The Minister of Land Affairs and Rural Development, Mzwanele Nyhontso, has urged women, particularly in the rural areas, to apply for land and farms from government.
Nyhontso was speaking in Rustenburg, North West on Tuesday during the commemoration of the International Day of Rural Women.
Commemoration of International Day of Rural Women
“As our beneficiary selection policy directs us, we are going to allocate 50% of the farms to rural women as our mission. We are encouraging particularly women who fall within the category of youth to apply for land,” he said.
The minister said women must use land to advance the year’s theme of “Rural Women
Cultivating Good Food for All”.
“As we all know, deliberately advancing gender equality is a vital component of proactively addressing harmful historical perceptions of rural women. We are convinced that, you, rural women, have been marginalised for too long,” added Nyhontso.
He said it was their task as the department to create the linkages for rural women. This through ensuring other departments prioritise equal access for rural women to lead. And for them to contribute to the economy as part of Gender Equality. He mentioned departments such as Transport, Water and Sanitation, Electricity and Communications.
Focusing on empowering rural women
“This day calls for action to rebuild global food systems from the ground up. Focusing on empowering rural women to produce and distribute diverse and healthy food. This initiative …on this day aligns with global efforts to support rural women’s livelihoods and leadership. With the goals of achieving zero poverty: hunger and gender equality,” said Nyhontso.
The Commission on Gender Equality’s 2024 survey paints a worrying picture. It found that only 1% of women are involved in the mining and quarrying sector. Only 7,3% in manufacturing, 2,3% in construction, 0,3% in the energy, gas and water supply sector. And only 2,2% in the transport sector and 21,5% in the wholesale-retail sector.
“[The department] has transferred land to over 71, 253 women. It has upskilled 5, 476 women through our National Rural Youth Services Corps. This represent 50% of the participants. On restitution-related land, 79, 820 female-headed households benefited from transfer of land or financial compensation,” he said.
