Malibongwe!

On behalf of the provincial government and the people of KwaZulu-Natal, we wish to welcome our national government led by President Ramaphosa to mark Women’s Day here in Richmond.

We welcome you kwelikaMthaniya, the land of Mkabayi kaJama, of Queen Nandi Mother to King Shaka, Princess Magogo, mother to Umntwana wakwaPhindange, and our late Regent Queen Mantfombi Zulu, mother to His Majesty King Misizulu kaBhekuzulu.

We pride ourselves to call this part of the land, the land of Mthaniya, a woman from the Sibiya’s who bore King Jama the heir to the Zulu throne, King Senzangakhona who became father of all the famous and legendary Zulu Kings.

Sibala kuwo – iLembe eleqa amanye amalembe ngokukhalipha, uNodumehlezi kaMenzi; iSilo uDingane (uVez’Unonyanda uMgabadeli owagabadela inkundla kaBulawayo); iSilo uMpande (uMsimude ovela ngesiluba phakathi kwaMangisi namaQadasi) and father to King Cetshwayo, uJinindi omnyama wakithi owaguqisa amaNgisi empini yaseSandlwana.

The agency and power of women is recorded in the history of the Ingcugce Regiment during the reign of King Cetshwayo. The centrality of women in Zulu society is also to be found in the reverence given to the Zulu goddess of fertility and agriculture, uNomkhubulwane.

Mr President, not far from where we are today, we have the historic town of Ixopo whose legendary beauty is captured in the opening of Alan Paton’s 1948 Novel, “Cry the Beloved Country” which was translated to isiZulu by your namesake, Professor Cyril Nyembezi, to Laf’ elihle Kakhulu.

As we note the many challenges that face the land of Mthaniya, our province and our country, we read with a sense of nostalgia Alan Paton’s famous opening: “There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. … The grass is rich and matted, you cannot see the soil. It holds the rain and the mist, and they seep into the ground, feeding the streams in every kloof. It is well-tended, and not too many cattle feed upon it; not too many fires burn it, laying bare the soil. Stand unshod upon it, for the ground is holy, being even as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares for men. Destroy it and man is destroyed'.

We wish to applaud your government Mr President for choosing our province and Richmond to celebrate Women’s Day in 2022.

Richmond is regarded as the fruit and vegetable basket of KwaZulu-Natal and we know that this day will go far in supporting women, the youth, and citizens with disabilities to take advantage of the myriad of opportunities in the agriculture value chain, the waste economy, as well as the opportunities in clean, renewable energy. It must be a day that unites us to fight environmental degradation and to be climate-resilient in the face of global warming.

In this regard, we wish to applaud the Ministry of Women, Children, and People with Disabilities who during the launch of Women’s Month on 1 August in Durban decided to use the day to focus on the opportunities that are available to women, the youth and people with disabilities in the waste economy.

The 2022 Women’s Month theme of “Women’s Socio-Economic Rights and Empowerment: Building Back Better for Women’s Resilience!” is thus opportune and must be welcomed.

The devastation and challenges brought about by COVID-19, the July 2021 civil unrest, and the April and May floods disproportionately affected the women of our province. It is women and girls who got more exposed to abuse and violence at the height of the coronavirus pandemic and the July inferno. It is women who remain the face of poverty, underdevelopment and pain when extreme weather patterns visit our province and country. In all of this, we continue to draw inspiration from the fortitude and resilience of the women of KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa.

Instead of lamenting the plethora of challenges that are well known including the despicable and shameful crisis of violence perpetrated against women, the 2022 Women’s Month theme allows us to focus on eliminating the conditions that enable gender-based violence to thrive.

Evidence-based research has been showing that it is gender inequality that is at the heart of the abuse of vulnerable women. It is for this reason, that on Women’s Day, we call upon the whole of society not to pay lip service to the noble and just cause to attain Generation Equality and the emancipation of women from socio-economic bondage.

It is a serious blight on the heroic struggles of the generation of 1956 that confronted Strydom about the diabolical pass laws that stripped Africans of their dignity.

We owe it to generations of freedom stalwarts like Charlotte Maxeke, Ida Mtwana, Lilian Masediba Ngoyi, Dorothy Nomzansi Ngoyi, Rahima Moosa, Phyllis Naidoo, Helen Joseph, Ruth First, Albertina Nonsikelelo Sisulu, Winnie Nomzamo Madikizela-Mandela, Phila Portia Ndwandwe, Victoria Mxenge, Isithwalandwe Sophie Williams- de Bruyn and many more.

It remains the task of the National Democratic Revolution to create a united, non-racial, non-sexist, equal, and prosperous society. Side by side with the people of KwaZulu-Natal, we are on a journey to meet the demands in the 1954 Women’s Charter by the Federation of South African Women (FEDSAW) and those in the Freedom Charter as articulated by the ANC-led Congress of the People in 1955.

The Province of KwaZulu-Natal will continue to be steadfast in implementing set-asides targeting women, the youth, and people with disabilities in specific industries.

Delivering the State of the Province Address in February 2022, Premier Sihle Zikalala insisted that the KwaZulu-Natal Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan must put women and the youth at the centre of rebuilding back and better.

In this regard, the Province undertook to ensure that in the next window of Operation Vula Funding, no less than 50% should go to fund women-owned enterprises with the potential of job creation. We will continue to build on the excellent foundation laid by the Premier to drive radical economic transformation in favour of blacks in general and Africans in particular.

Through our successful implementation of export-led growth, the Black Industrialist Programme, the KZN Youth Empowerment Fund initiative, and the Radical Socio-Economic Transformation (RASET), we seek to create more economic empowerment opportunities for black women and black youth in KwaZulu-Natal. We are determined to pursue our vision of mainstreaming gender equality and that by 2024, at least 50% of public procurement should go to women-owned enterprises.

On Women’s Day, we make an impassioned, clarion call to all the good men of our province to take a lead in the fight against the scourge of GBV and Femicide. It will take men themselves to impart good values to boy children.

We urge young girls to take advantage of the education and skilling opportunities that this democratic government is providing. Among them, we want to see leaders in science, technology, engineering, medicine, the arts, sports, and politics. We condemn those men who take advantage of young girls and get them impregnated at a young age.

To our girls, please avoid peer pressure, be patient, and use this time to acquire skills so that you can improve your lives and those of your loved ones instead of depending on men or the so-called Blessers. Use protection to prevent unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. And remember, HIV is no longer a death sentence, you can live a healthy productive life if you test and take ARV treatment.

We need to revisit sexist and patriarchal attitudes that end up making men treat women as their objects, as inferiors, or as second-class citizens. We urge parents, including mothers, to be active in bringing up boys who will honour and respect the dignity of girls and women. We invite our religious leaders, traditional leaders, and citizens with a public profile to this fight against GBV. We thank our stars in the creative sector and media personalities who are taking a stand against GBV.

Yes, we must tighten the laws.

Yes we must ensure that offenders get heavy sentences that will deter the crime of GBV and Femicide.

And yes, as government and society, we must support victims of GBV instead of blaming them or discriminating against them as if they are the cause of the violence.

But the crimes of GBV are often committed by people known to women, in the comfort of our homes, in bedrooms and boardrooms – literally everywhere. It is a crime that policing and laws alone cannot fix. Our generation needs to get on the greatest campaign of our lives – to build the new South African man – a model man who detests violence, a man who honours the dignity and humanity of women.

It is still possible.

We cannot procrastinate.

We dare not linger.

Not long ago in this land of our mother, Mthaniya, women were honoured, revered, and they led from the front as Queen Mkabayi did. All over Africa, we have many of these stellar examples of women who were cherished and who led powerful Kingdoms.

We cannot just say “Lafa Elihle Kakhulu” or “Cry the Beloved Country” as the title of Alan Paton’s book moaned.

It is in our hands and we can like the generation of women from all walks of life that marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 change the course of history, end GBV, and make Generation Equality a reality.

To succeed, we need a serious cultural revolution that will remind us of our values of human solidarity, of Ubuntu nokuhlonipha isithunzi somuntu.

Without such a cultural revolution and sustained moral regeneration programme, there can be no economic renaissance that will lift all South Africans, black women in particular, from the indignity of poverty, want, and violence.

Please allow me to conclude these remarks by citing the “Mother of Black Freedom in South Africa”, Charlotte Maxeke, a title she was given by ANC President Dr A B Xuma. It is the pioneering mama Maxeke who challenged men and said:

"We want men who are the salvation of the young girls of their nation, who can depend on their presence; we need men who will humble themselves, so that the nation may lift them up to be the stars of Africa for future generations. That is what Africa wants. That is what the women of Africa are weeping and praying for."

Once again, welcome and we look forward to getting our marching orders as a country from His Excellency President Ramaphosa in his keynote address!

Together Growing KwaZulu-Natal!

Igama lamakhosikazi malibongwe!