Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi: VUT Women's Dialogue

Programme Director, Ms Moreen Rathopo
Mayor of Sedibeng District Municipality, Cllr Lerato Maloka
Chairperson of council, Prof Radebe
Vice Chancellor & Principal of VUT, Prof Khehla Ndlovu
Vice Chancellor and Principal of Central University of Technology, Prof Pamela Dube
Deputy vice chancellor: Teaching and Learning at VUT, Dr Grace Kanakana
Chief Executive Officer & Country Director, Enactus South Africa, Ms Latetia De Wet
Executive Dean: Faculty of Applied & Computer Sciences, Prof Christa Grobler
Chief Executive Officer at VUT, Ms Nthanyiseni Dhumazi
Union and Student Representatives

Good Afternoon,
I am very pleased to join you this afternoon in this very important event focusing on women empowerment in a Month in which we celebrate women.

Despite the difficulties and the constraints that women face and experience in their daily lives, they have managed to break barriers and make their presence felt in the various spheres of society.

As we celebrate women who, against all odds, have managed to climb up the social ladder, we must, more vigorously fight to break the unnecessary barriers they have had to overcome.

While the women who have made it to the top must bear the responsibility of ensuring that they bring others with them, we must also remember the fight for gender equality is not only for women, it should be taken up by both men and women.

It was Charlotte Maxeke who said that “This work is not for yourself, kill that spirit of self, and do not live above your people but live with them. If you rise, bring someone with you”.

Let us adopt an approach that says with privilege comes responsibility. When we are given an opportunity to lead, as women, in whatever sphere of society we must understand that we have a responsibility to be agents of change.

We have an obligation to kill that spirit of self and ensure that we bring someone with us. Our efforts as individuals can move the needle but only so far, the work that needs to be done to achieve gender equality requires that we challenge the frameworks of power and change the rules to ensure that women benefit.

As we reflect on the past 30 years and more years of our democracy, it is also an opportunity to reflect on what programmes and actions have been undertaken for the advancement of women and the achievement of gender equality in critical areas of concern.

These critical areas include Women and poverty, education and training of Women, Women and health, violence against Women, Women and the economy, Women in power and decision-making, Institutional mechanism for the advancement of Women, and Human rights of Women and the Girl-child.

When we look at the various indicators that we use to measure the advancement of women in society, we still find that women are still at the bottom of the ladder.

Statistics show that Self-employed women are more likely to be in the informal sector, while self-employed men are predominantly in the formal sector.

The highest unemployment rates are among individuals aged between 25–34, with women facing higher rates than men. Among those with five or more children, the unemployment rate for men was 49,6% in 2024, while women stood at 56,7%. Black African women continue to be the most vulnerable with an unemployment rate of 40,2% in Quarter of 2025.

However, we must acknowledge there has also been significant progress in spheres of society.

According to Stats SA, management positions in the public sector are still predominantly held by men, although female representation has improved, especially in middle management.

The percentage of women in middle management (MMS) positions rose from 45,2% in 2019 to 46,4% in 2023, while senior management (SMS) roles saw an increase from 42,4% to 45,2% over the same period.

Younger women (aged 35 or under) are more likely to hold MMS and SMS positions than their male counterparts.

In the sector that I now have the privilege to lead, progress that has been made on gender transformation in the Judiciary. At the advent of our democracy in 1994, our Judiciary was comprised of 165 Judges of which 160 were white males, three black men and two white women. There was no black woman Judge in 1994.

Today, there are about 252 Judges in all the Superior Courts of which 131 are men and 121 women Judges.

Progress has been made however, more still needs to be done to ensure gender parity which we will vigorously pursue.

With regard to women leadership in the Judiciary, out of 15 Superior Courts, 6 of these courts are led by women inclusive of the Constitutional Court, the apex court and the Supreme Court of Appeal, the second highest court in the land.

The Magistracy has fared much better in terms of gender transformation in that of the 1724 magistrates, 934 are women. This means that 54% of the total number of magistrates are women.
In the same sector, women lawyers have not fared so well. Over the past thirty years of democracy, Black and female legal practitioners have not had access and opportunities to develop and practice in complex and specialised areas of the law such as commercial law, maritime law, private international law, competition law and the like.

Instead, it is common knowledge that most black and female legal practitioners often practice in the fields of labour, personal injury and family law.

As a result, it is difficult for female and black legal practitioners to develop successful and sustainable legal practices.

The result is that the proportion of those who leave practice is higher among female legal practitioners, especially black females.

What these discrepancies in the same sector reflect, is that where there has been a deliberate and conscious effort to effect gender equality progress has been made. A deliberate effort was made to promote women in the judiciary and the results are clear.

On the other hand, the sector was left to vagaries of the market in terms of transformation and hence, there has been very little progress in the transforming of the sector for the benefit of the previously disadvantaged groups especially women.

Generally, women in the workplace are faced with many challenges which include that:

Women are found in the Most vulnerable sectors with unsocial working hours on employees which are difficult to reconcile with family and care responsibilities.

Seasonal work can demand very high levels of time commitment during some parts of the year, while offering little or no work during the off-season.

Businesses can be located at some distance from residential areas, imposing both travel and time costs on women who frequently have limited access to both financial and time-flexibility resources.

Certain work areas are traditional male preserves in terms of employment opportunity and work culture, and this can act as a major barrier to female access and opportunity.

Women are frequently passed over for promotions.

Fundamentally, women will need to redefine the rules of the game for them to make inroads in the gender struggles which includes:
The political rules that mainly favour men.
The economic intricacies that are mainly defined were women are absent.
The rules of social intercourse whose main objective is to affirm the supremacy of men.

We have the power to change the rules and ensure that gender equality is achievable in our lifetime.

Where to from now? Of vital importance is the realisation that if societies don’t deliberately design gender conscious programmes to empower women, women will always fall behind.

To reverse centuries of gender discrimination and women marginalisation will require a concerted effort by both men and women to rid the world of all obstacles that still loom large in women’s road to progress.

Women emancipation cannot only be left to women; it is everyone’s business.

The UN report of gender equality and the labour market in South Africa made the following recommendations in terms what needs to be done to achieve gender equality:
An economy-wide approach needs to be taken to encourage the breaking down of gender segregation by promoting women’s participation in non-traditional fields and sectors, where they are underrepresented which can be done through targeted recruitment, training programmes, addressing discriminatory practices and making workplaces safer for women in traditionally “masculine” sectors.

Social protection policies, such as minimum wage legislation and social security benefits, can be effective if they consider the specific needs and vulnerabilities faced by women in the labour market.

The South African Government could strengthen existing legislation to ensure that women and men are entitled to equal remuneration for work of equal value.

It can introduce policies that support work–life balance, such as flexible working arrangements, setting an upper limit to the number of working hours in the week, parental leave where both parents are encouraged to take time off, and affordable and good-quality care for children, people with disabilities and the elderly, can encourage women to fully participate in the labour market.

Amongst other things the report also recognises that measured factors such as differences in motivation, bargaining power, social networks and labour-market discrimination, affect the gender pay gap in South Africa.

The effort we make to bring someone with us, is what will help women create the social networks they require to succeed in a world where the odds are stacked against them.

Let us kill the spirit of the self, when you rise, bring someone with you.

Malibongwe!

#GovZAUpdates