House Chairperson of Parliament Cedric Frolick on Wednesday clarified why the proceedings of the P20 Women Parliament, currently under way in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), were presided over by men.

Frolick and NCOP Deputy Chairperson Les Govender are programme directors of the sessions of the Women’s Parliament.

Govender did the welcoming while National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza delivered the opening address, followed later by Deputy President Paul Mashatile.

This happened as NCOP Chairperson Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane is attending the 54th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Africa Region Conference in Gambia.

At the start of the proceedings, Govender confessed that it was the first time he had been in one room with so many beautiful women.

“But for some reason, I don’t feel intimidated,” he said.

When it was his turn to preside, Frolick said some might find it strange that two males were presiding over the opening session.

“I wish to indicate that we were fortunate enough to be given this responsibility of leading sectoral Parliaments. That includes the Youth Parliament, the Women’s Parliament, the Men’s Parliament, the Climate Parliament, and so forth.

“We were given this responsibility by two very esteemed ladies, the honourable Speaker of the National Assembly and the honourable chairperson of the National Council of Provinces,” Frolick said.

In her address, Didiza recalled that women were not represented at the NCOP before 1994, unlike in the democratic Parliament.

She also said one of the things women who came in 1994 found was that there was only one toilet for women.

“It tells us about the journey that we have traversed, but I must also say that we meet today during an important month where we celebrate the heroic struggles that women have led towards the attainment of our democracy.

“It is through these moments that we take stock of the strategies that they applied in ensuring that they advance a struggle. These range from different epochs of our struggles,” she said.

Didiza said one of the things they needed to do as Parliament was to look at the journey traversed since 1994 in how the country and legislature improved the lives of women.

She also said one thing that happened in the country was to make sure that women could not only have a voice, but could also be seen.

“It is women representing our different parties elected by the electorate, who sit in these walls, define what legal framework must govern us, who bring concerns from communities on what not only women want, but what our societies and communities want.”

Didiza acknowledged the struggles made by those before them who made sure that women were at the table where decisions are made.

“We can point at and say, had it not been for the struggles of those women, who, some of them were not even educated, who waged the struggle for women’s emancipation to fight for an egalitarian society where women and men are equal, we would not be here.”

She was hopeful that the Women’s Caucus would transcend political thinking and make sure that laws are passed and the programmes undertaken prioritise women and girl-children.

Didiza noted that it was the collective of the women that demanded that representatives at democratic negotiations be not only men, and that the equality clause in the Constitution and the Gender Commission should be provided for.

Although she welcomed the Ministry of Women in the Presidency, Didiza said they now want a full ministry.

“We have a Women’s Ministry today, not because we were given it, but because we demanded it. And the challenge is how do we make sure that the Women’s Ministry works for women,” Didiza said.

She called on women not to lose the agency of women in being able to connect with women in the legislatures and the women’s movement.

“I’m sure, if part of what we have to do is to strengthen those bonds, we will be able to advance the women’s lot,” Didiza added.

mayibongwe.maqhina@inl.co.za

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