Pretoria – Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Susan Shabangu, says the next five years will be key to consolidating the gains made in empowering women in all aspects of South African life.
Briefing the media ahead of her Budget Vote on Wednesday, the minister said her department will prioritise researching and monitoring the effectiveness of the existing gender policies of government.
Minister Shabangu said the intention is to make sure that legislation, such as policies surrounding land, take matters of gender into consideration.
“... We are also going to look at what exists within the whole value chain of government and then [we will] be able to start working on … [factoring in] women’s issues and gender sensitisation,” said the minister.
In the same vein, she said government budgets needed to be aligned to reflect the needs of women. Work would be intensified to identify the gaps to ensure that women’s development is taken further in this five-year administration.
WEGE Bill
Speaking on the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality Bill (WEGE) Bill, which is currently being reviewed, Minister Shabangu said they will look at whether the bill does in deed duplicate responsibilities that already exist, as is alleged.
“We want to review in a way that … ensures that matters affecting women are not going to be marginalised. Our responsibility is to make sure that we put gender matters or women issues at the centre of everything, more than creating mechanisms that are seen to be ‘women mechanisms’,” said the minister.
She said a huge accomplishment for gender mainstreaming will be when everyone in society is able to address issues around gender equity.
The consultation process on the bill is expected to take place and be finalised in the first quarter of next year. – SAnews.gov.za
