Staff Reporter
MEC for Agriculture, Environmental Affairs, Rural Development and Land Reform, Mme Mase Manopole highlighted that despite constituting a majority of the population, “Women remain marginalized and often fall victim to discrimination and abuse, with some paying with their lives.”
Manopole was addressing the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature during the Human Rights Month Debate.
Human Rights Day commemorated annually on 21 March, emanated from a defiance campaign, which saw apartheid police shooting and killing 69 people in 1960 in Sharpeville. The tragedy is known as Sharpeville Massacre and exposed the apartheid government’s deliberate violation of human rights to the world.
The MEC mentioned that, regardless of their unwarranted status in society, over centuries women played a significant role in fostering cohesion, “It is an undeniable truth that women are predisposed to critical roles in society such as peace-making, mediation and nurturing relationships.”
She referred to a case during a farm inspection by joint officials from her department and the Department of Labour, in Twee Strome Boerdery in the ZF Mgcawu District, when they made a shocking discovery of female farmworkers housed in a horse stable. Meanwhile, the farm owner deducted money from their salaries for what he called, ‘rental money for accommodation’.
Manopole reported that they warned the farmer and instructed him to move the female farmworkers to a comfortable and dignified area as encapsulated in the Bill of Rights.
“Dismissals and evictions of farmworkers without following proper channels must stop. We have intensified our farmworkers campaign, with a special focus on women and girl children. We will implement the constitution to ensure that everyone has a right to fair labour practices including permanent, temporal or seasonal workers. We have and will continue to intervene and improve their livelihoods in the agricultural sector,” she continued.
She said on the legislative front, there has also been progress, given the latest enactment into law of the three anti-GBV Bills.
These legislative reforms will, among others, allow victims to make online protection order applications without being present in court.
“Protection order applications will be on a 24-hour basis on the online application platform. As a deterrent measure for likely perpetrators, one of the Bills makes has provision in it that makes it possible for certain particulars of persons convicted of sexual offences to be made publicly available,” reiterated the MEC.
Manopole said the Sharpeville massacre remains a signature event in the country’s historical timeline. Its contribution needs to be foregrounded, “As it certainly ought to be a case with many other parts of this country, which took the fight to the apartheid regime.”
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