[ Home ] [ Speeches & statements ]

Women's Day is a day we as women should commemorate and celebrate with pride and dignity. The development of women in our country is one of the various challenges that face our nation today. Women have over the years made a meaningful contribution in the struggle for liberation and the ultimate realisation of democracy in South Africa.

Our society owes it to our women to ensure that we restore the culture of love and respect for women. We seriously need to redefine the role of women and to alter the negative perceptions about women in our society. It is imperative that we provide our women with platforms and opportunities to become actively involved in the socio-economic transformation of our country.

As South Africans celebrate Women's Day, they should acknowledge that much still has to be done in order to achieve the true emancipation of women from the adversities they have endured because of their gender, race and social status. We should also pay homage to our fallen heroines who sacrificed their lives for freedom and democracy in our country. Let our thoughts also be with the plight of those women across Africa for it is these women and their children who find themselves caught between conflicts that are precipitated by power struggles.

Let us put women at the centre of the development of our country and our continent

Malibongwe!

Issued by Free State Provincial Government

9 August 2003