President Cyril Ramaphosa will deliver the keynote address at the National Women’s Day commemoration at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Wednesday.
The main event which was supposed to take place in Khayelitsha on the Cape Flats was cancelled due to the ongoing taxi strike in the Western Cape.
The event will kick off with a walk from Sammy Marks Square to the south lawns at the Union Buildings where the official programme will commence.
The walk symbolises that of 1956 when 20 000 women marched to the Union Buildings in protest against pass laws.
The government says Khayelitsha being deemed a high-risk area necessitated the changes.
Gender-based violence
The Women’s Legal Centre says Parliament needs to sharpen its legislative teeth if it wants to have an adequate impact in the fight against gender-based violence.
It says while institution has implemented significant reforms over the past years, it however needs to drastically apply its constitutional responsibility of oversight.
Advocate Bronwyn Pithey from the Centre who is responsible for the Violence Programme says, “The issue is really that parliament in the forms of their various committees are not necessarily providing enough oversight in the implementation of legislation, in the sense that they are not scrutinising legislation closely enough to ensure whether to real see its affecting the lives of women on a day to day basis.”
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More needs to be done
Some political parties say while they appreciate reforms aimed at ending gender-based violence, more needs to be done. President Ramaphosa recently signed three pieces of legislation as part of strengthening the fight against gender-based violence.
The ATM says this year’s Women’s month must make further policies aimed at addressing gender-based violence, a priority. The party’s Member of Parliament Thandiswa Marawu who serves the Portfolio Committee on Multi-Party Women’s Caucus says effective measures are necessary in fighting gender-based violence.
“As the ATM we commend the traction made by parliament on the protection of the rights of women and children through the enactment of the legislative reforms aimed at curbing this abnormally. And we appreciate the adoption of the strategic framework by the multi-party women’s caucus which is gaining fruition. But we maintain the stance that it is not enough because it must be accompanied by deliberate action by parliament as the voice of the people and the direct link between the people that is the constituency and the executive. We need to see more of sector parliaments that is women, youth, men, civil society and religious organisations that will assist in being change drivers in being enforcers of moral regeneration initiatives.”
-Additional reporting by Abongwe Kobokoane.
