The City of Cape Town is proud of our City Police. The visible policing by our ctcp [Cape Town City Police] have been of great assistance to other law enforcement agencies.
The special training programme at the Municipal Police Training College in Philippi does not make special or separate provision, for our police women, who go through similar training as their male counterparts. Therefore, we are especially proud of our women in uniform. Women in uniform's presence is very precious to us.
Yes, August is Women's Month. But, Women's Month should not only be for 31 days of the year, but should be celebrated for 365 days of the year!
Gender discrimination was always a level of discrimination in South Africa. Both black and white women were excluded from economic empowerment - including business opportunities and high-level jobs -simply because of their gender.
One of the strengths of the South African Constitution is its equality clause. This clause protects, in particular, the interests of groups, formerly marginalised and discriminated against.
In his state-of-the-nation address, earlier this year, President Mbeki was very clear about what needed to be done to ensure that South Africatruly belongs to all who live in it, black and white.
We meet in our second decade of freedom - a decisive decade for us, as a country, and as a city.
We have, as our foundation, the huge achievement of the first 11 years. We now need to realise the extraordinary potential of our nation. We need to truly become the beacons of development, democracy and social harmony for the world that we can be. But, we will need to work very hard to do this.
I have witnessed that, through more representative women in the legislative structures, our laws are now more humane and caring -especially on the socio-economic issues.
Mr Nelson Mandela, in his presidential inaugural speech, at that time,said the following, and I quote:
"It is vitally important that all structures of government..... should fully understand... freedom cannot be achieved, unless women have beenemancipated from all forms of oppression.... unless we see visible andpractical terms that the condition of women in our country has radically changed for the better, and that they have been empowered in all spheres of life as equals...." unquote
Local Government is the sphere of government that is closest tocommunities. The services, provided by municipalities to communities, can make a significant change to their living conditions. It is Local Government's moral and legal responsibility to engage in a gender equality approach in all its policies, programmes and projects, in order to ensure fairness.
I argue that the presence of women, also in your field, enriches life towards a more caring, compassionate society. A society which cannot properly care for the most vulnerable, cannot take pride in being a healthy society.
We cannot, as adults, be proud of the successes we have achieved, if we do not have the guarantee that the continuity of our success, is going to be made by young women.
I will stand up for that right.
Issued by:Directorate: Communication And Marketing
City of Cape Town
Email: media@capetown.gov.za
Tel: 021 400-2201
Fax: 021 957 0023
