Women’s Month

Women's Month: Celebrating the legacy and progress in advancing Women's rights.

South Africa celebrates Women's Day every year on 9 August, but what is the significance of this day in South African history and how has it changed the lives of all women living in our rainbow nation? This article will look back at the history of Women's Day and certain developments that were done to promote, uphold and protect women's rights since the march of 1956.

Women's Day serves to commemorate the women's march of 1956, where over 20 000 women of all races, ethnic and class backgrounds marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria (City of Tshwane), which is the official seat of the South African Government and the offices of the President (then Prime Minister). The march's main objective was to protest against the proposed pass laws that required black South African women to carry an internal passport known as a “dompas”.

Although the pass laws were only completely abolished in 1986, the 1956 march highlights the power of women to publicly make their voices heard on matters they considered important to them. After the first democratic elections, the South African government officially made Women's Day a national public holiday and it was first celebrated on 9 August 1995.

Developments that have been made since the march

A lot has changed for women's rights since the great march of 1956 as South Africa moved away from oppressive laws towards a democratic society, Government has adopted rights-based legislation that promotes gender equality and justice for all. Government aims to implement legislation in a manner where the remedies associated with the laws are felt by all women all over the country.

Perhaps one of the most significant changes is the right to equality as envisioned in section 9 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996. The Constitution does not only promote equality, but also prohibits gender discrimination. As a result of the Constitution, it has become a progressive goal of the Government to ensure equal opportunities and rights for all genders in line with the human rights contained in the Constitution. The developments through the years have been to remedy the historical injustices and to achieve gender equality by establishing and implementing different programmes/policy frameworks to facilitate the empowerment of women socially, economically, politically and culturally.

Examples of other pieces of legislation that were enacted in support of women’s empowerment and gender equality are: the National Education Act, Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act, Maintenance Act, Electoral Act and so on.

Recently, amendments to the Domestic Violence Act provide for stricter bail conditions to be imposed where matters are related to domestic violence to strengthen the enforcement of domestic violence protection orders and to reduce the reoccurrence of domestic violence amongst other things.

Access to education and related matters

During the era when the march took place, the stereotype of a woman's role being at home often prevented them from getting a formal education. However, with the equality rights and section 29 of the Constitution providing that everyone has the right to basic education, women are getting the same formal education as their male counterparts.

Although the number of girls attending school has increased significantly in recent years, it has been noted that more girls dropout of school and have lower pass rates because of certain circumstances, such as unplanned pregnancies and family responsibilities that lead to absenteeism. However, there are programmes and policies in place (including social grants) to assist young women and improve their attendance at school. For example, the Policy on the Prevention and Management of Learner Pregnancy in Schools gives the learner the right to remain in school during her pregnancy and not to be discriminated against.

Women in the workplace and economic empowerment

In the past, majority of women were not allowed or simply did not have access to the country's economy as most roles they undertook were agricultural or domestic in nature. Although vast improvements have been made to ensure equal treatment in the workplace, women sometimes still take the back seat when it comes to contributing to the country's economic growth due to having limited access to equally paid or high paying employment. However, legal developments aim to improve women's rights by providing for rights that employees should receive an equal salary for equal work done, regardless of the employee's gender. This is due to the Employment Equity Act (“EEA”) protecting employees against discrimination in the workplace through promoting equal opportunities and fair treatment of employees.

In recent statistics, Government has confirmed that around 60% of employees in the public sector working in different government departments are women. Government also encouraged private companies to look into employing more women from disadvantaged backgrounds and appoint suitably qualified women in managerial and executive positions within their organisations.

To help improve economic empowerment for women, there are various institutions, including Government, that aim to assist with funding to support women-owned businesses and initiate workshops countrywide to equip women with skills to sell and promote their products to the government and the private sector. One example of such an initiative is the Women Empowerment Fund as part of the greater National Empowerment Fund programme. It is advisable that the terms and conditions of any of these initiatives and funds be carefully considered before deciding on making use of same to avoid unforeseen disputes in the future.

Apart from the above, Government has introduced a National Gender Policy Framework which outlines the country's long-term goals and visions with regards to gender equality and what measures they will be implementing to achieve gender equality in South Africa. The policy is directive and prescriptive on what the minimum standards are for the institutional framework and national goals. The policy framework has been developed by women and men collaboratively, to ensure that it is in line with the gender equality rights enshrined in the Constitution.

Women's Day is a reminder of the sacrifices and struggles women had to face to get us as a country where we are today. Their strength and courage will always be emphasised in the famous saying “Wathint' Abafazi, Wathint' Imbokodo!” (You strike a woman; you strike a rock!).

Did you know… The Constitution does not only promote equality, but also prohibits gender discrimination.