August 22, 2005
By Lucky Sindane
PEOPLE could not hold back their tears as women got together to share their touching personal experiences.
About 450 women from all walks of life attended the annual Women in Dialogue conference to share their personal experiences and to find solutions to the problems they face on a daily basis.
Council Speaker Nandi Mayathula-Khoza and mayoral committee member Christine Walters present the deputy minister for provincial and local government, Nomatyala Hongana, with a gift
The conference, under the theme "50 years after the Freedom Charter through the Eyes of Johannesburg Women", was organised by the City of Johannesburg. It was held at the Birchwood Executive Hotel and Conference Centre in Boksburg from Friday, 19 August to Sunday, 21 August.
Women sang and chanted as they spoke of the struggles of being female.
Julia Moloi, the editor of We Are Capable magazine and a winner of the Shoprite Women of the Year 2005 award said, "We are sexually abused by our families and when we speak out people don't believe us because we are physically disabled.
"We are also victimised by the public. We can't use taxis because taxi drivers and passengers swear at us and call us by names when we board. These kinds of issues need to be addressed."
Among the issues that were discussed were gender equality, female empowerment, how local government worked, the role of women in local government, domestic and community violence, emotional intelligence, self-esteem, life choices and the 50/50 campaign.
Johannesburg Council Speaker Nandi Mayathula-Khoza set the scene and encouraged women not to bash their husbands. "We are going to affirm both men and women," she said.
"The Women in Dialogue and information exchange programmes in the City of Johannesburg have empowered, inspired and improved the quality of life of women for the past four years," Khoza said.
Progress had been made by local government in promoting empowerment of women and gender quality.
The South African Local Government Association (Salga) conducted a gender audit in 2004 to determine the gender representation and participation of people in municipalities. It found Johannesburg had made strides in this regard. Of the city's 217 councillors, about 33 percent were women and the speaker of council was a woman.
Four out of the 10 mayoral committee members were women and three of the senior executive managers were women. Of the 8 828 councillors in South Africa, 6 263 were male and 2 565 were female.
Of mayors, 229 were male; only 54 were female; 74 deputy mayors were male and 24 were female; 186 speakers were male and 77 were female; 163 chief whips were male and 27 were female; 264 municipal managers were male and 18 were female.
To bridge this huge gap, Salga plans to meet political parties to discuss the 50/50 campaign, under which the local government association is calling on all political parties to make up their election lists with 50 percent women.
City of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Councillor Amos Masondo will soon launch the 50/50 campaign in his city.
Democracy development workshops will be held to ensure that all councillors are prepared for the local government elections; to ensure that women, who make up more than 55 percent of the electorate, are well informed of the processes that lead to election day; and to sensitise political parties on the legal obligation and social imperative of including women equally on their party lists.
Women in local government
Speaking about the role of women in local government in creating a better life for all, and the role of local government in empowering women, Gauteng MEC for Local Government Qedani Mahlangu said, "Women play an important role in local government. We should use all the opportunities we get to empower ourselves.
"When you get into the office you should study so that at the end of your term you don't worry about coming back as a councillor, you should be able to stand by yourself. The opportunities are there - we should grab them with both hands."
City administration and management
"The City sets targets, the mayor visits the communities in all the regions and they tell the mayor what they want," said Sibongile Mazibuko, the City's chief executive officer.
"All the departments in the City have a budget and heads of the department should make sure that with the budget allocated to them, service is delivered.
"Being a manager is very challenging. You should be able to be a team player, be as humble as you can. You must have emotional intelligence, know when it hurts and know when you are hurting," she said.
"Getting management positions is like getting into a pair of boots and they become bigger and bigger everyday. When you are in a management position, your foot should grow fast. It is a hardcore business," she added.
Problems women face
"Most women stay in violent relationships because they economically depend on the husbands," said Deputy Minister of Provincial and Local Government Nomatyala Hangana. "We must make sure that women are economically empowered.
"We have to begin to manage our differences of opinions. We always differ in terms of opinion and it becomes a problem because those differences divide us as women. We need to work around these differences," she added.
"Another problem that we have as women is that we pull each other down. We must look at Salga's audit - it really doesn't look good."
In conclusion, Hangana said women also needed to ensure the 50/50 campaign was implemented.
Over the three days of the conference, councillors and other senior officials conducted workshops and discussed the progress and effects of service delivery and the needs of the Johannesburg's women.
Objectives
The objectives of the conference were:
- To present and discuss feedback on the South African Women in Dialogue held from 6 to 10 July at the University of Pretoria, hosted by First Lady Zanele Mbeki;
- To present and discuss feedback on the Gauteng Province Women in Dialogue held on 8 and 9 March at the Kopanong Conference Centre, hosted by the Office of the Premier;
- To share the progress made by the City of Johannesburg's Multiparty Women's Caucus in promoting female empowerment;
- To create a conducive environment for women to come together and share experiences in an empowering fashion, so that women are strengthened to find solutions to challenges they face;
- To create a conducive environment for women to learn and develop knowledge about how local government works;
- To promote the role of women in local government, the forthcoming elections and the 50/50 campaign; and
- To reflect on the effect of local government services in improving the quality of life of women in Johannesburg and to assess the needs of women in this regard.
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