Programme director

Distinguished guests 

It’s a pleasure to be with you this morning.  

South Africa is a country rich in contrasts. Last month global attention was focused on the Oscar Pistorius murder trial and I have no doubt that many of you watched the special channel devoted to the trial rather than doing what you were being paid to do.  

Media follows what people are interested in, but there is an overriding focus on disasters and celebrities. That is where the interest lies and the money is to be made. Disasters and celebrities are far more interesting than successes. Our headlines are full of dramas and scandals. But the headlines don’t give you a good sense of where we are as a people and a country. 

The truth is that there is a good story to tell about South Africa. 

The vast majority of South Africans are now much better off now than they were 20 years ago when Nelson Mandela was elected president. 

Real per capita incomes are higher, the economy has tripled in size, and a vital social welfare safety net has been established through both cash and non-cash state transfers to the poor.

But it’s not just a question of numbers and statistics. There is a genuine feeling of transformation in many parts of our country that were stunted by apartheid. Drive around Soweto. Drive around Langa, Drive around Kwa Mashu and see for yourself. 

People have more space, there are more brick houses, and parents have more privacy. 

Even though there are still shacks without water or electricity, incomes have risen.  

We are all earning more than we did before. 

Yet we still live separate lives, separated by class, race, and geography.  

It is really difficult to put ourselves into the shoes of people who are not like us. 

So when I tell you the murder rate is down on what it was twenty years ago, there are many of you who won’t believe me. You also won’t believe me when I tell you the majority of murder victims are black and unemployed rather than white and rich. 

I know that we live in a violent society but it’s not more violent than it was under apartheid. Those of us who did not know before, know now because the Pistorius trial has revealed our facts and our figures and our fears to the world. 

For example, each year it costs R6 billion or 4% of the National Health Budget to treat gunshot wounds.

The vast majority of gunshot survivors are uninsured. 

The general election is just around the corner and I want to share a few thoughts on elections and democracy. 

Elections are one of the cornerstones of democracy. They are the most common way by which citizens participate in a democracy. Without elections the right to vote and the right to choose a party are meaningless. 

Our Constitution says: 

“Every citizen has the right to free, fair and regular elections for any legislative body established in terms of the Constitution. 

“Every adult citizen has the right (a) to vote in elections for any legislative body established in terms of the Constitution, and to do so in secret; and (b) to stand for public office and, if elected, to hold office.” 

Those rights were won in our struggle for democracy. It was a struggle that demanded many sacrifices, a struggle that cost many lives. 

Indeed, our very Constitution says: “We, the people of South Africa, honour those who suffered for justice and freedom in our land”, and seek to “heal the divisions of the past and establish a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights.” 

In South Africa the Independent Election Commision (IEC) is responsible for elections. 

It is a permanent body, publicly funded and accountable to parliament, and independent of government. 

We are committed to protecting its independence, authority, and prestige. 

It’s the IEC’s job to count each vote and to protect each vote from manipulation. The IEC has a permanent staff of 813 and a part-time staff of over 200,000 at the time of national elections. These part-time officials provide a service to over 20 million registered voters on national Election Days.  

The 1994 election is the most memorable one for South Africans for obvious reasons, as the one that introduced freedom and democracy to our country. 

We still have fond memories of those long queues of South Africans young and old, men and women, black and white, standing together for the first time to cast their votes. 

That election was an achievement of not only the Electoral Commission, but also of all the South African people, for putting their country first above everything else. 

As Walter Sisulu said “The remarkable thing that happened was that while there was tension throughout the country and many powerful forces were talking about civil war, on the day of the elections the masses of people were determined only in one thing, to make their cross, to make the elections a success. They were patient and tolerated the weaknesses and mistakes. The masses gave us all leadership in a remarkable way.” 

Democracy is spreading across the African continent. 

Think of the remarkable recovery of countries like Rwanda, Liberia and Sierra Leone, countries that were torn apart in the 1990s in violent conflict. 

The key reason behind this democratic surge in sub-Saharan Africa is government action to end armed conflicts. 

Government action is reinforced by voices in civil society, including associations of women, youth and the independent media. 

This brings me to women and the role we play in and have played in transforming our society. 

Our post-apartheid democracy has advanced the rights and status of women in South Africa. 

In school girls have equal access to boys and are performing at improved levels in many subjects.  

In higher education women are more than 50% of the student body, and while we all want to see more of them in scarce disciplines we are proud of their progress. 

In clinics and hospitals women receive greater support from government than ever before. Access to free health services for pregnant women was a significant endorsement of the progressive ambitions of the Freedom Charter. 

The blight of the HIV and AIDS pandemic has eroded some of our advances and women are bearing an oppressive burden in this regard. Infant mortality and women’s mortality during childbirth are also challenges we must attend to.  

In the political sphere and other public institutions our democracy has achieved world wide praise for our notable advances. Our Parliament is among the top ten most representative in the world. 

That does not mean that being an MP is easy for a woman. 

Men are still sexist in the House. 

And it’s hard to reconcile motherhood with the daily routine of Parliament. 

We are all potential beneficiaries and guardians of the Bill of Rights in our constitution, as all these rights must be exercised with due regard to our responsibilities.  

One of our more intractable tasks in this regard is ensuring that all women, whatever their status and location, enjoy full access to those rights.  

This task makes our priority of rural development immensely important for women. Millions of women in rural communities bear the brunt of poverty and oppression that is rooted in a partriarchal culture and tradition.  

We need to uphold the right to culture, while firmly indicating that the right to culture and other traditional norms and practices have a companion called equality that must be respected. Of course, the effect of the social engineering that has embedded gender inequality in our societies requires us to address discrimination in all sectors and institutions and not to hold to the fiction that inequality exists only in customary low or religious practices.  

The evidence of continuing gender inequality in the public and private sectors, in the domestic spaces we occupy, and in some of our key institutions of governance clearly indicates that a great deal more has to be done in South Africa to ensure that women practically feel safe and respected as equal citizens of our country. 

Our Parliament, legislatures, municipalities, our courts must protect and empower women. Communities, families and individuals also have a role to play.  

Much more needs to be done to ensure that the socialization of males and females inculcates respect for the human dignity of all. 

Violence against women, rape, murder and other physical and verbal and psychological evils that women experience daily mean that we should strive to ensure that a safer caring society includes a concerted focus on women’s safety and protection. 

Our Constitution contains these protections already. We must make them a lived reality through the laws we pass and the programmes and budgets we support. 

The social sphere of our homes, our recreation places and our social clubs needs increased attention to ensure that women and girls benefit from democracy. This attention to women needs to be a characteristic of international organisations as well. Many tend to be blind to the distinct needs and experiences of women.  

Any society that advocates radical democratic transformation (as we have done) takes on the important duty of ensuring increased human security for all who live in it.  

We have done a great deal in South Africa, but the pain of disappearing children, sexual abuse of babies, and the limited protection our courts afford against domestic violence (protection orders) all point to the need to devote much more attention to women’s equality. 

Whether direct or indirect, discrimination against women is one of the most destructive forces in the world. We know that it is one of the major causes of poverty and suffering experienced by women all over the world.  

For us to be able to deliver a fatal blow to domestic violence, we need to destroy the foundations of domestic violence. 

And the best way to do that is to consolidate solidarity among women. 

We read each day about women who are killed by their spouses and partners.  

Domestic violence cannot be trivialized. It is a sign of societal decay, which is why it is a human rights issue.  

The record of the past 20 years suggests that with focus and effective strategizing we can build on the advances we have made. 

These advances have enabled women to make better lives for themselves through grasping new opportunities. 

Over the last thirty years there have been fundamental changes in occupational structure, in qualifications, and in skills required in different economic sectors.  

The overall pattern is for upskilling or an increase in “skill intensity”, especially in managerial, professional, and associate professional occupations.  

In fact, gender equality is easier to achieve now in a post-industrial economy than in the past in an industrial economy. 

Industrial occupational structures were divided into “male jobs” and ‘female jobs” with those professions requiring technical skills being largely the preserve of males. 

However, with the growing importance of knowledge-based occupations - the legions of lawyers, doctors, and managerial professionals - women find it easier to fit in.  

The services industry is a case in point, where we see more women entering the management professions and occupying high-level positions. 

Today, South Africa has achieved a level of gender equality - in no small measure shaped by our constitution - that has only been accomplished in other countries after many decades of democracy. 

Let me conclude with this comment.  

Look at the global consequences of gender inequality.  

More women die in wars than men.

More women live in poverty than men.

More women are unemployed than men. 

When we use women’s talents, then we all benefit. When use women’s talents, we build a better world. 

I thank you.