services have had on the lives of the poor. Women no longer have to spend four hours a day collecting firewood and water. The very poor women in our country feel less poor now.

Regarding the challenges we have faced, the Government has yet to refine and mature its management of public-private partnerships and nongovernmental organisations in relation to the alleviation of poverty. With regard to service delivery, the women fully support the Government’s initiative to improve service delivery in the public sectors, despite the persistent shortcomings of legislative and institutional transformation in the Public Service, especially in relation to the poor, the majority of whom are women. Additional training will go a long way in improving service delivery and integrating lessons from our successes and failures as the ANC on an ongoing basis.

Poverty suffered by women in South Africa is considered the most common and serious violation of their human rights. Poor women understand implicitly and without knowledge of sophisticated statistics that poverty is closely linked to high levels of unemployment, hunger and malnutrition, lack of basic services, inability to pay for health care and the disintegration of families.

In 1993 - during the NP era - 3 million households consisting of over 13 million people lived in poverty in this country. This means that 35 out of every 100 South African households were poor. Overall, over 2 million rural households are poor. Rural areas have the highest incidents of poverty. [Interjections.] Could those hon members lend me their ears, please? See me about this sometime! [Interjections.] In a village of 1 000 households, at least 530 do not have enough money to buy the minimum amount of food, clothing and fuel necessary to sustain them, because their income is below the household subsistence level.

Let me now talk about the challenges that are facing us. The reason for greater poverty in the rural areas, including the absence of basic infrastructure, roads, water and electricity supply … [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mr I S MFUNDISI: Madam Speaker, it is some five years since women of the world converged on Beijing, where far-reaching resolutions were taken. The resolutions were meant to empower women and help put across the message that women have dignity, are worthy of respect and, to put it bluntly, not made of the crumbs that fell from the Master’s table as he was creating men.

The time has come for us to take stock regarding the progress made on those resolutions or otherwise. While we in the UCDP do not wish to be understood as saying that women should, by right, be appointed to senior positions, we maintain that they deserve such placements on the basis of ability.

We are surprised that parties which hold the reins in the provinces are hard put to elect or appoint women to positions of premiers. The Free State is the only province that has gone that far. Premier Winkie Direko succeeded Minister Matsepe-Casaburri. Could this be the reason why in certain circles it is called the ``vouestaat’’ [state of women]?

The Beijing mandate was not confined to the political arena only. The position of women has to be considered in all spheres of life. A look at some religious bodies calls for real scrutiny. Some of these bodies are too patriarchal in their affairs, and some cannot countenance the ordination of women. We commend those religious institutions that accept that all people are equal in the eyes of the Lord.

This brings to mind the African Methodist Episcopal Church that has long recognised the role of women in the church. In this denomination Charlotte Manye Maxeke is the leading figure on the mother continent in so far as women are concerned. Such recognition of women and acceptance of their ability was demonstrated in Cincinnati, Ohio, last year at the 46th general conference by the election of the first woman bishop in the person of Vashti Murphy Mckenzie, currently prelate of Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland and Mozambique. She achieved this feat by obtaining the second highest number of votes from a class of 32 candidates for the office.

The Beijing conference decreed that gender-sensitive legislation should be introduced. In the wake of that, this House passed the now famous Local Government: Municipal Structures Act, Act 117 of 1998, which was used to run the last local government elections. Section 5(3) in Schedule 2 of the Act states, and I quote:

Every party must seek to ensure that fifty per cent of the candidates on the party list are women and that women and men candidates are evenly distributed through the list.

Regrettably, out of the 13 parties in this House, none, whatsoever, met the requirement, despite the fact that this is a law passed by this House. We note, however, that the ANC, the UCDP and the ACDP made efforts to meet the requirement by having over 40% of their candidates comprise women. Implementing effective resolutions and Acts passed by Parliament are a form of delivery and accountability.

Let us be committed to the issues we agree to. We should not leave them for the record of Hansard only. [Time expired.]

Dr S E M PHEKO: Madam Speaker, on International Women’s Day it is evident that women in our country face the free-market paradigm, which is anything but free.

Stateless corporations have given rise to corporate states. Faced with a decimated industrial base and grossly inflated incomes, women are facing deepening poverty, long-term unemployment, homelessness, a rise in bankruptcies, repossessions, crime, family breakdowns, HIV/Aids, and increasing maternal and infant mortality. Present economic policies leave the women weaker, insecure and inevitable victims of economic exploitation and social degradation.

The PAC of Azania is challenging the assumption that markets do not have a gender dimension. Research is accumulating evidence which proves that markets operate on the free, exploited, unaccounted labour of women. Globalisation has become a huge bonus for transnational corporations. The export-led economies hire women in the export processing zones, while children work in sweatshops and hidden basements, usually described as the informal sector.

This has not improved the labour standards of women. Global capital and global markets thrive on unemployment and on the shrinking wages of economically active males, transferring the burden of long hours of work onto women inside and outside the households. The UN Development Programme’s human development report states that women contribute US$11 trillion in unpaid household work to the global economy. How else can cost reductions in the public sector, for instance in health care, hospitals and schools, be undertaken if women do not subsidise them with labour.

Globalisation, as manifested in privatisation and liberalisation, is shifting 70% to 90% of women in Africa into the informal sector. Women absorb the shock of Gear’s structural adjustment programme. Women are deprived of the basic worker benefits and health care. Women are central to the search for cheap labour, a situation that comes about because of the sexist division of labour and the racist division of both labour and resources.

The PAC believes that in order for women in our country to experience the implementation of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Beijing Declaration and other human rights instruments, the national Budget must invest liberally in the advancement of women. Without this budget allocation, the PAC believes that there will be no progress in the lives of women no matter how many conventions we sign and ratify.

Ms C C SEPTEMBER: Madam Speaker, hon Deputy President and the women of our country, a working woman is confronted with very tough choices on a daily basis. She faces choices on a daily basis, having to ask herself: ``Will it be macaroni and cheese, or will it be peanut butter and jam; will it be a new muffler or will it be an electric bill; will it be a sick child or a demanding boss; will it be a parent-teacher conference or a pink slip?’’ These choices reflect the labour market we inherited, one characterised by a grossly unequal distribution of economic resources, distorted industrial development, and in which women were kept out of the economy.

By 1991 women represented 36,3% of the formal labour force. That is about 8 million in formal employment. This means that about 2,9 million had formal- sector jobs. Indeed, they found themselves in the service sector as domestic workers and, of course, in the informal sector. Added to this is the atypical labour, which is casual, temporary, part-time and subcontractual. By 1999, if one takes the categories of employers, employees and those that are self-employed, women represented about 42% or 4,4 million of the formal labour force. By 1999 women represented about 37% or 2,8 million of the labour force in the informal sector. However, there has been a tremendous drop in the formal sector.

By 1999, the majority of women were still in the service sector, the domestic sector, and of course, the elementary sector and clerks. Even worse, by 1996 about 50% of the women found in the elementary sector, such as cleaning jobs, collecting garbage and so on, were African women. At the same time, 75% of these African women were in the informal sector, with 82% of them in the elementary area.

Our challenge remains the redressing of the characteristic of the sexual division of labour, as demonstrated by the statistics I have just given hon members - a challenge to overcome the legacy of poverty, apartheid and job reservation. For us the major economic instrument that the ANC-led Government inherited in 1994 is, of course, the state and state-owned enterprises, and the Public Service, which is our engine in the redistribution of wealth and income and meeting the needs of our people.

Although women are still thinly represented in social life, women’s rights now enjoy constitutional and legislative protection. These rights and obligations empower Government to fulfil the promise that if we are to improve the quality and equity of service delivery, we must draw on the skills of all the talents that we have in South Africa, which will hopefully lead to the opening of the economy for women in an equitable way.

The ANC led by introducing affirmative action targets in Government departments and provinces by requiring that 50% black people, 30% women and 2% disabled people should be targeted for management positions. Let us look at these figures and what has been achieved to date. At national level, our achievements have been 58% blacks at managerial level in the Public Service compared to 42% whites, and 21,53% females - a bit short - compared to 78,4% males.

I decided to take one of the regions in which we had to implement affirmative action as an example. I took the Western Cape region, and this is what the figures looked like. In 1997 they had no African males or females; coloured males were 23,4% and coloured females were 2,1%; Indian males were 85%, but they had no females; white males were 57% and white females were 8,5%. There were therefore 34% blacks, 65% whites, 89,4% males and 10% females.

We are called upon to introduce what I will term economic democracy, which will deal with the figures that we need to sort out and show us how to analyse women. We must create and continue to modify programmes that strengthen the vital role that women play in food security, especially in food production, farming and so on. We must encourage community economic development through strategies that build on partnerships with Government and we must provide outreach programmes to assist low-income and poor women, particularly in rural and remote areas. Last but not least, we must recognise and encourage the contribution of research by women scientists and technologists. [Applause.]

Mrs S V KALYAN: Madam Speaker, hon members, may I first take this opportunity to extend a warm welcome to all the delegates to the World Court of Women Against War for Peace. I hope that their deliberations these past few days have been fruitful and have energised them in their efforts to continue working in the field of human rights expression and education. I also want to welcome the delegates from Khayelitsha who are in the gallery. Their support is appreciated. [Applause.]

While many men may jest about the need to celebrate Women’s Day, it is this very essential focus that forces a society to acknowledge the vital role that women play in society and to evaluate whether due worth is accorded to that role. The Beijing Plus Five document implores us to evaluate what has been achieved and whether South Africa is moving forward in respect of the specific agendas tabled.

Our Parliament has in place a committee which monitors the status of women, and we have a good representation of women parliamentarians. But the sad reality is that the mechanisms in place at national level are not filtering down to all at grass-roots level. It would appear that the lot of women at this level is not a happy one.

One specific area in which the Government has failed South African women is in respect of sexual violence. South Africa has earned itself the title of the rape capital of the world, with one rape being committed approximately every 83 seconds. The percentage of successful prosecutions is as low as 16%. The establishment of the One-Stop Rape Crisis Centres, to which the hon the President alluded in his 2000 state of the nation address, has still to come to fruition. As if that is not enough, women who are raped are double damned if they are infected with HIV, because the Government will not provide AZT free of charge to rape survivors. Further, the law as it presently stands, places the burden on the survivor to get a court order to test the HIV status of the perpetrator.

While the South African Constitution enshrines reproductive rights and has one of the most progressive pieces of legislation in respect of termination of pregnancy and sterilisation, the reality is that gender inequality greatly affects the ability of women to participate equally in sexual relations, to have an equal say on the use or non-use of contraception. There is still inadequate pre- and postcounselling services for termination of pregnancy and many of the top sites are not fully functional and are, therefore, driving women to backstreet abortions. There is an urgent need to address the behaviour of health personnel and enforce the patients’ charter, to redress this situation.

HIV is on the increase, yet the Government is defensive on the HIV/Aids issue and has thus far shown a nebulous response to a growing pandemic. While there have been recent moves by the Department of Health to provide Nevirapine to reduce mother-to-child transmission, it is limited to a very few sites. Only the Democratic Alliance in the Western Cape does not discriminate in providing anti-retroviral medication.

Research has shown that investment in educating girls and women will benefit the economy. Two thirds of the world’s 875 million illiterates are women. The Platform of Action has eradication of illiteracy amongst women as one of its main objectives. Any school drop-out by girls has until recently been mainly as a result of pregnancy, because traditional attitudes still persist about excluding pregnant girls from school. Good support structures such as childcare facilities, programmes to help her cope with her new role of motherhood and acceptance of her by her peers as a learner will all help the girl child achieve literacy.

The Department of Education’s Nine Point Plan is gender blind. Now while this is a good thing if the playing fields are level, many South African educators are not yet transformed in relation to gender sensitivity. There is a need to integrate sex and gender-based harassment and violence against girls and women into the school programme.

Another reason for the high drop-out rate of girls from schools in recent months has been attributed to the fact that many girls are having to head households because their parents have died of Aids. The Department of Social Development must re-evaluate the role it can play in involving the community to accept and support these children and reduce their burden. Only then can we have firm action as a human right and achieve the goals of equality, development and peace. Now the picture looks bleak. However, we are well on our way to getting it right, provided that all the role-players come on board.

In conclusion, may I say that I am proud to be a woman. I belong to a special class of people who are referred to as multitaskers who use both left and right brain thinking to achieve our goals. It is a pity that the one male who represented the ANC misread the topic of the debate and wasted his time defending the Minister of Health. That is a clear sign of left- brain functioning. To today’s women out there who have made a difference to level the playing field, I say, well done, keep up the efforts and always believe in the power of women. [Applause.]

Ms N M TWALA: Madam Speaker, the debate today is going to be on women and poverty. The Beijing Platform of Action identified 12 critical areas of concern. One of the critical areas is women and poverty. In the past decade, the number of women living in poverty has increased disproportionately to the number of men, particularly in the developing countries. In addition to economic factors, the rigidity of socially ascribed gender roles and women’s limited access to power, education, training and production, including resources, are also responsible.

While poverty affects households as a whole because of the gender divisions of labour and responsibilities for household welfare, women bear a disproportionate burden attempting to manage household consumption and production under the conditions of increasing scarcity. But the Beijing Platform for Action states that we need to recognise the burden that women suffer because of poverty. It urges governments and international communities in all sectors to shape macroeconomic policies and development strategies to address the needs and efforts of women in poverty. We must revise laws and administrative practices to ensure women’s equal rights and access to economic resources. We must give women access to banking, savings and credit, and possible cures for the feminisation of poverty.

South Africa has for decades had one of the greatest income differentials in the world. While South Africa was rated as an upper middle income country, the vast majority of our people during apartheid lived in abject poverty. A minority enjoyed levels of wealth, energy, health care and education. These inequalities have led to the two-nation theory: one rich and one poor; one white and one black. South Africa has, however, committed itself to the Beijing Platform of Action and Beijing Plus Five. Therefore, the following achievements should be looked at.

The Constitution of South Africa enshrines the attainment of socioeconomic rights. Welfare and safety nets form an integral part of the Government’s strategy for responding to poverty and inequality. The primary focus of the Department of Social Development is poverty. Nevertheless, welfare provisions still bear the marks of the apartheid inequalities, with people in rural areas having limited or no access to welfare services from Government or NGOs. Welfare should ideally help people to escape from the poverty trap, while safety net programmes should ensure that people have adequate economic and social protection during times of unemployment, ill- health, maternity, childrearing, widowhood, disability, old age and others. Gear acknowledges that social security and services, including related social development programmes, are investments that contribute to social economic gains and growth. Looking at the Government’s strategies, the White Paper on Social Welfare has a notable feature in its shift to developmental social welfare, which emphasises helping people to help themselves and thereby become self-reliant, in contrast to a conception of welfare handouts.

Coming to social security, close to 90% of the welfare budget is allocated to social security in the form of old-age pensions, pensions for the disabled, maintenance grants and social relief. I now address new initiatives in developmental social welfare. The integrated national disability strategy seeks to ensure that disabled people are enabled to develop optimally, are not removed from their families and communities and that ways of meeting their needs are developed within their communities. The flagship programme is a three-year pilot one which aims to assist single women with young children escape poverty.

We are then going to look at the challenges. We believe that South Africa has yet to refine a mature management system for private-public partnerships, especially Government-NGO partnerships, particularly in relation to alleviating poverty. With regard to improvement in service delivery in the public sector, a Government report stated that despite legislative and institutional transformation, several shortcomings persist in the Public Service and that these hamper service delivery, especially among the poor, the majority of whom are women.

Additional training for some public servants will be recommended in order to improve service delivery. Whilst the Department of Social Development initiated this, the challenge is to look at the outcomes of these projects on a gender basis, ie look at the true reflection, to see whether only women’s basic needs are being taken into consideration as the Beijing Platform of Action states. But, does it include the denial of opportunities and choices? What is the role in key decision-making processes and in projects? What kind of activities are allocated to women, as opposed to men? [Applause.]

Prof H NGUBANE: Madam Speaker, hon colleagues, I must first thank the Deputy Minister of Education, the hon Mangena, for sacrificing his three speaking minutes to enable me to have enough time to pour out my most profound thoughts and feelings on this International Women’s Day.

I was lucky to be one of the seven-member parliamentary delegation that was part of the larger South African delegation, led by the Minister for the Public Service and Administration, the hon Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, that went to New York in June last year. I was grateful for the confidence shown in me by this Parliament.

To share my reflections on how far we have progressed in terms of the Beijing Platform of Action, I will pick out two issues raised at the New York Conference, which I believe serve as indicators. The first indicator refers to the findings of the International Parliamentary Union, the IPU, tabled at the conference, which were the result of an analysis of world parliamentary forums since Beijing 1995. These are the findings, and I quote:

Women’s participation in parliament and in the executive has undergone extremely little change since 1995, and has even decreased slightly in certain circumstances.

According to the survey, between September 1995 and August 1999 the overall number of women heads of state or government declined from 6,4% to 5,3%. The overall percentage of women in parliament showed only a slight increase from 11,3% in both Houses to 12,9%. The overall number of women as presiding officers of all Chambers of parliaments decreased slightly from 10,5% to 10,2%. A similar pattern is discernible for the number of women presiding officers of parliaments and women as committee chairpersons and deputy chairpersons.

By contrast, however, the survey reveals that parliamentary awareness of gender issues has increased substantially. A majority of respondent parliaments felt that more attention was paid to women’s needs when Bills and budgets were debated. The Beijing Platform of Action seems to have inspired a variety of legislative measures. A number of specialised parliamentary committees on gender equality or on the status of women have been established. The survey reveals a strong correlation between the proportion of women in parliament and the attention to gender issues.

It also reveals that half of the parliaments that focus more particularly on women’s needs in their legislative debates and decisions, have women as presiding officers, deputies or in their governing bodies. Having quoted the report tabled by the IPU, I must mention that it was a great honour for the SA delegation that, at the end of the report, the IPU pointed out that the South African Parliament was exemplary in that it has women presiding officers in both Houses. [Applause.]

Another exciting experience at this conference arose from participation in a special African forum. Again I am glad to have this speaking opportunity today in Parliament, because I hope possibly to clear up certain misunderstandings surrounding the delegation to New York. Before the New York conference there had been continent conferences, women parliamentarians from South Africa were invited specifically to attend a conference in Nairobi, which was to be held a few days before the all- encompassing and final continental conference in Addis Abeba.

As these followed closely on one another, parliamentarians who were chosen to go to Nairobi had to proceed to Addis Abeba as well. The hon Lulu Xingwana and I were delegated to do so. It soon became evident that African women parliamentarians were specifically concerned with defining women’s positions in the fast-changing cultural world, as well as the constitutions that were left behind by the colonial powers at independence in the 1960s. Thus the cultural changes and the political dispensations were seen as having left women out. Business pertaining to these issues could not be completed at the two conferences mentioned above. For continuity’s sake, the same delegation had to complete its business in New York as part of a larger conference. For this reason the hon Xingwana and I had to be in New York two days earlier to attend the African Women in Parliament workshop organised by the UNDP.

I think at this point I should mention some of our experiences at these conferences. The women were very eager to know how the constitution-making took place in this country and how this country managed to include women in that process. We also told them that we had documentation about this. They wanted to know the background. They asked us how we managed, in the first place, to become part of the negotiations.

Hon members will remember that some of us were part of the negotiations, but most women were not part of the negotiations. We reminded them that even though the liberation struggles were fought by both men and women, no one expected that when the time for negotiations came, the women who were part of the negotiations would be so few, and that this came as a surprise. In our presentation, we mentioned the names of women, such as the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, the Leader of the Women’s Brigade of the IFP, and all the people who had said something which was meant to reach the public to show South Africa that women needed to be involved.

It became very interesting, in terms of the structure of our delegation, because I was inside during the earlier part of the negotiations and the hon Xingwana was outside seeking to get women involved in the negotiations. Hon members will remember that, at the end, women’s coalitions and women’s bodies were calling for a ``one man, one woman’’ scenario in the delegation. They even went on to say that if a party could not find a suitable woman, the seat allocated to a woman should be left vacant.

All these things excited the women from the various countries in Africa. They even wanted us to repeat the story because they saw it as a success story. They also wanted to know how they could actually come to such a point, and we repeated the stories time and time again.

Then we became concerned that they might think that everything was all right in South Africa. So we told them that there was still a long way to go for women of South Africa, and that things were not yet all right. They did not want to hear that. They said things such as: ``No, you have come a long way. Do not stop now. We are looking up to South Africa; if South Africa fails, the whole continent will fail.’’

From that point of view, I think men in this House should appreciate that women are also doing their little bit in trying to raise the standard of concerns, which are concerns of democracy, and in trying to put across to the world that we try to work together even though we do not always succeed. This is the story of our experience.

Having said that, I want to say something about the African Forum. One of the outstanding papers at the workshop in New York was presented by the Tanzanian delegation, and it dealt with land reform in that country. There was general jubilation that Tanzanian women had, at long last, gained access to land which had been guaranteed by legislation. The whole ethos of the land laws carried the flavour of the type of rights to land which women, in most parts of Africa, had always had under African tradition.

Dr Achola Pala O Keyo, a Kenyan who works as a social anthropologist with UNDP in New York, pointed out that these new land laws are a resurrection of what is known as ``house property’’ in African tradition, where a married woman had personal property, including her house sites, cropping land and every other economic outcome emanating from her house over which her husband had no say, except with her permission. The statement by Dr Achola was met with puzzlement and astonishment as the younger generation did not have information on traditions.

What this example indicates is that it may take only one or two generations to deny them any meaningful and positive understanding of their culture and themselves. African women therefore have to deal with several levels of deprivation: firstly, that which exists in their traditional setting; secondly, that which arises from erroneous colonial interpretation of their culture; and, thirdly, that which has to do with rapid changes from agrarian economics to a monetary economy.

To deal with this situation as a society, especially as a society which has been traumatised by long years of denial of rights, we need to pause and ask questions, questions that are differently phrased. For instance, it is often suggested that outdated African customs such as lobolo should be abandoned because men tend to enrich themselves while women’s worth is diminished to the level of goods which can be bought and sold. If, perhaps, we ask: ``What is lobolo supposed to do for the women concerned, that is the bride, her mother and her mother-in-law?’’ we might find that we get completely different answers, all things being equal.

What is hidden and implicit is that lobolo, if it is properly operational in its setting, in fact empowers the women economically. Those who know a bit about this will know that there is inkomo yamasi', the milk cow, which a bride gets from some of the cattle which are given as lobolo. There is another cow which is given to her mother and the rest of the cows are kept by her family as amabheka’. Amabheka means an economic hedge against any economic disaster that the new bride might experience. [Time expired.]

Mev M E OLCKERS: Mev die Speaker, op hierdie Internasionale Vrouedag het almal van ons weer eens die geleentheid om te fokus op die lewe en tye van vroue en dogters. Die Beijing Plus Vyf Konferensie is gedurende Junie 2000 gehou, maar dit is baie jammer dat daar ‘n totale gebrek was aan enige, of in elk geval enige noemenswaardige, terugvoering. Selfs dames in baie senior poste in die Parlement, en in die Staatsdiens, het geen terugvoering gekry nie. Ek praat hier van persone wat ten nouste met beleid te make het.

Dit sluit aan by die kwessie wat gereeld op provinsiale vlakke en binne departemente geopper word, naamlik die vraag na die mate waartoe die nasionale Regering se ondertekening en verbintenis tot die Beijing deklarasie ook bindend is op provinsiale administrasies. Tot watter mate stel die Regering ondersoek in, en monitor die praktiese implementering van die Beijing deklarasie en ander konvensies wat onderteken is?

Van die belangrikste internasionale deurbrake wat op die konferensie bespreek is, is die aanvaarding van die Rome Statute'' van die International Criminal Court’’, ingevolge waarvan verkragting, seksuele slawerny, gedwonge sterilisasie en ander vorme van seksuele geweld nou as oorlogsmisdade en sogenaamde crimes against humanity'' aangepak word wanneer dit binne die konteks van gewapende konflik plaasvind. Ander belangrike kwessies wat bespreek is, sluit die sogenaamdefeminisation of poverty’’ asook die gaping tussen die de jure en de facto gelykheid in.

Die kernvraag is dus wat ons Regering en ander regerings doen om die praktiese inwerkingstelling van al die ondertekende protokols na te kom en te monitor. Het ons al ‘n ``gender equity index’’? Nie waarvan ek weet nie. (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[Mrs M E OLCKERS: Madam Speaker, on this International Women’s Day all of us once again have the opportunity to focus on the life and times of women and girls. The Beijing Plus Five Conference was held in June 2000, but it is very unfortunate that there was a total lack of any feedback, or, in any event, of any significant feedback. Even women in very senior posts in Parliament and in the Public Service did not receive any feedback. I am talking about people who are closely involved with policy. This links up with the issue that is often raised at provincial level and within departments, namely the question of the extent to which the national Government’s signing of and commitment to the Beijing declaration are also binding on provincial administrations. To what extent is the Government investigating and monitoring the practical implementation of the Beijing declaration and other conventions which have been signed?

One of the most important international breakthroughs discussed at the conference was the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, according to which rape, sexual slavery, compulsory sterilisation and other forms of sexual violence are now treated as war crimes and so-called crimes against humanity when they take place within the context of armed conflict. Other important issues that were discussed include the so-called feminisation of poverty, as well as the gap between de jure and de facto equality.

The central question is therefore what our Government and other governments are doing to adhere to and monitor the practical implementation of all the protocols that have been signed. Do we have a gender equity index at present? Not that I know of.]

And then, if we speak about the feminisation of poverty, let us think today of women, mostly black and poor, who have recently suffered so much in Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The floods in Mozambique were an act of God and we must accept them as such. But that does not imply that we cannot sympathise with those women, help them where we can and suffer the pain with them. That stands in stark contrast to the man-inspired behaviour of the so- called war veterans in Zimbabwe. The rural farmworkers; wives and children are innocent victims, once again, in the name of politics. They are, in fact, the war heroes of the past and now it seems of the future also. I want to draw members’ attention to a paper by Thoko Matatshe, director of Zimbabwe’s Women Resource Network in Harare. I quote:

Violence against women has increased enormously and the political violence and violence on farms has worsened the situation for women. For the Zimbabwean women, +5 is, indeed, Beijing -5. Yes, we had a long way to go from Harare to Beijing, but it seems we did not come a long way from Beijing to Harare. For the ordinary woman in the streets of Harare …

[Interjections.]

I am quoting someone else. [Interjections.]

For the ordinary woman in the streets of Harare, even Beijing +5 was a nonevent that slipped by quietly as she grappled with rape, violence and invasions of her persona and nation. The backlash, the lack of commitment from the government, the failure of NGOs to literally bring Beijing home in a language that the woman in the street and in the rural areas understands has minimised the gains and impact of Beijing for women.

Yes, the Beijing conference was an important achievement for the women’s movement globally. Unfortunately, implementation is a localised process that falls to the whims of governments. At the same time, the women’s movement seems to have lost the energy and momentum it had gathered in Beijing.

If that is how the women of Zimbabwe feel about their government, surely we, as a South African Government that tries to honour our Constitution and human rights, would be failing the calls of our sisters if we support a government like that and, indeed, many other governments that are not even slightly sensitive to the plight of women.

Government should call for zero tolerance as regards violence against women, because there is an increasing recognition that all levels of violence against women seriously affect their health. If the root is sick and dies, the whole plant dies. If all the plants die, the land becomes barren and dead. Let us hope and trust, but also see to it, that our Government does not fail its women - the roots of this country. [Applause.]

Miss S RAJBALLY: Madam Speaker, Amandla! [Power!]

HON MEMBERS: Ngawethu! [It is ours!]

Miss S RAJBALLY: Malibongwe! [Praise!]

HON MEMBERS: Igama lamakhosikazi! [The name of women!]

Miss S RAJBALLY: The MF applauds women throughout the world who have chosen to break the silence against abuse, oppression and discrimination. We have succeeded in proactively recognising the pertinent role women play in sustaining a balance in economic, social and political systems. The Beijing Plus Five Global Platform is an authentic watchdog to monitor and evaluate the progress the international community has made in accomplishing and promoting gender equality.

In this regard South Africa’s major achievements are: the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, the Domestic Violence Act and the Commission on Gender Equality. Despite the fact that we are living in a patriarchal society, women are making gradual progress by empowering themselves with political, social, economic and education opportunities. However, the MF wants to emphasise that this unfortunately is not enough, because orthodox cultural and traditional norms, which most often are in conflict with our contemporary society, play an important role in determining to what extent women should develop themselves.

The Beijing Plus Five direct crucial international attention on issues that hurt all women the most. These are issues such as: violence against women, poverty, economic and educational inequality, women in the decision-making process, women’s health, women and the media and the empowerment of girls. Together with many other relevant gender equality issues, these issues must be strategically addressed.

Mobilising and implementing positive strategic action plans on the above important issues, facilitates the bedrock for promoting gender equality. To successfully implement the Beijing Plus Five Platform of Action, we require intensive commitment from men in particular, because real men do not rape, do not assault women, are not intimidated by empowered women and do not sexually harass women.

The Beijing Platform for Action is one of the most comprehensive articulations of governments’ commitments to the human rights of women and girls. It is based on the growing understanding in the 1990s that women’s rights are human rights. If anything, the MF recognises these rights, therefore the MF’s MP holding the seat in Parliament is none other than a woman. [Applause.]

Dr J BENJAMIN: Madam Speaker, hon members, education is a human right and an essential tool for achieving the goals of equality, development and peace.

Nondiscriminatory education benefits both girls and boys, and thus ultimately contributes to more equal relationships between women and men.

This is a quotation from the Beijing Platform of Action, paragraph 69. Since today is International Women’s Day, it is apt to reflect on the state of education of girls in the world, and not only in South Africa.

In much of the world, recognising education as a human right of girls is often denied, or even curtailed. Therefore, the Beijing Platform of Action urges Government and private organisations to ensure equal access, eradicate illiteracy, particularly for women, improve women’s access to vocational training, science and technology and continue education and develop nondiscriminatory education and training, allocate enough resources for and monitor the implementation of educational reforms, promote lifelong education and training for girls and women.

In the world, despite progress in this area, girls still face discrimination due to ingrained cultural attitudes, early marriages, pregnancies, lack of accessible schools and inadequate and gender-based educational materials. Girls continue to be denied equality education in science and technology. In our own country we have, from the start, set out to address these problems by stating, in the Constitution, everyone’s right to basic education.

In the first five years, the gender equity task team was established to advise the Department of Education on the establishment of a permanent gender unit, and to advise on all aspects of gender equity. The report covered early childhood development, schooling, further education and training, adult basic education and training, gender and disability, gender and educational management, and sex-based violence in schools.

Early childhood development is important for women and children, because it frees women for employment and provides employment opportunities. The Gender Equity Task Team report pointed out that early childhood resources allocated were seriously disproportionate to other sectors of education. The report recommended increased budgetary allocation and legislation in line with our commitment to adult basic education and training, and gender equality.

Legislation should set out the responsibility of all Government organisations and managers in educational sites in terms of legal accountability to prevent all forms of discrimination and harassment and to take positive steps to redress the effects of discrimination. Gendered and sex-based violence in educational settings should be defined and made unlawful.

The National Education Policy Act, Act 27 of 1996, calls for a curriculum in which all learners will be able to choose subjects which they could study. However, school and culturally based practices present barriers to an increase in the number of girls in courses like science, mathematics, engineering, woodwork and technical drawing. In 1998, the Year of Science and Technology focused on the achievements of women in science and technology and launched an advocacy campaign to encourage the participation of women.

The national education policy allows for full participation of girls and women in sporting activities. Unfortunately, cultural and social stereotyping, inadequate and unsafe sporting facilities still tend to hamper and discourage participation. The Department of Sport and Recreation has a range of programmes and projects aimed at accelerating equality between men and women in sport and targets girls.

With regard to violence in schools, the Commission on Gender Equality has reported that although statistics are absent, it is generally acknowledged that the incidence of rape, sexual harassment and violence in schools is widespread. Rape is often reported. However, sexual harassment and violence are generally ignored. Perpetrators are often not exclusively fellow students, but are often teachers and even outsiders who, for instance, may stalk or harass rural school girls during their long walks to and from schools and often entice them for sex in exchange for money or food. In this context, the belief that the girls are responsible for what happens to them is still widespread within out communities.

Despite enormous efforts on the part of our Government, through policies and legislation to address these issues, the following factors continue to contribute to high dropout rates for girls. Unplanned pregnancies and domestic responsibilities which lead to absenteeism; and girls, more often than boys, are likely to be victims of sexual harassment, rape and other forms of violence which result in trauma and lead to a drop in school attendance. Despite the innovative advances, gender stereotypes continue to pose a challenge for curriculum development. At universities, women continue to be underrepresented in science and engineering.

The Beijing Plus Five Platform of Action specified areas for parliaments to focus on. This Parliament has established the structures, policies and legislation in the spirit in which our Constitution and the Beijing Plus Five Platform of Action had intended. What emerges from the aforementioned is that cultural beliefs and lack of resources continue to act as barriers and also perpetuate discrimination in education.

I want to focus on the area of public campaigns and advocacy. It is at this level where we need to strengthen our efforts to teach women and girls about their rights to challenge retrogressive cultural beliefs and traditions, for it is often at this level where the difficulties lie in implementing the law. [Applause.] Mr C AUCAMP: Madam Speaker, listening to the speaker that usually precedes me, Miss Rajbally, we can clearly boast to the rest of the world that the voices of women in this Parliament are to be heard loudly and clearly. [Laughter.] We can put that in our next report.

Everyone in this House must be committed to the mission of promoting the status and the rights of women. Therefore, it is strange to me that there was a minor uproar in the ANC benches when the DA proposed a motion in this regard earlier today.

Die AEB steun Suid-Afrika se verbintenis tot die Beijing Platform vir Aksie. Ons steun wetgewing, aksies en begrotingsmeganismes wat daarop gemik is om die posisie van die vrou te verbeter.

Een saak wat nie in die verslag vermeld is nie, maar wat die posisie van die vrou wel verbeter, is die feit dat in die wetgewing insake gelykberegtiging, alle vorme van diskriminasie op grond van geslag, ras en gestremdheid uitgesonder word.

Wanneer ‘n mens na ons verslag kyk, dan slaag ons formeel die toets deur middel van ons wette, aksies en beplanning. Wanneer ‘n mens egter na die werklikheid kyk, dan lyk dinge soms anders.

Wie ly die meeste onder misdaad? Dit is ons vroue en kinders. Wie ly onder verkragting? Dit is vroue. Wie ly die meeste onder armoede en werkloosheid? Dit is vroue en kinders. Ons moet hierdie kwessies aanspreek en die posisie van die vrou sal vanself verbeter.

Een saak waaroor ek bekommerd is, is dat daar nêrens in die Beijing-verslag iets staan oor die plek en die waarde van die gesin, en oor morele en sedelike waardes nie. Wat die gesin betref, erken ek dat vroue gelyke geleenthede moet hê. Hulle moet gelyke geleenthede tot werk hê. Daar moet geen diskriminasie wees nie.

Maar, dit bly nog ‘n kind se reg en voorreg om waar enigsins moontlik, aan moedersknie opgevoed te word. Daarom praat ons van die moedertaal'', en nie van dievadertaal’’ nie. Parellel tot alle aksies tot bemagtiging, moet die deug van die moeder by die huis beklemtoon word. Sekswinkels en pornografie, daardie skaamtelose uitbuiting van die vroueliggaam, wat haar verlaag tot ‘n handelskommoditeit, tas die waarde van die vrou in wese aan. Ek daag vroue in hierdie Parlement uit om ‘n slag daarteen te betoog en dit te verwerp in ‘n luide optog.

Wie ly die meeste onder sedelike verval? Dit is die vrou wat met die baba sit, of uit wanhoop gedryf word tot moord op haar ongebore kind.

Ten slotte, daar word gesê die Bybel is ‘n chauvinistiese boek wat geskryf is deur mans vir mans. Tog wil ek die aandag daarop vestig dat daar nêrens ‘n boek is wat die waarde en die plek van die vrou so mooi teken as juis die Bybel nie. Haar prag en sieraad as eggenoot wat bemin word deur haar man; haar adel as moeder wat haar kinders na die Here lei; haar waarde as vrou wat met die vernaamstes meespreek en wat uitgaan en handel dryf. In Spreuke 31 word haar waarde as ver bo korale geplaas.

Dit is die ware Calvinisme wat so dikwels gediskrediteer word. Dis die basis van hoe my mense die vrou beskou. Waar dit nie gebeur nie, tree hulle op teen die kodes van die gemeenskap waarvan ek deel is. [Applous.] (Translation of Afrikaans paragraphs follows.)

[The AEB supports South Africa’s commitment to the Beijing Platform of Action. We support legislation, actions and budgetary mechanisms that are aimed at improving the position of women.

One matter that was not mentioned in the report, but which would in fact improve the position of women, is the fact that the Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act eliminates all forms of discrimination on the basis of race, gender and disability.

When one looks at our report, we formally pass the test by means of our laws, actions and planning. When one looks at reality, however, things sometimes look different.

Who suffers most because of crime? It is our women and children. Who suffers most because of rape? It is the women. Who suffers most because of poverty and unemployment? It is women and children. We must address these issues and the position of women will improve automatically. One matter about which I am concerned is that no mention is made anywhere in the Beijing report about the place and value of the family, or about moral and ethical values. As regards the family, I admit that women should have equal opportunities. They should have equal access to work. There should be no discrimination.

However, it nevertheless remains a child’s right and privilege, where possible, to be educated at his mother’s knee. That is why we talk about the mother tongue'', and not thefather tongue’’. Parallel with all actions to empower, the virtue of the mother’s being at home should be emphasised.

Sex shops and pornography, that disgraceful exploitation of the female body, which has reduced her to a trade commodity, in essence affects the value of the woman. I challenge women in this Parliament to demonstrate against this for a change, to reject it in a noisy march. Who suffers most because of moral decadence? It is the woman who is stuck with the baby, or who is driven by desperation to murder her unborn child.

In conclusion, it is said that the Bible is a chauvinist book written by men for men. I nevertheless want to point out that nowhere else is there a book that sketches the value and place of the woman as well as the Bible in fact does. Her beauty and adornment as a spouse who is loved by her husband; her nobility as a mother who leads her children to the Lord; her value as a woman who speaks with the most important and who goes out to trade. In Proverbs 31 her value is placed far above rubies.

This is the real Calvinism that is so often discredited. This is the basis of how my people regard a woman. Where this does not happen, they are acting contrary to the codes of the community of which I am a part. [Applause.]]

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Before I call on the next speaker, I would like to recognise a delegation of women parliamentarians from the Parliament of Malawi. You are welcome, hon members of the delegation. [Applause.]

Ms S B NQODI: Madam Speaker, as mandated by the Portfolio Committee on the Improvement of the Quality of Life and Status of Women, my debate will be confined to violence against women. Indeed, as alluded to by positive and progressive speakers before me, the South African Government is applauded globally for a series of concrete measures it has taken in a short space of time in the elimination of violence against women and in the improvement of the livelihood of women from all walks of life, irrespective of colour or social, economic and political background. For this, personally I am proud to be associated with such a Government.

Let me provide a short synopsis of what this Government has done by way of addressing the problems stated above. I am sure I am speaking on behalf of all MPs when I say: Firstly, we are aware of the awareness campaigns promoted by Government in its endeavours to educate women about their rights, and its efforts to sensitise communities about the impact of violence on society as a whole and the impact on women themselves. We are also aware of the Government’s ongoing process of monitoring implementation of policies and laws that aim at improving the quality of life and advancing the status of women.

Amongst other Government-driven initiatives, we also appreciate the fact that sexual offences guidelines have so far been distributed to provinces for implementation and that the Government is also involved in training of health providers in victim empowerment and trauma centres, especially in rural areas. This process is still going on to reach the rural areas. It also pleased us to learn that the transmission of HIV/Aids through rape is considered violence against women, according to a decision taken by the world court to classify rape as a crime.

Over and above this, we welcome the increase in the number of maintenance claims at some of our magistrates’ offices throughout the country, and the decrease in rape-reported cases from 49 380 to 23 900 between 1998 and June

1. This indeed is an indication that Government’s awareness campaign programmes are a great success. Therefore, as members of this House, we can say with confidence that Beijing Plus Five is indeed a +5 when it comes to bettering the lives of women in South Africa.

Our major concern as the committee is, however, the fact that despite all these wonderful efforts which measure the delivery of our commitment to international instruments promoting gender equality and the elimination of violence against women, South Africa today still has one of the highest incidences of rape, abuse and violence against women. Locally and globally this is unacceptable and it necessitates urgent consideration and intervention by all of us and society as a whole. We should not only negatively criticise all the time.

I say this, because most of the time, we as Members of Parliament are confronted by questions such as: Why, in spite of all the political will and commitment that we have shown so far in particular through the enactment of the Domestic Violence Act, do we still see a continual statistical rise in violence against women? What needs to be done, that has not been done so far, to mitigate this violence that is targeted at women and girl-children?

How should we do it? What determines sexual behaviour and what can be done to stop the actions of a would-be perpetrator before he commits a crime? How far do we need to go in order to persuade the police and the justice system to enforce the rule of law and to implement our policies, given the attitudinal problems and resistance to change by some of the law- enforcement officials and some of the judges presiding in our courts of law? Lastly, what are the most effective interventions that, as a country, we can engage in in our efforts to mitigate or eradicate violence against women, given the budgetary constraints that we still have to live with even five years down the line in our new democracy?

From these questions it is clear that the solutions to the problems of gender-based violence need intersectoral, intergovernmental, interregional, intercultural and interreligious approaches, which should include private and public sector co-operation. Without these approaches, we are facing a lifelong problem that will dominate future livelihoods and that will perpetually promote enslavement of women and girl-children and the violation of their rights.

As we commemorate International Women’s Day, we once more wish to draw the attention of this Government, and the world at large, to the fact that violence against women has reached epidemic proportions. Every day and every minute women worldwide are battered, raped and murdered by their husbands, partners and strangers. Girl-children are sexually abused and killed on a daily basis by strangers, fathers, brothers and relatives. They are victims of cultural, ethnic and racial violence, and of displacement, war and globalisation.

What needs to be acknowledged is that this gender-based violence is not only a threat to women’s health and a violation of their human rights, but is also a barrier to development, because it impacts on women’s self- determination and their control over their lives and bodies, and it also limits their full participation in society. Development and democracy are only possible when women out there have full access to and control of their economic, sociocultural and political opportunities in society.

Although reliable national statistics are not readily available, both domestic violence and sexual assault are pervasive in South Africa. Both are directed, almost exclusively, against women and girl-children, often in places where they should be safe, and by men that they know. [Time expired.] [Applause.]

Mrs M L NGWENYA: Madam Speaker, allow me to say it is a great honour to speak in this debate. We have three women presiding officers in this Parliament, and it is fitting that we should share our concerns, which affect women throughout the world today. The ANC has brought a large number of women into this Government and from our position here we have contributed to the legislation that is transforming our country. We have shaped the laws that are bringing a better life to our people. What is left to us is to ensure that they are implemented.

The studies of poverty by the World Bank and others gave us a definition of poverty in terms of income, jobs and living conditions. The definition is incomplete, they should have added: ``Poverty weighs more heavily on women than on men’’. Even as we find that poverty is a complex thing, our successes or failures in programmes to combat this evil rests on the ability to mobilise women to be involved in uprooting it. We have information from studies of poverty that 53% of rural households are surviving on inadequate incomes. Other studies put the figures at much higher, but it is always worse for households headed by women. Sixty-three out of every 100 rural women are unable to make end meets.

Despite poverty in the rural areas, it is an evil that we understand and this ANC-led Government has already started to uproot it. Speaking at the opening of Parliament, President Mbeki highlighted the progress we have seen in getting various levels of Government and departments working together. The integrated rural development strategy and the urban renewal programmes have the central aim of a sustained campaign against rural and urban poverty and underdevelopment bringing in the resources of all three spheres of government in a co-ordinated manner.

We listened attentively when he listed the 10 nodal points throughout the country which will lead the focus of integrated programmes from the second half of this year. These nodal points are ready to move to a higher phase of development. The strategic approach that Government has taken has resulted in the President’s Office already getting a very accurate picture of precisely what services are required by people for development to occur and women are the focus of programmes on poverty reduction. To take this into account all these people who are sent to work at the nodal points will receive training to recognise the particular needs of women. Through the needs analysis we will understand the start of poverty and we can swiftly root it out.

One of the main things that contributes to poverty is when women have no rights to land, to inheritance and to take charge of their own homes. They deserve to be treated as equals and with dignity by their spouses. Instead they are treated as dependants, yet they are the strongest pillars in maintaining the homes.

Ngithi ake basiphathe kahle obaba. Siyabacela ngoba manje sekuyisikhathi sokuthi basibheke njengabantu, hhayi njengebantu okufanele benze imisebenzi yokuhlanzeka nokulungisa nje kuphela. Siyabacela. Siyabacela. (Translation of Zulu paragraph follows.)

[I am saying that we appeal to our husbands to treat us with dignity. We ask them because now is the time for them to treat us like human beings, not just like people whose duties are to clean and prepare things. We ask them! We ask them!]

One of the main things that contributes to poverty is something that all women have. Government programmes of poverty alleviation have been developed! An example is the Working for Water programme, which is an outstanding model on which the others should be based. It combines social and economic goals, and spreads benefits throughout a community. The vast minority of people that are trained are women. I believe the rural women of this country will respond to the call by our President to continue in participating in the struggle for genuine development.

Ms L M T XINGWANA: Madam Speaker, today marks the first International Women’s Day in the African century. In my view, this should be declared the African women’s century, because without women there would, indeed, be no Africa, and without women there would be no world.

On this day we celebrate the struggles and victories of women all over the world. In particular, we remember women workers who initiated this day when they demanded bread and roses, and rejected starvation wages and inhumane working conditions on the factory floor. I also want to congratulate the World Court of Women against War for Peace on bringing their conference to one of our townships, Khayelitsha. This is the first time a world conference has been taken to the people. It is only women who can do this. [Applause.] We thank all women from all walks of life who supported the world court. We particularly thank our veterans who shared their stories of pain under the brutal system of apartheid and racism. The world court has afforded South African women an opportunity to tell their own experiences. However, we believe that we have just scratched the surface. We still need a truth and reconciliation commission to afford her the opportunity to tell her story. [Applause.]

We still need a South African court that will give us the opportunity to talk about our pain.

Ke siza kucela noomama bethu abamhlophe beze kuchaza ukuba babebacinezela njani na oomama bethu phaya emakhitshini nasezifama. [Uwele-wele.]

Namhlanje sisebenzile eMzantsi Afrika. Sirnabulisile, senze umsebenzi wesakhono kule Palamente. Namhlanje nooSheila Camerer baxhobile. Bayazi ukuba kukho into ekuthiwa yiGender Policy'. Bayazi ukuba kukho inkomfa ebizwa ngelokuba yiUN Beijing Conference’. Sabanyula bazii … (Translation of Xhosa paragraphs follows.)

[We are going to ask white women to come and explain how they oppressed our black mothers when they worked as their domestic workers and on the farms. [Interjections.] Today we can proudly say we have worked for South Africa. We have raised political awareness; we have done commendable work in this Parliament. Today even the likes of Sheila Camerer are empowered. They know about something called the Gender Policy. They know about something like the UN Beijing Conference. We rescued them from being …]

… pariahs of the world. They could not move out of this country. Nobody wanted to touch them. Nobody wanted to touch South Africa.

Mandiphinde kwakhona ndirnabulise ndithi umgaqo-nkqubo wesini waseMzantsi Afrika sele ukhona, yaye asilo iphepha lokugaya izimvo (Green Paper), ngumgaqo-nkqubo.

Xa uBenise ethetha ngomhlaba abantu bakowethu abangekabinawo ndicela ukumkhumbuza ukuba angaqali uchuku. Sicenga abantu phaya phandle, kunzima. Abantu bafuna ilizwe labo. Makathethe nooMrs' nooBaas’ bakhe, bazise ilizwe lethu. [Kwaqhwatywa.]

Ohloniphekileyo uSheila usixelela ngokuba uRhulumente ufuna ukutyhalwa akenzi zizalisekiso. Wazalisekisa ntoni yena ngokuya wayenguSekela- Mphathiswa wezoBulungisa? Ngexesha uqabane uManto Tshabalala-Msimang ebenguSekela-Mpathiswa wezoBulungisa babethetha gqitha besithi `wazi ntoni ngomthetho engugqirna nje?’ Namhlanje inkuknu isikw’ umlomo. Ohloniphekileyo uManto wasikhulula thina. Sinemithetho mithathu, siyayibala. YiDomestic Violence Act 116, 1998, Maintainance Act 99, 1998; iCustomary Marriages Act ka 1998 ivele ngaye esihla enyuka nathi bafazi, esibuza ukuba sifuna ntoni na, simchazela, ngoba uyayazi ukuba usebenza phakathi kwabafazi.

Ndifuna ukuphinda ndithi namhlanje uyiphethe ingxaki enkulu egqibe umhlaba wonke, iHiv/Aids. Sifunda emaphepheni namhlanje ukuba isantya sosuleleko phakathi kolutsha lwethu sihlile. Namhlanje abantwana phaya eziDyunivesiti abatsho okokuba abayifuni ikhondom, babuza besithi: Yomelele ngokwenene na. Le iyasebenza na? Bafuna ikwaliti yekhondom, nto leyo ethetha ukuba nkqubo zokufundisa zikaRhulumente wethu ziyasebenza.

Ndiyavumelana no mama uMbuyazi xa esithi uRhulumente wethu usebenzile. Imigaqo-nkqubo ekhoyo nale mithetho sithetha ngayo yeye-ANC. Sikule ndawo sikuyo nje namhlanje kungenxa ye-ANC.

Ndivumelana naye ngelithi nkqubo zeBeijing masizise ezantsi ebantwini, zingapheleli ekubeni yimicimbi yesizwe kuphela, zingapheleli apha ePalamente. Masizise koomama phaya emaphandleni. Masizise kumaphondo nakumasebe ethu.

Ndiphinde ndivumelane notata obethetha ngoYizo Yizo ngelithi thina boomama bomthandazo, thina boomama besililo sithi: Le nto imdaka kangaka ing. uYizo Yizo ibuyela ntoni na? Ingcolisa abantwana bethu.

Sithi Iqumhu loSasazo loMzantsi Afrika malime ngoku ngenxa yokuba kusuke kuthi ubani esahleli nabantwana besitya isidlo sangokuhlwa, kungekabikho sebusuku, sibone ngabantu sebekhulula, sebedlala imidlalo yabantu abadala, angazi ubani nokuba amcime umabonakakude okanye agxothe abantwana kusini na. Yingxaki esinayo ke leyo. Siyacela ke ukuba iqumrhu loSasazo loMzantsi Afrika malibuye kwelo nyathelo.

Ubundlobongela buboniswa kakhulu. Imiboniso bhanya-bhanya yobundlobongela mininzi ngokukodwa kwiQumrhu loSasazo loMzantsi Afrika. Siyacela okokuba noko ziphungulwe.

Sicela iinkqubo ezakhayo, eze … (Translation of Xhosa paragraphs follows.) [Again let me share this with you and say that the gender policy of South Africa exists, and it is not a Green Paper, it is a policy document.

I would like to tell Bernice that talking about our people’s land is a very sensitive issue. We are pleading with people out there, and it is difficult. People want their land. She should tell her Madam'' and Baas’’ to give us back our land. [Applause.]

The hon Sheila is telling us that the Government needs to be pressurised, as it is not delivering. What did she implement when she was the Deputy Minister of Justice?

When Comrade Manto Tshabalala-Msimang was the Deputy Minister of Justice they asked: ``What does a doctor know about justice?’ Today they have nothing to say. Then hon Manto saved us. We can now count three Acts. They are the Domestic Violence Act, No 116 of 1998, the Maintenance Act, No 99 of 1998 and the Customary Marriages Act of 1998. In the process of producing these Acts she was working amongst us women, wanting to know what we wanted and we would say it, for she knew that she was working with other women.

Again I want to say that the problem of HIV/Aids that is ravaging and destroying the entire world is on her shoulders. We read in the newspapers that the number of youth being infected has dropped. Today students at universities no longer say that they want to use the condom, but they ask whether it is really strong. Does it really work? They want to know about the quality of the condom. That means that the educational programmes that our Government established are working.

I concur with Mrs Mbuyazi when she says that our Government has worked. The policies and the Acts about which we are talking were all initiated by the ANC. We are where we are today because of the ANC.

I agree with her when she says that we should introduce the Beijing programmes to the people on the ground, and that they should not just be national issues and end up here in Parliament. Let us take them to our provinces and to our constituencies, our branches.

I want to agree with the hon member who talked about Yizo Yizo and say that we women of prayer are asking: Why has this disgusting show Yizo Yizo come back? It spoils the minds of our children. We say that the SABC should stop now because most often one would be sitting with children having supper, and it would not be that late in the evening, when we would see people taking off their clothes, participating in adult scenes. At that time one would not know whether to switch the TV set off or ask the children to leave the room. That is the problem that we have. We would like to ask the SABC to refrain from showing such programmes.

There are too many violent scenes shown. There are too many action movies shown by the SABC. We would like to ask that their number be reduced.

We would like to ask for constructive programmes about …]

… nation-building, which will bring back the true values …

… zabantu bethu, zabantu base Afrika.

Ndilusizi kuba uNokuzola ubalekile. Okokuqala, ndicela lo uhloniphekileyo enze laa ngxolo inkulu ebeyenza apha phaya kuGeneral kwa-UDM. Masibone oomama begcwele phaya kwa-UDM, engahambi yedwa engumama wakwa-UDM. Mabangene bagcwale. Okwesibini, andazi ukuba uthetha ngantoni na xa esithi masilingane. Andinakho ukulingana mna noRita Ndzanga, andinakho ukulingana nomama uLydia, andinakho ukulingana nomama uIvy Gcina. Ngamagqala lawo, ngoomama bam. Ndandiba uyawazi amasiko nezithethe zakowethu. IUDM isekwe izolo oku, iza kuthini ukulingana ne-ANC?

Xa ndiza kuhlala phantsi, ndifuna ukukhumbula oomama abanxiba le bhatyi okokuba benza umngcelele besiya kwi-Union Buildings besiya kulahla amapasi. Ndikhumbula uLilian Ngoyi, uHelen Joseph, uDorothy Zihlangu, uDorothy Nyembe nabanye abaninzi abalwayo banikezela ngeempilo zabo nangobomi babo ukuze namhlanje thina sisonke, ngakumbi thina boomama sibe silapha kule Palamente, sisilwela amalungelo ethu.

Kwakhona xa ndiza kuhlala phantsi ndikhumbula oomama abaphila kumazwe ekusekho kuwo ungxunguphalo oomama baseCongo, eAngola, eBurundi, eSierra Leone, ePalestina nase Kosovo. Sicela uRhulumente wethu aqhube, abaxhase ekusebenzeleni uxolo emazweni abo, sisithi oomama mababekhona xa kuxoxwa ngolu xolo, xa kusakhiwa olu xolo ngoba nabo bayachaphazeleka. [Kwaqhwatywa] (Translation of Xhosa paragraphs follows.)

[… about our people, about the African people.

I am sorry that Nokuzola has run away. Firstly, I would like to ask the hon member to make the big noise that she was making here to the UDM. We would like to see quite a number of women in the UDM and not only she. They must come and take up positions. Secondly, I do not know what she means when she says that we should be equal. I could never be equal to Rita Ndzanga; I could never be equal to Lydia; and I could never be equal to Mother Ivy Gcina. Those are veterans, they are my mothers. I thought that she knew about our norms and values. The UDM was formed only yesterday, how could it be equal to the ANC?

Before I sit down, I would like to pay tribute to the women who used to wear this top, the women who marched to the Union Buildings to destroy their passes. I would like to pay tribute to Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Dorothy Zihlangu, Dorothy Nyembe and many others who gave up their lives and struggled so that all of us today, especially us women, could be in this Parliament, fighting for our rights.

Before I sit down, I would once again like to pay tribute to women who live in countries where there is tension, like Congo, Angola, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Palestine and Kosovo. I would like to ask that our Government continues to support them in their endeavours to bring peace in their countries, saying that women should participate in the discussions about peace because they are involved. [Applause.]]

The MINISTER FOR THE PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION: Madam Speaker, members of this House, women of South Africa and of the world, 8 March 2001 is, indeed, a day we celebrate, reflecting not only our triumphs but also our challenges.

There are still too many tears flowing, not only those of the women of the world, but I believe those of the progressive people as well. But we are today not going to adopt a victim syndrome. Progressive women in South Africa, like those in the South, progressive men and women internationally, have always been survivors and a part of the movement for change and the eradication or rolling back of oppression and any forms of inequity.

We reflected it in our courage in this country when we took bold steps and put in place policies that would ensure that that change can take place. And when we took those bold steps we did not, like the developed world, say: Let us do it incrementally in order to ensure that the machinery is fully in place to roll out the change. We said that women of South Africa, the progressive people of South Africa, should rally.

Today we have in this House - hon Lulu Xingwana mentioned a few of the women, but I want to isolate only one woman, because there are many here today - MamZangwa, as part of South African women who form part of the first democracy in this country. [Applause.] There are some women in this House who earlier today asked: ``What have we achieved: little or nothing?’’

Travel the journey with MamZangwa. In 1969 MamZangwa was imprisoned with her husband. She served various banning orders. She had four young children. For her the pain of separation, where there were children without parents, is not something she read about, it is something she lived. In October 1976 MamZangwa lost her husband while she was in prison. He died at the hands of the security police. They never allowed her to go to the funeral. Her children were alone while she was in prison from October into the next year.

Where were those who shout and say nothing has happened? MamZangwa is part of the democratic forces of women who are marching on a journey today, saying: We are not here as helpless victims. We are going to make a difference. We are the voices of women who must ensure that implementation takes place. We are the women who say we are still challenged … [Applause] … and we are part of the progressive movement that says we still have a long way to go.

We have just started out on the march. We are but at the beginning. The road ahead is long, and that road does not merely need voices and spectators. That road needs each and every one of us in this House to participate in the process of ensuring that implementation of Government policy at local level is happening.

If we are to ensure that the women of South Africa feel the difference, let us be part of the machinery that makes the difference. Let us not stand and shout about it. Let us not say, as some have, that we represent the woman on the ground. Many of us here come from the belly of this country. We are part of these women. We were born of those women. We are here to ensure that we take forward and change the machinery.

Changing the machinery is not only about what the Government must do for the people. It is about what we all do together, with the Government machinery being the implementer. Each and every one of us must make sure that more than 50% of the 1 million public servants that those women gave birth to understand the challenge on March 8, 2001. The challenge is that they must be part of the implementation making the difference.

We must ensure that as part of governance we join the marchers that say to the pharmaceutical industry that if we are to implement that part of the platform for action that talks about women and generic drugs must be accessible to women of the developing world. [Applause.] And we should not merely talk about it in Parliament, we must be there in the trenches. We come from the trenches. We are part of the trenches, we did not hear about them. We must be there. [Applause.]

There is a second issue. As we talk about violence against women, let us not be defensive about it.

Dit is ‘n aanklag wat sny tot op die been. [This is an allegation which goes to the crux of the matter.]

It is something that crosses class, that crosses gender, that crosses culture, that crosses religion, and it is not merely intervention through laws and enforcement agencies that will make a difference. What are all of us doing to make that difference? [Applause.] What is happening in the communities? Let us ensure that, as we celebrate this day and as we consider the challenges, when we look at the tears on this day, let us talk and do what was stated by the President, namely to make sure that we are involved in action for change.

Are all of us part of that group? Is everybody willing to be part of that group, or do we once more want to sit back and say: What is being done for me by someone else? The women of South Africa never, ever wanted things done for them. Hence, when the pass laws were first extended to men, women stood up and challenged those pass laws - they had not reached them yet. They said: ``We are clear that it will come to us’’, and they stood up.

I want to say here today that as we deal with these challenges, let us call on women in the media to come and actually join us in challenging the approach by the media that project women in authority as not deserving to be there. [Applause.] The media projects women in positions of authority across society as getting there by dubious means.

What has happened to the fact that it was the women of this country who were willing to say that they were not going to be held back or wait for actions to come their way while they merely look on? We are going to take things head-on. I think the time has come now for the media not to see us women merely as vehicles for making or carrying messages, or as victims of this or that, ie public sources affected by crime or victims of sexual and domestic violence.

The media portrays women in authority in a significantly negative and personal manner, merely focusing on their level of beauty, their femininity and their role in family life. They should see us as an active part of the force that says: We are going to play a role as active agents for change in South Africa, in the region and internationally.

Those members who dare talk about a so-called vrouestaat'' do not deserve even to say those words, because I do not think they can make anystaat’’ happen. They should try to take us on. The expression, ``Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo’’ did not come about for nothing. If one touches the women, if one tries to break the consensus that there is in the progressive movement, then one ought to be careful. It is said that we women are the ones who hold the knife at the sharpest edge, because we are the ones who give birth; we are the ones who will ensure that language grows in a society; we are the ones that build. But we want to do all that with the men in society. If they want to join us, they should join the progressive forces. It will not help to complain about percentages if one is one of those who are against progress. [Applause.]

Debate concluded.

CONSIDERATION OF SECOND REPORT OF PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS - CONSTITUTIVE ACT OF THE AFRICAN UNION

Order disposed of without debate.

Report adopted.

The House adjourned at 17:03. ____

            ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

1. The Speaker and the Chairperson:

The following papers have been tabled and are now referred to the
 relevant committees as mentioned below:


 (1)    The following papers are referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Finance and the Select Committee on Finance:
     (a)     Government Notice No R.164 published in Government Gazette
          No 22084 dated 23 February 2001, Policy Holder protection
          rules under the Short-Term Insurance Act, 1998, made in terms
          of section 55 of the Short-Term Insurance Act, 1998 (Act No 53
          of 1998).


     (b)     Government Notice No R.165 published in Government Gazette
          No 22085 dated 23 February 2001, Policy Holder protection
          rules under the Long-Term Insurance Act, 1998, made in terms
          of section 62 of the Long-Term Insurance Act, 1998 (Act No 52
          of 1998).


 (2)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Foreign Affairs and the Select Committee on Economic Affairs:


     Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     and the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil to
     establish a Joint Commission, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of
     the Constitution, 1996.


 (3)    The following paper is referred to the Portfolio Committees on
     Agriculture and Land Affairs, on Minerals and Energy, on
     Environmental Affairs and Tourism, on Health, on Communications,
     on Transport, on Education, on Trade and Industry and on Public
     Works. It is also referred to the Select Committees on Land and
     Environmental Affairs, on Economic Affairs, on Social Services, on
     Labour and Public Enterprises, on Public Services and on Education
     and Recreation:


     Agreement between the Government of the Republic of South Africa
     and the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil on
     Technical Cooperation, tabled in terms of section 231(3) of the
     Constitution, 1996.


 (4)    The following papers are referred to the Portfolio Committee on
     Health and the Select Committee on Social Services:
     (a)     Government Notice No R.44 published in Government Gazette
          No 21983 dated 19 January 2001, Regulations relating to
          registration as a Dental Technician and related matters, made
          in terms of section 50 of the Dental Technicians Act, 1979
          (Act No 19 of 1979).


     (b)     Government Notice No R.43 published in Government Gazette
          No 21983 dated 19 January 2001, Regulations regarding
          processed foodstuffs, made in terms of section 15(1) of the
          Foodstuffs, Cosmetics and Disinfectants Act, 1972 (Act No 54
          of 1972).


     (c)     Government Notice No R.127 published in Government Gazette
          No 22052 dated 12 February 2001, Regulations in terms of the
          Allied Health Professions Act, 1982, made in terms of section
          38 of the Allied Health Professions Act, 1982 (Act No 63 of
          1982).


     (d)     Government Notice No R.16 published in Government Gazette
          No 22052 dated 12 February 2001, Commencement of the
          Chiropractors, Homeopaths and Allied Health Service
          Professions Second Amendment Act, 2000 (Act No 50 of 2000) on
          12 February 2001, made in terms of section 41 of the
          Chiropractors, Homeopaths and Allied Health Service
          Professions Second Amendment Act, 2000 (Act No 50 of 2000).


     (e)     Government Notice No R.156 published in Government Gazette
          No 22076 dated 23 February 2001, Regulations regarding the
          registration and training of Student Dental Technicians and
          Student Dental Technologists, made in terms of section 50 of
          the Dental Technicians Act, 1979 (Act No 19 of 1979).

TABLINGS:

National Assembly and National Council of Provinces:

Papers:

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

 Report and Financial Statements of the Board of Control of the
 Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal for 1999-2000.