August 10, 2004
By Chandrea Gerber
THE City of Johannesburg celebrated Women's Day by hosting the "Women in Dialogue" conference, with the theme "Johannesburg women celebrating 10 years of democracy and together building a better life".
Women from all spheres met at the Eskom Convention Centre in Midrand from 6 to 8 August.
"It doesn't matter where you come from or who you are, we are talking today as women," said Johannesburg council speaker Nandi Mayathula- Khoza.
In the conference auditorium there was a tangible sense of optimism, camaraderie, and power in unity. Choruses of "Wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo", and "amandla" rang out as delegates committed themselves to making Johannesburg, and the rest of Africa, a place where women are represented equally.
Top of the agenda were issues of gender equality and women empowerment. Delegates undertook to ensure the equal representation of women in all levels of government.
"The time of talking just for the sake of talking is gone - we want to put it into practice," said Mayathula-Khoza.
One way of ensuring such equality is to carry out a gender analysis of all by-laws, the IDP (integrated development plan), the budget, policies and service delivery programmes and draw up strategies to encourage the increased representation of women in the next local government elections.
Mayathula-Khoza stressed the importance of the 50/50 Campaign, which strives for equal representation of men and women in government.
She pointed out that Johannesburg is moving full steam ahead in implementing the campaign: 40 percent of the mayoral committee members are women, as are three of the six executive managers.
Quoting mayor Amos Masondo, Mayathula-Khoza said: "It is important for men and women to commit themselves in action towards women empowerment: to women's meaningful participation in all structures of decision-making; to gender equality; and to challenge the culture of male dominance, sexism, chauvinistic jokes and attitudes."
Thomas Phakathi, mayoral committee member for municipal administration who spoke on behalf of Masondo, stressed the City's commitment to empowering women: "History demands we don't fail and we can promise that we won't fail. We will succeed."
MEC for sports and recreation, Barbara Creecy, acknowledged the steps that had been taken towards building sustainable communities.
Referring to Phakathi's statement that "the road to woman's emancipation is long and hard", Creecy said: "The hard part of the road is behind us."
"We have succeeded in reaching a point where many of the ways women have touched the world are becoming a dominant force in our society," she added, while conceding that problems such as sexual assault and domestic violence were still prevalent.
During the three-day conference, delegates shared personal experiences. "This is what dialogue is about," said Creecy, "going back and forth."
Among those present were: Mildred Aristide, wife of ousted Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and member of the Pan-African Women Solidarity forum; Khosi Masondo, wife of Johannesburg mayor Amos Masondo; MECs; Joburg city councillors; ward councillors; and various businesswomen.
Conference objectives included:
- Reporting back on the South African Women in Dialogue held from 30 June to 4 July 2004, which looked at ways to implement Nepad (the New Partnership for Africa's Development) and the Women in Dialogue objectives at grassroots.
- Sharing with delegates the role and experiences of the City of Johannesburg's women's caucus and developing a local programme of action for women empowerment.
- Creating an environment in which women can share experiences and identify common problems.
- Celebrating women in local government who have served the City of Johannesburg council and its community since 1994.
- Finding ways to promote the role of women in local government elections and implement the 50/50 Campaign.
- Looking at the impact of local government services in improving the quality of life of women in Johannesburg.
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