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17 August 2007

Programme Director
MEC for Agriculture, Ms S Mnumzana
Members of the Executive Council
Members of the Legislature
Respective Mayors and Councillors
Representatives from various Agricultural Sector Formations
Nominees and award recipients
Distinguished guest
Ladies and gentlemen

This month marks, amongst other important and historic events, the commemoration and celebration of the 51st anniversary of the Women's Anti-Pass March to Pretoria in 1956. Throughout this month 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.

The history of South African women is a reflection of the class, gender and racial contra-distinctions that defined the South African Society pre-1994. It is often relegated to serving as tributaries to the history of the male folk of our country. Stories of many women have been over-whelmed by wars of resistance and battles for protecting land that was often filched away.

Without necessarily playing down the significance of these important chronicles in our history, the role that women played in society made little impact to impress past historians. Much of women's activities, like acts of bravery, significance of their contribution in building communities and importantly, their role in sustaining nations and general welfare of communities made little to attract those who steered our history.

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 and the Freedom Charter:

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.

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. Today is a celebration of womanhood. It is yet another day that marks the importance of Women's Month. It is indeed an important day because with this celebration, many past events of this nature and hopefully many more yet to come we are re- writing history of South African women. This occasion confirms the importance of the role played by women in society. It also indicates the contribution women have in food production and the economic development in the province.

In many parts of the world, South Africa included, women form an active component of the agricultural sector and they continue to be major contributors in agricultural production. Letsema, a concept of communal work, has been developed mostly by women. Today as we gather in this Gala event many women across the length and breadth of our province still form a significant part of agricultural work force. You still find many women in potato-fields, mielie-fields, in orchards and greenhouses.

I think the role that Free State women play in advancing communities within our agricultural industry is not only an act of patriotism, but also a sacrifice that is inherent in women as providers. The Female Farmer of the Year Awards event is a manifestation of women's participation in the huge task of not only fighting poverty and hunger, but indeed their readiness to contributing in employment creation. Despite their contribution women have not been fully afforded their rightful status in society. Government interventions such as Free State Growth and Development Strategy (FSGDS), Office on the Status of Women (OSW), the commission on gender equality and many other policy legislative and programmatic arrangements we have no reason to fail the full emancipation of women.

Today's woman and girl-child face almost similar challenges as those in the past. While some strides into correcting injustice to women have been made, there are new threats that if left unchecked will seriously impact on our nation, such as hunger, poverty, crime, HIV and AIDS and abuse. Empowerment of women still needs to be increased. Women should play a more meaningful and productive role in the agricultural sector, both as public servants and as agricultural entrepreneurs. We should also encourage more youth, especially the girl-child to study in the agricultural sciences.

For much too long women have been the tillers of the land. They have always been at the forefront of ensuring food security and to a greater extent, social stability. Yet all the land ownership systems deprived them the right to own land in their own right. With the advent of democracy, there has been recognition by government and society of the role of women as catalysts for rural development. To give impetus to rural development, our government has introduced a number of policies that seek to entrench the role of women as drivers of rural development namely Land Redistribution for Agricultural Development (LRAD), Micro-Agricultural Finance Scheme of South Africa (Mafisa), Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP) and so on.

Although there are concerted efforts on the part of government to promote representivity in leadership, the workplace and in business, some signs of prioritising men for leadership positions persist. 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. We are here today to free ourselves from the shackles of patriarchy and empower ourselves especially in the area of agriculture and land reform within the context of rural development.

Initiatives such as the Female Farmer of the Year should enable us to practically focus on sustainable projects and programmes that recognise and improve the efforts undertaken by women in improving the quality of life of our rural communities. This must lead to job creation and poverty alleviation.
Although we have come a long way since the days of the Black Administration Act, which kept women as perpetual minors, we continue to be excluded from the mainstream of the economy. However, it is not all gloom and we should therefore neither despair nor give up. The establishment of Women in Agriculture and Rural Development (WARDA) is but just one way for us as women to claw out of obscurity and be counted!

Ladies and gentlemen, I am convinced that with the determination and resilience that is inherent in us, government assistance and public private partnerships (PPP), Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative of South Africa (AsgiSA) the goal of halving unemployment and poverty by 2014 is achievable. As I have already said government is committed to paying particular attention to the concerns of women and youth. With regard to women the focus is on expanding and accelerating access to economic opportunities including skills development and finance.

As far as expanding women's access to economic opportunities, government, through AsgiSA is committed to:

* human resource training
* ensuring they have access to finance
* fast-tracking them out of the second economy
* ensuring their significant participation in agriculture and creative industries etc.

What we are striving for is for women to take a lead in agriculture, production, value adding processing, marketing and business development. Women should be organised to work in groups or co-operatives so that they can enjoy associated benefits such as bulk buying discounts, co-ordinated marketing and so on. As we engage in our discourse, let us not lose sight of the fact that we are not trying to reinvent the wheel here. We are simply following in the footsteps of women in other parts of the world who have already travelled this path. In deed our country South Africa is alive with possibilities. It is how we exploit those possibilities to our advantage that will make us better people.

I wish to conclude by congratulating all nominees for the provincial Female Farmer of the Year Awards. I am confident that tonight's award recipients will make us proud and bring back awards from the national leg of this competition. We should remember that agriculture is one of the main pillars of the economy in our province. I sincerely hope that through initiatives such as the Female Farmer of the Year Competition we will help to better organise and engage women for them to become active participants in the agricultural sector in the Free State.

This being the 51st Anniversary of Women's march, we join the rest of our country in Emancipation, Empowerment, Equality and Eradication of Poverty...Now!

I thank you.

Issued by: Office of the Premier, Free State Provincial Government
17 August 2007