MEC: No room for sexist men

2008-08-28 20:06

Siphiwe Nyathi

Emalahleni - Women enjoy more freedom and power than ever before, but need to take advantage of it, says Mpumalanga MEC for economic development and planning, Craig Padayachee.

Addressing a women's gala dinner organised by his department in Emalahleni (formerly Witbank) this week, he said that only by participating in the economy could women reverse gender inequality.

"Women should because they can," he said. "It is no doubt that the economic empowerment of women can and will help reverse this unequal trend," he said.

He said that the more women controlled their own income, the more self-confidence they would have.

They would also have more of a say in decisions regarding the household, sex, land use and conservation.

Padayachee warned men who continue to undermine the power of women in the economy and in other sectors that they have no room in this country.

"The sobering reality is that South Africa remains a patriarchal society, in which the oppression of women takes place in various and numerous forms, ranging from the crude to the seemingly innocuous," he said.

He said his department had established a broad based black economic empowerment advisory committee and forum to ensure the department achieves its economic empowerment objectives.

"The revised SMME strategy also reminds us to place women in the centre of economic development," he said.

- African Eye