President Cyril Ramaphosa has said government will support businesses owned by women as part of the fight against gender-based violence.
In his weekly message, the president said financial independence was key in fighting against gender-based violence. Ramaphosa said the economic status of women in South Africa made them vulnerable to abuse.
“… Our investment in infrastructure must support not only the development of local industry, but also women-owned businesses. It must deliberately create employment opportunities for women in all stages of planning, financing, building and maintaining infrastructure,” he said.
“By the same measures, as we scale up our public employment programmes, we must ensure that young women in particular are identified as participants. In addition to an income, these programmes will provide them with an opportunity to acquire some of the skills and experience necessary to enter the mainstream economy,” he added.
Ramaphosa said the government wanted to ensure that women have access to land. He said it was significant that R75m is earmarked for farming input vouchers and 53% beneficiaries would be rural women.
Women still faced harassment, violence and bore the greatest burden of poverty, Ramaphosa said.
“It is up to us – both men and women – to affirm that a woman’s value, position and opinions are no less than that of a man. It is up to us as parents and grandparents to treat and raise our sons and our daughters the same,” he said.
“It is up to us as men to reject and speak out against gender-based violence wherever we see it, even if it is against our friends, fathers or brothers,” he added.
