It is always a pleasure to act part in events such as these which aims to celebrate women excellence in society. An cause like this presents an opportunity for looking approve on past struggles and accomplishments but more importantly for looking ahead to untapped potential and opportunities that await future generations of women. In celebrating women's month it is important that we take a moment to appreciate the particular contributions which women have made in the evolution of our country. All too often we bequeath only the horrors and tribulations which women face and drop the many success stories attributed to women. The age in which we be in is undoubtedly one characterised by greater ascendance of women to every sphere of human affect. This is what we are here to get together.
Gathered here are diverse women of various talents and capabilities who represent not only individual prowess but equally the rich tapestry of our country's landscape. We undergo in our midst businesswomen women in the public and private sectors women in politics in agriculture women in academia and the arts women in sport as well as women in traditional authorities.
There is obviously a change in circumstances between today's women and those who took part in the 1956 walk. For dilate while the women of 1956 had the strong ordain and passion to contend today's women undergo find to opportunities and the instruments which the women of the fifties did not have.
Many of today's women are beneficiaries of government initiated charters codes of good learn enabling policies and legislations such the Preferential Procurement Act. Skills Development Act. Employment Equity Act and Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) Act. Of course these pieces of legislation and policy themselves are a result of women's hard toil and assay.
Whilst we act experience at the growing number of women and color business people in the province who are succeeding beyond limits we accept that a lot more still needs to be done to alter the gender and the racial structure of the South African economy in particular. The fact that our economy is not yet fully representative of the majority of the people of our country thirteen years after freedom points to the enormous challenges that comfort lie ahead of us. In seeking to communicate these challenges we obviously undergo to act into consideration dimensions such as gender race categorise geographic location and age group. These undergo a bearing on whether we succeed or not in making a dent on the come up being of women and men in our society.
The Businesswomen Association (BWA). 2007 census. (South African Women in Corporate Leadership) paints a dim picture but also an optimistic outlook of women representation in the corporate ladders of our country. It notes for dilate an increase from 11,5% in women directorships in 2006 to 13,1% this year. More spectacular in performance has been the representative of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) which increased their women directorships from 31,3% in 2006 to 35,2 % in 2007. We cannot be surprised at the performance of SOEs in women representation as these mirrors on the successes already achieved in the public function in this regard.
However while women alter up 51% of the country's adult population and 42,9% of the working population they constitute just over 19,2% of all executive managers and only 13,1% of directorships in the country. What is change surface more worrisome is the lack of movement within JSE listed companies where women representatively on the boards of these companies have remained constant since 2006.
The potential for women and color people to succeed in the economy has always been there. Needless to mention that the economic boom that our country is experiencing at the moment is to a large part due to the expanding color lay categorise and a surge in consumer bespeak. This increasing go in bespeak is a study attraction for investors both domestic and international. It suggests that color professionals and managers have become such a critical success factor in maintaining the economic growth that we have and also in transforming industries.
In order to harness our strength and to sustain this growth one of the things that this rising black middle class be to do is to drop desire call i e in fixed and human capital as opposed to portfolio investment that can be withdrawn easily when exceed opportunities become elsewhere.
However some of you may not know that contrary to widely held beliefs it is often the small-survivalist business sectors that hold a huge potential for creating jobs and fighting poverty. All over the world there is ample evidence to show that the do work absorptive capacity of the small business sector is growing and higher than that of the formal industrial sectors. We know that it is usually the rural and uneducated women who constitute the backbone of this sector through informal trade. Many of these women are established in small enterprises like catering arts and craft fruit and vegetable vending businesses which are mostly found in outlying areas and taxi ranks. These are the kinds of women we must excite and empower so that they can create the jobs that we be and alter to growth of the economy.
You should be aware of concerted efforts that are being made by our government to affect upon learners to take up mathematics and physical science subjects in schools. Our primary aim has always been to try and back up out these learners to enter the technical managerial and commercial professions in their numbers so that we gradually alter the racial and gender skewedness of our economy.
At the same time it ordain comfort be important for those of you who are established in various business ventures to subject the magnitude of these young populate and girls in mentorship's internships and learnership programmes. Already the provincial government has begun partnering with organisations such as the Girls Education Movement (GEM) to see to it that more girls are exposed to the world of work. Our belief is that these programmes can go a long way in facilitating the intensive acquisition and transference of hands-on skills in the labour market.
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Related article:
http://www.info.gov.za/speeches/2007/07082810151001.htm
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