Ramaphosa implores government to promulgate laws biased to women

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President Cyril Ramaphosa has implored government to promulgate laws that are biased to women to advance the empowerment of women.

He was speaking at the main Women’s Day celebrations at the Union Building in Pretoria earlier this afternoon.

Accelerating socio-economic opportunities for empowerment of women #WomensDay #LeaveNoOneBehind https://t.co/vYXQOZ1lc9

— Cyril Ramaphosa (@CyrilRamaphosa) August 9, 2023

The celebrations were attended by thousands of women from across Gauteng including one of the youngest protesters during the 1956 Women’s March, Mme Sophie Williams De Bruyn as well as several ministers.

Women decried the fact that over 10 000 of them were raped and 969 were killed in the first three months of the year.

We recall the suffering that women have endured for no reason other than that they are women.

We remember the courageous struggles waged by women against oppression; from those who stood up against colonialism and slavery to those who risked jail rather than carry the hated… pic.twitter.com/k0W2GTEfgJ

— Cyril Ramaphosa (@CyrilRamaphosa) August 9, 2023

They also bemoaned the fact that they are still being under-paid for doing the same jobs as their male counterparts, despite a call for equal pay for equal jobs. Ramaphosa says this will change with the new laws.

Meanwhile, ordinary citizens attending the National Women’s Day celebrations say they find Gender-Based Violence, unemployment and poverty as some of the most disturbing issues in society.

Ndabezitha Mabekaphezulu-Khumalo, from the Amatongwa Royal Kingdom in Gauteng, says the role of women in the apartheid struggle, is being undermined by the scourge of GBV.

“This true, this is bad and barbaric actually. This inhuman and this is bad. This must be condemned in the strongest term. So, we are asking those who are affected in particular, to come forward and report every case they experienced. Moreover, we are asking men, whatever that is troubling them let them come forward and speak about it. So that we can have a solution to their problem. Instead of beating, killing and destroying women.”

Society needs to change. Men need to change.

We need a movement as powerful as the women who marched on the Union Buildings to end violence against women and children.

We need a movement that includes every woman and man in this country, that brings together every church,… pic.twitter.com/8A48Zj1RXd

— Cyril Ramaphosa (@CyrilRamaphosa) August 9, 2023

SABC News speak to women on the street on the importance of National Women’s Day: