As we sit here today, government is working, it is working at a political level, it is working at the managerial level, it is working at the operational level and it is working at a service delivery level. Yet people are sometimes in doubt about whether this government is working. This government is stable and it is delivering. Everyday in the news papers there are those who want to give the impression that this government is falling apart. What month are we in? You know it is women's month and you know that during women's month we must deal with serious challenges facing women. But there are others who only want to focus on what will be happening in September, beyond women's month.
They are not concerned about the status of women. They are only worried about how they can grab power in September. The only way they can grab power is to convince you that those who have power are unstable. I can tell you, you have nothing to worry about, we are working, and we are focusing on what is important for women and all other vulnerable people in our province and that is why you have been invited here today, so that we can deliberate on those issues that specifically affect women.
As Minister Mqulwana has said, we have set a vision for the Western Cape. We say a Western Cape a home for all, die Wes Kaap is n tuiste vir Almal, Intshona Koloni likhaya lethu sonke. Why we saying that?
We are not saying that it is a home for all. We are saying it must become a home for all. We are not saying that as everyone sitting here is accepted as the Capetonians. We are saying we must create conditions so that we can all be citizens of the Western Cape. We are not saying that the problem is only racial divisions in terms of Africans, Colored, Indians and whites. We are not saying, that the problem in the Western Cape is only linguistic, English, Afrikaans and Isixhosa. We are not saying it is only religious between different religious groups that we have to build unity. We know that there are complex challenges that must be dealt with and women too, must feature as a top priority.
Through out the 365 days of the year, our biggest challenge is to ensure that the Western Cape also becomes a home for women and their children. We may have racial tensions in the Western Cape, but the courts are not full of black people who have been assaulted by white people. We may have religious differences in this province, but the mortuaries are not full of those who were killed because they were from another religion. We may have language problems, but I have not heard of a Xhosa speaker assaulting an Afrikaans speaker. The fact of the matter is, we know that there are women who are beaten by men. There are women murdered by men, women raped by men, women abused by men. The mortuaries show us this evidence, hospital shows us this evidence and the courts show us, that there are some who silently bear the scars in their own homes.
I want to emphasize that the Western Cape must become a home for all, that it must especially be a home for women because the mortuaries, the hospitals, the courts, police stations and the silence in the homes tell us, that the Western Cape probably is not a home for women. They do not feel safe, they are not equal, they are not recognized, they are hidden away, denied education, denied opportunities, denied the ability even is some cases, to have their voices heard and their faces seen. And if we want to make the Western Cape a home for all, we have to deal with issues related to the rights and unequal status of women in this province.
I read a very important quote that I want to share with you, by someone called Richard Rorty, because I think it begins to give us a way forward about how we can make the Western Cape a home for all but especially for women. Richard wrote this and I quote -
"In my utopia, human solidarity would not be seen as a fact to be recognised by clearing away prejudice or burrowing down to previously hidden depths but, rather, as a goal to be achieved. It is to be achieved not by inquiry but by imagination, the imaginative ability to see strange people as fellow sufferers. Solidarity is not discovered by reflection but created. It is created by increasing our sensitivity to the particular details of the pain and humiliation of other, unfamiliar sorts of people".
Rorty tells us that human solidarity is not achieved by enquiry, not by means of research, not by means of asking questions, not by means of statistics. It is achieved by imagination. The imaginative ability to put ourselves in the position of those who are different to ourselves, and to see them as fellow sufferers. Sometimes you do not suffer yourself, but you have to put yourself into the being of someone else, to imagine their suffering. Solidarity is also not discovered by reflection, it must be created, you must build it, you must work for it. Rorty says that solidarity is created by increasing our insensitivity to the deepest of the pain and humiliation of other unfamiliar sorts of people.
The President also emphasized this point when he visited the province during the Imbizo focus week when he gave us the task to build non-racialism and in this case I would say we must build non-sexism. I can give you many ideas of building equality between groups of people. In this case between men and women. The President asked us Coloureds, Africans, Whites and Indians, to put ourselves in the shoes of the other one, and try to imagine how they feel, then maybe, we will be able to understand other people different to ourselves and be able to live with them. We must make a call to men: put yourself in the shoes of women, try to imagine the pain and humiliation they feel with every abusive act, with every incident of emotional blackmail. Try to imagine the humiliation that must be felt, the loss of confidence that must be felt, the inequality that must be felt, the pain and the suffering that must be felt.
Sometimes we believe we can just do what we want to our partner, as if there are no consequences in the soul of the person we have just broken emotionally. Sometimes when we come home both of us have been working, we believe that it is our right to go to the T.V or the Newspaper and it is only their job to look after the children and the food. We do not even begin to imagine what message we are sending, of humiliation, of pain and of slavery. So the point is, if this province is going to become a home for all, then more men must begin to imagine what goes on in the soul of a woman when we appropriate for ourselves the right to come home when we want to and to beat our women when they come home late. When we have for ourselves the right to refuse, but beat them when they exercise the right to refuse whether it is for sex, or money or whatever else the case may be.
While all of those things go on, we do not have a home for all. In fact the house in which he lives with her, is not even a home for the woman. She is not even tolerated there but abused there because she is not an owner of the home. So the question we must ask is how do we move towards this home for all women? The starting point must be, by asserting that women is South Africa are not asking men for favors, they are not asking us to be kind to them. Women have earned the right to be free and equal in this country. Because 51 years ago, they had the courage to march to Pretoria, when men were either in jail, going into exile or sometimes too lazy or afraid to get up and take the bus or train to Pretoria to march to the Union Buildings.
The best gift we must give to women is what they have earned: equality, fairness, safety, justice and dignity. That is the gift that must be given. Flowers are nice, they are romantic and there is a place for it, but they are not a substitute for equality, for dignity, for safety and for freedom. Chocolates are nice, but they are not a substitute for equality, for dignity, for freedom and for liberation. Perfume is nice but sometimes men buy it for themselves, so that women could wear it for them. I was very shocked to look at the statistics of TIK, because suddenly, you have a drug that women are also becoming drawn to. About 30% of those who use TIK are women. The question that is asked of women, why are you using TIK? And again, we have to reflect on the answers that many women have given. They say it is because it makes you thin. What does that mean? It means that there is a lot of pressure on women to look like Kate Moss and other celebrities, while men are permitted by society, to be comfortable with whatever physical appearance they choose.
So we must recognize the pressure that we put on women, this pressure to be thin, to be a model, otherwise we have the right to cheat. Otherwise we have the right to take another wife, otherwise we have the right to a divorce, otherwise we have the right to beat them, because when I married you, you were thin but look at you now. If we can only imagine the humiliation, imagine the insecurity, imagine the pain, imagine the suffering, imagine the pressure, we should be able to act differently. We cannot ignore these statistics that tell us, that many women only use TIK because someone told them that if you use it, you will lose your appetite and lose weight. But this is not true because what you are losing is not the weight. What you are losing is yourself, your dignity in trying to hold on to a husband who may have already decided that he wants to be unfaithful. The answer is not TIK. The answer is what you do about the relationship between husband and wife, between partners in a relationship. We have to open up these discussions otherwise it can never be a home for all in the Western Cape especially not for women.
I want to emphasize the point that what we are dealing with here is patriarchy, it is the domination of men over women, not necessarily only personally, but in the structures of society, in the structures of our religion, in the structures of our social institutions, in the structures of the work place, in the structures of government, in the structures of everything that moves in the world. All of us in South Africa have become very good detectors of racism.
Even if someone does not use the word Kaffir, we can understand when there is something racist about what is just being said. Even if they kill you with kindness we can understand when they are patronizing you in a racial way. We have to be able to get a sense that also alerts us to sexism and patriarchy. For sometimes we feel flattered when they say kind things to us but sometimes we must know they are patronizing us.
We sometimes get carried away by a Priest or Imam who stands up to say that women are the most honored in our religion, that our religion has put women first, but everything that is done is to say: know your place, bring the food, we do not want you to be heard, you should be seen but not heard. For your protection do not go out, for your protection do not work, for your protection do not go to university. It is all covered up in this kindness to women, for their protection. That must be the constrict of the century that women must deny themselves opportunities for their own protection.
How do we uncover this false kindness? How do we role back this patriarchy because while it might sound kind, it actually pushes women back. Because there are many men who believe that it is their right to be beat women and they will want to point to the scriptures to try and prove their point. We need leaders of faith to categorically say: it is unacceptable, it is not allowed, we disagree with people who interpret the scriptures in a way that allows them to oppress women. They have to say it because we know what is happening in our homes, just to make sure that she is disciplined.
There are some who do not lift the hands but their tongues are sharper than any hands can be. Because they know that human beings thrive on confidence, on self-esteem, the self-belief in your own self in your own worth. So the tongue is used to strip you of every bit of confidence, every bit of esteem, every bit of self-belief. It is probably sometimes more dangerous than the first.
The silent threat that I can walk out when I want to, I can cheat when I want to, is probably one of the greatest disciplining tools in the hands of a man and it is difficult to lay a charge. So how do we deal with it and that is not only about what the police can do? Minister Mqulwana has said that, these are not challenges for the police, these are not only challenges for the court, these are challenges that require women themselves to come together, to speak about it, because sometimes it is so easy to divide and rule anyone.
The woman who gets beaten and speaks Xhosa, the one who speaks Afrikaans, the one who speaks English, the language difference is more important than the fact that they need a common approach to the violence and humiliation that they all suffer. Muslim women, Christian women, Jewish women know the humiliation of physical abuse, but no one speaks to each other.
No religion could want a man to beat a woman. But Christian women do not speak to Muslim and Jewish women because the Muslim and the Jewish do not communicat,e as long as what is happening in Israel and Palestine persists irrespective of the suffering here. How do we create the common platform? How do we create the common platform that creates one powerful voice for all women beyond cultural and racial barriers in order for us to begin to turn around this patriarchy that is in society?
As government we know that you may theoretically understand what the women go through, as I theoretically have explained to you on my understanding as a man. But unless you have a critical mass of women in leadership, politically, managerially, operationally, you are not going to get a critical mass understanding of what to do. Sometimes women think that to get on in life they must act like men. That is not what society needs. Women do not have to act like men to excel in life. Society needs the balance between what women bring and what men bring. Things go wrong for all women when women also believe that it is their job or they are free to humiliate other women. That is why in rape cases for example alleged rapists increasingly ask women lawyers to cross-examine the victim. They are trying to confuse the justice system. So women have to speak to each other.
You can be coloured, white, Indian or African but you have to speak to each other about the common experiences. You can be Xhosa speaking, English speaking, Afrikaans speaking but you have to speak the common language that women speak. You can be Muslim Christian, Hindu or Jewish but you have to speak across the divisions that exist. That is why as government, we are building a critical mass, we are not there yet, however we have come to a very important milestone in government in the Western Cape. Local Government and Housing for the last two years have been led by a woman. Economic Development and training for the last few months has been led by a woman, and surprise! Surprise! Agriculture is now led by a woman, the major change that we made this month, is that the Acting Director General of the whole Province, for the first time in the Western Cape is now a woman. And that must begin to create the imaginative capacity within government to understand women, to imagine the pain and humiliation and act on it.
There are many fancy things that we can say about patriarchy and sexism and related issues. But I grew up as a Muslim, I therefore want to leave you with a verse from the Quran in which God says I have blown of my spirit into you. I have found this very fascinating. For me, more than the theory was the basis of non-racialism, that we all carry God's spirit. I was very surprised a few months ago when I stumbled upon the first epistle of John which says "who ever lives in love lives in God and God in them" and then it ends up by saying, "this you must know, I have given you of my spirit".
In the Old Testament, which the Jews read, in Isaiah there is much the same message about God, placing his spirit into every human being. The Qur'an has a similar scripture with the same message. Now if Muslims, Christians and Jews all agree that every human being carries God's spirit in them, if each one of us, is a bearer of a part of the great spirit of God, then we must treat each other not simply as human beings but also as those who carry part of the spirit of God. That must be the basis for human solidarity, that we recognize the Devine in each one of us, in each other, irrespective of your color, your language or your gender.
The respect that we must have for each other is the respect that comes because we also respect the Devine in you, no matter how angry we become, before you can do anything about that anger, you must recognize the Devine of the one that you are angry with. That must be the thing that holds you back from the violence, from the abuse, from the rape and violating women. God says you do not violate those who carry the spirit of God.
I am hoping that the things that I have said will open up a debate, so that we all know that no matter where we live on the landscape of the Western Cape from Gugulethu, to Mannenburg, Parow, Rylands we all carry similar burdens. Maybe what we can create amongst ourselves in our communities, religious groups and society broadly is the ability to start speaking to each other about the common things. It is not only happening in your own community, it is not only happening in your own religion, it s not only happening in your own race, it is not only happening in your own language group. More importantly, it is not only happening to you. It is only when we speak about it that can we do something about this scourge that requires the strength of all women in unity and the rest of society across all cultures, languages, faiths and traditions to help us make the Western Cape a home for women.
