Polokwane - Women in Limpopo who are interested in farming have been encouraged to apply for funding through the Limpopo Employment, Growth and Development Plan (LEGDP).
Addressing Women's Cay celebrations in Ga-Mphahlele outside Polokwane on Monday, Premier Cassel Mathale said the LEGDP was an effort by the province to fund women cooperatives in agriculture in an effort to break the cycle of poverty among women.
He said the LEGDP also provided funding for business opportunities in the mining and infrastructure development sectors.
"We should dedicate this Women's Day celebration to women who continue to endure the harshness of poverty, underdevelopment and unemployment. In the same vein, we must also pledge solidarity with women farmworkers, domestic workers and women casual workers who continue to be victims of labour exploitation and harassment," he said.
Mathale said women should take advantage of the government Women's Empowerment Fund and the Employment Equity Act which creates opportunities for women to gain entrance into leadership positions in both government and commercial sector. Government's Comprehensive Rural Development Programme was another initiative seeking to improve the living standards of women in the province.
This year, Women's Day is celebrated under the theme "Working Together for Equal Opportunities and Progress for Women: Forward to the Decade of African Women".
"In line with the message of the theme, we are also expected to pay homage to all women around the continent who continue to be subjected to brutal consequences of civil wars and other forms of international crimes," said Mathale.
Mathale said thought must be given to women who are living in refugee camps in Africa after being displaced by the internal conflicts in their countries.
"Most of these women continue to run with children on their backs, with no food, water, clothes, shoes and sanitation facilities. These women have no ownership of anything and they neither understand nor stand to benefit from the internal conflicts which so greatly affect them," Mathale said.
