AfroVerdict

You Strike a Woman, You Strike a Rock: Women's Month SA

As August, the month dedicated to women in South Africa, comes to an end, your AfroVerdict host Viktor Anokhin sits down with Councilor Loyiso Masuku, a Member of the Mayoral Committee for Group, Corporate and Shared Services of the City of Johannesburg to get her opinion on the significance of Women's Month in South Africa.
Sputnik
South Africa celebrates Women's Month to pay due respect to the women who organized the Women's March in 1956 to address new pass laws for African women. Around 20,000 women of diverse backgrounds from all over South Africa gathered in the country's capital to present a petition to then-Prime Minister J.G. Strijdom.

"You must never be afraid to stand up and recognize that as women, we have the ability to to lead. We are pioneers in our own right. You, wherever you are, whichever country you are in, you are a leader, you're a caregiver, you are a giver, you shatter barriers with the ability to even mother and bring a life into this world," Loyiso Masuku said, delivering her message to women on the occasion.

Masuku explains that now the youth have "an opportunity to raise issues that can change the course of history." These challenges include "segregation, discriminatory policies" and "unequal education", amongst others.

"We've got a very important gender machinery in our country, mainly the Commission for Gender Equality, which looks at policy and advocacy. So we also use that opportunity to profile the work of the gender commission. There's also the Ministry for Women, Youth and People with Disabilities, which looks at monitoring and evaluation, and coordinating all efforts of government in order to deal with issues affecting women in our country," Masuku explains.

Women's Month is celebrated on a national level, with "official activities of the government" and top officials, including the president 'giving an address' to the nation.

"I would say to our woman across, honor your strength, your resilience, honor your country's constitution," Loyiso Masuku says.

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