With South Africa officially assuming the G20 Presidency, government is looking forward to rallying the world against all forms of gender-based violence and exploitation of women, through the Working Group on Women Empowerment.
Addressing the closing event for the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence gainst Women and Children campaign at Ntsimbini Sports Ground in Port St John’s in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday, Minister in the Presidency for Women, Children and Persons with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, announced a range of socio-economic interventions to transition vulnerable women to income-generating activities.
Chikunga said economic empowerment was incomplete without women’s meaningful access to land, which was the basis of all economic activity and a source of dignity.
The catalytic interventions for the economic empowerment of women include prioritising transferring productive land and productive assets to women for commercial purposes.
Working with Transnet Properties, Chikunga said over 20 sites have been identified in Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, spanning over six district municipalities.
The sites will be leased to women at highly-subsidised rates, enabling them to develop sustainable enterprises.
“We are actively identifying more sites across all nine provinces, [and] we have also partnered with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) to create a value-chain-driven Agricultural Cooperatives Model.
“By leveraging the CSIR’s intellectual property and advanced technologies, including precision agriculture, this model will equip and prepare women farmers for market success.
“The Minister of Finance recently announced that public procurement makes up around 19% of government spending, totalling R1.5 trillion over the next three years. I have tasked the Women’s Economic Assembly to assemble a team of experts that will dissect Public Procurement and Gender-Responsive Supply Chains to ensure that a minimum of 40% of that R1.5 trillion goes to women-owned businesses,” Chikunga said.
The department was also rethinking financial support structures and incentives.
Chikunga said women-owned businesses do not just need contracts, but the resources to deliver on their contracts and build sustainable enterprises.
While South Africa recognised the important symbiotic relationship between promoting women in science, building equitable societies, and the advancement of humanity, Chikunga noted that currently, women make up less than a third of the workforce across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers.
She said confronting the historical and ongoing exclusion of women from STEM would be a priority for the department.
“We will be developing tangible programmes and campaigns that are needed to correct societal and cultural beliefs that use gender stereotypes to perpetuate scientific inequality. Science and humanity suffer when women are excluded from STEM.
“We also intend to leverage the potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Emerging Digital Technologies to improve the wellbeing and prospects of persons living with disabilities,” Chikunga said.
The Minister added that the South African government was looking forward to planning and executing catalytic legacy projects and interventions in collaboration with the G20 family and partners in areas including women in high-tech industries, women in the agricultural value chains, women in the oceans economy, logistics, pharmaceutical industries, and the creative industries. – SAnews.gov.za
