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21 July 2007

Programme director
Distinguished members of the Sawla Interim Committee
Ladies and gentlemen

Firstly, I would like to extend a sincere welcome to all delegates' women in the legal fraternity gathered here today and further acknowledge with utmost appreciation the presence of the members of the Sawla Interim Committee.

We are privileged as a province to host this auspicious occasion of the launch of the South African Women Lawyers Association in the Free State.

During this coming month of August our country will celebrate and commemorate the important and historic events of the Women's Anti-Pass March to Pretoria in 1956. Throughout August and on the 9th in particular, our nation will pay homage to the struggles and achievements of South African women and also to give meaning, context and relevance to the plight of women in the new dispensation.

We should indeed acknowledge that women have always been in the forefront of the struggle for freedom and equality in our country. From the drafting of the Freedom Charter in 1955 that declared that South Africa belongs to all who live in it, Black and White, to the women's petition against pass laws on 9 August 1956. Women have always fought united across colour lines with a common vision of preserving their right to freedom and equality.

In 1994, our first President of a democratic South Africa Nelson Mandela made it very clear two years before our Constitution was adopted, that there can be no genuine freedom without the total liberation of the woman in our society.

He said: "It is vitally important that all structures of government, including the President himself, should understand this fully that freedom cannot be achieved unless the women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression."
This statement affirms that the degradation of women, especially in the name of culture, undermines the principles, values and ideals enshrined in our constitution.

Challenging and changing the devaluation and oppression of women in this society is central to any effort to give meaning to the high principles and ideals enshrined in our constitution:

In this, the second decade of our freedom, women can be proud of their role in bringing about change and unity in our country. Through their brave participation as equal citizens of this country, South Africa has indeed become the beacon and reflection of true democracy.

The development of women in our country is one of the various challenges that we have to truly and effectively overcome. 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.

As we are gathered here, we 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. Our thoughts should 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. We have to work hard to ensure that women are actively involved in the development of our country and our continent.

It is imperative that we commit ourselves to supporting all endeavours that are aimed at empowering women and enabling their development. We should all look forward to a strong bond that will assist in uplifting our people in their struggle against poverty. I call upon all of you gathered here to showcase the hidden resources that women, such as yourselves, represent. As women, we should relentlessly pursue the ideal of improving the livelihoods of our households and those of our communities until we wipe out the scourge of poverty from Africa and the world.

Women have a lot that they can contribute to the overall growth of the economy of this country and must be given the opportunity to do so. It is imperative for all sectors in South Africa, the business community in particular, to increase their commitment to the development and empowerment of women.

It is encouraging to note that more and more women are getting involved in the mainstream economy of our country and are active in different sectors including mining, agriculture and information technology. Much still has to be done to address gender disparities, and women themselves should play a central role in this regard.

It is also important for women to be afforded the opportunity to grow and develop in their working environment. This is especially relevant as is enshrined in the constitution of the Sawla that states "We Are committed to the advancement and empowerment of women in law in order to achieve gender equality in the legal sector."

As women we have to break the "glass ceiling" that prevents competent and capable women from occupying senior and more managerial positions. It is imperative that we provide our women with platforms and opportunities to become actively involved in the socio-economic transformation of our country.

This government has made significant progress in ensuring an increased representation of women in government. With about 33% of members of the parliament being women and 40% of members of the cabinet being women and four out of nine premiers being women we can only ensure continued improvement in this regard. Our province the Free State was the first to have a woman premier and since the advent of democracy we have had three women premiers and a women speaker of the legislature in this province. It is therefore imperative that we present women with more opportunities in other sectors as well.

It is an undeniable truth that despite the slew of enabling and empowering legislation that has been enacted since 1994, many black and female legal professionals continue to face prejudice and marginalisation in the workplace. If we are to eliminate prejudice, equality is a value that needs to be inculcated and shared and upheld by the entire community, men and women alike. Institutions like law firms and law societies too need to internalise this value and make their environments affirming to all those individuals that enter them.

When we look at the empowerment of the legal profession then clearly it has to be in the context of, among other things, how we provide professional and quality services to our people and particularly to the poor and the marginalised.

It is imperative to realise that many of the women in our country live in conditions of poverty and that the deliberate location of women in rural areas and the under-development in these areas have been responsible for the poor conditions under which they, as a result, these women have been deprived of most of their constitutional rights, including legal service on issues such as domestic violence, abuse and maintenance for themselves and their children. It is therefore crucial that initiatives such as the Sawla look into the plight of these marginalised and despondent women and ensure that they are assisted, partnered and educated about their constitutional and legal rights.

Like the women of 1956, such as Lillian Ngoyi, Helen Joseph, Frances Baard, Annie Silinga and countless others, we should be determined to put an end to the discrimination and other challenges facing our women, and with the dedication, courage and strength that characterised those women of 1956, let us declare to the entire nation that the project of women empowerment is a lifetime obligation and that gender equality is non-negotiable.

Let us act true to the ideals of those women who marched in 1956, so that in time, we will reach our destiny of a truly non-racial, non-sexist democracy. I hope that this conference will ensure that our legal system and judiciary becomes representative both in terms of gender and race. It is imperative that we see more women and black law professionals in the judiciary, law firms and other sectors of the legal fraternity and this should be entirely on merit.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Free State Provincial Government
21 July 2007
Source: Free State Provincial Government (http://www.fs.gov.za)