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16 August 2008

Programme director
Executive mayor of Waterberg district, Councillor Pinkie Kekana
Mayors and councillors
Traditional leadership
Ladies and gentlemen.

We have gathered here to salute the millions of heroic South African women who engaged in struggle both before and after 9 August 1956, to whom we owe the freedom we enjoy today. We are therefore meeting here to recommit ourselves to the pledge we made as we fought to defeat the apartheid regime, that South Africa will not be free until the women of our country are free.

I am glad that today we have among us people from the younger generations that did not have to carry the burden of our struggle for liberation. Their presence here communicates the firm message that the generation of 1956 has succeeded to pass on to its children and grandchildren the determination to struggle for freedom and a better life, which brought thousands of women to the Union Buildings in 1956.

Our freedom is only fourteen years old. During these short years of democracy we have seen how easy it is for many of us to forget the enormous sacrifices that were made to bring about our liberation.

We should never forget that our mothers and sisters who marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 did so despite the fact that they knew that the apartheid regime would respond to their demands with violence and repression.

When we say malibongwe igama lamakhosikazi we say so because the women of our country were found everywhere in the front ranks of those who fought for the liberation of our country and people.

They responded magnificently to the challenge thrown at the feet of the men folk by the late Lillian Ngoyi, when she said, "We don't want men who wear skirts under their trousers. If they don't want to act, let us women exchange garments with them."

Women did not sacrifice their lives only to continue living as second class citizens in a free South Africa. They did not fight for the liberation of this country to be told, in a liberated South Africa, that there are special positions reserved for men only.

Accordingly, as government business and civil society we should even today ask ourselves as to what have we done in the past 14 years to remove all laws, regulations, conventions and customs that discriminate against women. We should answer the question honestly what have we done to remove obstacles that militate against women's progress in society and deprive them of their inherent right to the advantages, responsibilities and opportunities which other members of our society enjoy.

This I must also say that all of us know very well that we can put all the measures in place for the advancement of women, we can achieve impressive targets in ensuring that women occupy, as they should any position of authority in the public and private sectors yet as long as we do not stop women abuse, domestic violence, the rape of children, young and old women, we should know that we are still far from achieving the critical goal of the emancipation of women.

I would therefore like to take advantage of this important occasion once more to call on the leaders of all sectors of our society religious leaders, traditional leaders, community leaders, educators, health workers, political leaders, sports people and cultural workers everyone to be part of the programme to help eradicate the sickness that results in the abuse and murder of women and children.

This challenge faces not only government, the police and social workers. It confronts all of us as South Africans.

The Department of Health and Social Development has a strong conviction that women have the right to enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, hence the careful and considerate selection of health service delivery options. The enjoyment of this right is vital to their life and well being and their ability to participate in all areas of public and private life.

A major barrier for women to the achievement of the highest attainable standard of health is inequality, both between women and men and among women in different geographical regions, social classes and indigenous and ethnic groups. Women are affected by many of the same health conditions as men, but women experience them differently.

The prevalence among women of poverty and economic dependence, their experience of violence, negative attitudes towards women and girls and other forms of discrimination, the limited power many women have over their sexual and reproductive lives, and lack of influence in decision-making are social realities which have an adverse effect on their health.

It is therefore of vital importance that women get involved and take the lead in ensuring their participation in planning and decision making processes that will contribute towards improving accessibility and provision of adequate healthcare services. They are best placed to guide the government to design and implement gender sensitive health programmes that address the needs of women throughout their lives and take into account their multiple roles and responsibilities.

The demands on their time, the special needs of rural women and women with disabilities and the diversity of women's needs arising from age and socio economic and cultural differences.

Secondly, as the programme indicates, we have organised this function so that we are able to focus attention on consolidating and strengthening healthy lifestyle programmes throughout the province during the national women's month. The theme for this year's Embrace your Womanhood.

This campaign should enable us to celebrate achieved milestones, reflect on current efforts and challenges concerning legislation, policies and programmes developed and established thus far. In addition, we want to intensify current efforts, through interrogating the role healthcare providers play in implementing health programmes throughout the province. This includes making sure those health workers themselves, the majority of which are women, are empowered through quality healthcare.

This will be done by pampering you with services such as clinical testing for sugar, hypertension and body massaging etc, to make sure you feel good and remain healthy mentally, physically and spiritually.

However, at this point, I would like to use this opportunity to briefly draw your attention to what the department is doing to improve the health status of all women. I hope that after this campaign you will become ambassadors of the department and explain to your clients at service level and communities about our programmes and policy interventions to improve the lives of people.

This year's August celebrations are running under the theme "All power to women". This theme, although encouraging, clearly indicates that there are still many battles to be won before we can achieve the full emancipation of women and gender equality in all spheres of our lives.

The many battles to be fought include the persisting unemployment, poverty, diseases and poor health, deliberate and calculated violence against women and children, and the difficult circumstances of vulnerable groups such as the women with disabilities and orphans to mention but a few.

Despite these challenges, our government can certainly take pride in the tremendous efforts that have been made to improve the status of women. Government has passed several pieces of legislation to support a wide range of initiatives in the quest for gender equality and equity.

We continue to provide free primary healthcare to all and free healthcare to pregnant women, and children less than six years of age. The provision of these services is now a legal requirement enshrined in the National Health Act. The issue of fees for services is a gender issue as many women still live in conditions of poverty and are therefore, unable to pay for basic health services.

The Department of Health has made efforts to ensure that health services respond to the needs of women, including making reproductive health services available and accessible to all women in the province.

We are intensifying the implementation of the expanded programme on immunisation, integrated management of childhood illnesses and school health services to improve the health of our children. More than 77% of our health facilities were providing services to reduce the risk of mother to child transmission of HIV by the end of last year and these services are being expanded to other facilities.

We have made strides in extending family planning and other services that empower women. The effects of contraceptives on unwanted pregnancy cannot be underestimated. Hence the department has developed contraceptive service delivery guidelines.

The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act enables women to obtain termination of pregnancy services at public health facilities. While this is a reproductive health concern, it is also a gender issue. Women are sometimes not in a position to prevent unwanted pregnancies, because of inequality in sexual relationships.

We continue to empower women to prevent the spread of communicable diseases such as HIV and AIDS, tuberculosis (TB) and malaria. We are encouraging women to lead healthy lifestyles and undergo health screening to reduce the risk of acquiring non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension.

Efforts are also being made to protect women from violence and comprehensive services for care of survivors of sexual violence are being expanded. The Department of Health is also providing services for screening of breast and cervical cancer which affects many women. We should ensure that we use these services to prevent serious health damage and deaths caused by these diseases.

Programme director, I want to conclude by thanking our partners in this programme of healthy life style campaign which are Vodacom, Uniliver, Rubicon and Virgin Active who are informed by this encompassing vision around common developmental objectives, and I call other sectors particularly private to join in to have a healthy living society within the province.

Halala makhosikazi, halala!
Wathint' abafazi, wathint' imbokodo!
Malibongwe igama lamakhosikazi!

I thank you

Issued by: Department of Health and Social Development, Limpopo Provincial Government
16 August 2008
Source: Limpopo Provincial Government (http://www.limpopo.gov.za/prov_dept/health_socialdev/)