Commission on Gender Equality Annual Report and Budget 2006/07
NCOP Security and Justice
05 June 2007
Meeting Summary
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Meeting report
SECURITY
AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
5 June 2007
COMMISSION ON GENDER EQUALITY ANNUAL REPORT AND BUDGET 2006/07
Chairperson: Mr L
Mokoena (ANC)
Documents handed out
Commission on Gender Equality (CGE) Annual Report 2005-2006 (available at www.cge.org.za)
CGE Budget Report
2006-2007
CGE presentation
SUMMARY
The Commission on Gender Equality described its work, outlining the peaks
and troughs of the period under review, being 2006-2007. It was able to report
that the number of Commissioners was now up to strength and hence a greater
presence in the provinces was, and would be, maintained. Its programmes,
strategic objectives and budget for 2006-07 were explained.
The CGE outlined the discrepancies between the Chapter 9 institutions, and
particularly the CGE, and the public at large, especially in the rural areas,
and the need for more educational programmes. The discussion covered
wide-ranging issues. As a result of a suggestion from one of the Committee it
was noted that the use of Constituency Offices, in collaboration with the
Member of Parliament for that constituency, would provide a suitable mechanism
for its educational function. Further, although the CGE and the Human Rights
Commission, another Chapter 9 institution, might have different mandates or approaches
regarding a particular problem, it was noted that collaboration and
co-operation between the two Chapter 9 institutions would be beneficial and
greatly to the advantage of both institutions.
MINUTES
In response to the invitation by the Chair, Ms Joyce Piliso-Seroke,
Chairperson of CGE, introduced the newly appointed Commissioners and stated
that after a twelve months' delay the full complement had been appointed, and
would be taking up the reins full time after some of them had disposed of their
previous obligations.
Ms Joyce Piliso-Seroke stated that she felt proud that with the assistance of
its secretariat, the CGE had worked tirelessly and that without the enthusiasm
and dedication of the Secretariat, CGE would not be as effective as it was. Ms
Joyce Piliso-Seroke reported that her term of appointment was soon to terminate
and she felt both proud and confident that the work of the CGE would continue
and flourish upon the foundation laid.
Ms Joyce Piliso-Seroke was of the view that the question of gender interests,
which were primarily, but not solely, women’s interests, was being advanced and
that the CGE was assisting with, or driving the process, to make strides in the
changing of attitudes to gender issues, so as to reflect the tenets of the Bill
of Rights in the Constitution. However, she cautioned,
that in this regard South Africa was a work in progress and it required
dedication, enthusiasm and work to keep gender issues abreast, if not ahead, of
needs. She mentioned the review of all Chapter 9 Institutions - the first of
its kind - being undertaken by a parliamentary ad hoc committee under Prof
Kader Asmal, which was considering their reports. Ms Joyce Piliso-Seroke
welcomed this expressing the hope, that the gears would be engaged, that the
review committee would strengthen the Chapter 9 Institutions and publicise
their work more.
Ms Joyce Piliso-Seroke was pleased to report that permanent offices were now
established and operating in all provinces, including Gauteng provincial office
which had been separated from the National Office as a stand alone office. The
advantages were a presence in Gauteng itself, greater publicity and an
increased workload. Additionally as each provincial office now had its own
educational and legal officers and researchers it boded well for the future, as
gender issues would now be better introduced and handled.
In collaboration with various partners the CGE had attended the Conference on
Ritual Killings in Limpopo, a workshop on gender equality, the World Conference
on Rural Women and Rural development, the United Nations Conference on the
status of women, the Commonwealth conference on the marginalisation of
indigenous women, co-hosted a Conference in New York City on the role of women
in society and the creation of strategies to oppose discrimination. But above
all the task of CGE was creating the foundation for internal dialogue on women
and their status. She observed that even after ten years much needed to be done
to heighten the subject of gender inequality. This required complementing the
work of other bodies, defining attitudes to and occurrences of the rates of
gender inequality and imparting education. To drive this,CGE
now had a staffing complement of 101, which had necessitated concomitant
institutional governance programmes, which had reduced staff turnover but
highlighted leave problems, which had received attention.
Finally, Ms Joyce Piliso-Seroke observed that the fact that CGE had to approach
Treasury on budgetary matters only through the intervention of the Department
of Justice and Constitutional Affairs impacted upon the independence of the
CGE. This brought into question the doctrine of the separation of powers
between the executive legislature and judiciary. She felt the CGE, a Chapter 9 institution,
should be approaching the Treasury through Parliament.
Nevertheless, Ms Joyce Piliso-Seroke re-iterated that the CGE was an
institution responsibly advancing the transformation of South Africa.
Ms Majake then presented the Annual Report of the CGE, outlining its strategic
objectives, programmes and research, public education, human and financial
resources, budgeted personnel expenses, distribution of funding and programme
of expenditure, the Auditor General’s generally favourable audit, challenges
arising from the CGE Act and finally the most pervasive gender equality
concerns of 2006-2007, culminating with the impact of the CGE.
Ms Majake stated that with a Gauteng Office now being operational and separated
from the Head Office, the last of the offices had been established and there
were now twelve Commissioners. The CGE intended to embark upon more effective
marketing and educational campaigns, review and evaluate all Acts of Parliament
and provincial povernments and municipal by laws, investigate gender-related
issues mero motu or upon complaints from the public, and that having provincial
offices would make the CGE more effective. With regard to internal affairs the
CGE had decided to update its own staffing policies, especially as against the
Basic Conditions of Employment and Skills Development and Employment Equity
Acts, and that the expertise gained thereby would additionally prove useful
when considering gender issues. The financial side of CGE had been upgraded to
achieve compliance with the requirements of the Auditor General, Treasury and
internal and external audits. Slides of graphs reflecting personnel and
financial allocation statistics were shown. In the area of research, they would
look at:
- the gender implications of widowhood,
- the infusing of gender issues in the curriculum by the Department of
Education,
- the development of a barometer of gender issues in South Africa,
- the issues of gender, HIV AIDS and the elderly would be surveyed,
- compliance with the United Nations Commission on Status of Women,
- assistance with the infusion of gender in international, national, regional,
sub regional processes developing human rights treaties
- a review of the National Gender machinery.
She set out that the most pervasive gender equality concerns in 2006/7 were
femicide, rape, both female and male, HIV AIDS, the abuse and sexual offences
against boys and girls children, domestic violence, maintenance payments issues
being the non compliance with maintenance orders and the consequent secondary
victimization by the justice system, teenage pregnancies, boy against boy
violence in schools, witch hunting and ritual murders, the exploitation and
abuse, financial and emotional of widows and elderly peoples, offences and
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, sexual harassment, unfair
labour practices, bullying and abuse of women in the workplace, and gender
based violence against people with disabilities.
Ms Majake emphasized that the above were always approached from the standpoint
of supporting, and if possible advancing, the democratic processes. With regard
to public education process there were campaigns, workshops and dialogues with
the consequent development and production of resource material. Information
programmes included publications on the CGE website, resource centres,
exhibitions and the archiving of all material electronically and in hard copy
form. Their workshop data was presented in a table. Legal Services had revised
and updated its complaints manual; instituted and maintained a database of
complaints with the consequent statistics, delivered opinions on and
submissions concerning the media and advertisements, responded to online,
telephonic, written and walk-in enquiries and complaints, developed a national
court coverage plan, monitored the Courts, appearing amicus curiae where
necessary and performed research. In this regard the Shilubane and Masiya
matters and the pensionable age were the most important issues. Legal Services
had handled 407 complaints in the 2006/07 financial year of which 153
files/complaints were regarded as finalized. Currently there are 186 complaints
from all 9 provinces. In addition Legal Services had made submissions on the
impact of the Promotion of Equality and Unfair Discrimination Act, Equality
legislation and the Institutions that promote Democracy, the Civil Union and
Sexual Offences Bills. Challenges emanating from the CGE Act were the
entrenched gender inequality and patriarchy that distorts the gender course,
the broad mandate vis a vis resource allocation, the structured relationship
with the Executive in budget vote matters and the need for a standing committee
for Chapter 9 institutions and the alignment of the roles of the National
Gender Machinery partners.
In conclusion she said that South Africa has a beautiful legislative framework
but the implementation thereof was a problem. Although the impact of the work
of the CGE on communities was important she felt that it was very important for
rural communities where women were subject to entrenched patriarchal attitudes.
Discussion
The Chair thanked both Ms Joyce Piliso-Seroke and Ms Mjake for a well presented
briefing.
Mr Mosiki (ANC) jocularly referred to the Free State and the number of equality
courts and stated that his province, the North West, was bigger by far than
Free State but hardly rated a mention. Seriously he wished to raise the
question of discriminatory legislation which “was still on the shelves” and in
this regard he referred particularly to the municipal by-laws
Mr Manyasi (ANC)
referred to the question of primogeniture as still practiced and
asked what was being done to change the mindsets of the rural peoples.
Education of the people was important but could only be performed through
attention to specific cases. He asked who are the major role players and
partners in this regard and especially within the country. Lastly he saw a
conflict between the role of the CGE and the Commission for Human Rights for as
he saw a matter could be viewed either as gender specific or a human rights
matter.
Mr Le Roux (DA) stated that his impression is that gender violence is on the
increase and he wished to know whether there was a specific reason for this sad
state of affairs. He pointed out that as the result of recent developments his
Party’s National and Parliamentary Leaders were women and he felt that his
party was setting a precedent thereby.
Mr Worth (DA) referred to the fact that the Free State had apparently received
more attention from the CGE than the other provinces and that there was
reference to five Equality Courts in the Free Sate but only one case and he
wished to know the reason for this.
Mr N Mack (ANC) directed his questions to the CEO. He explained that he
represented Beaufort West, which was a rural area and as such he felt it was
neglected. In reports of the CGE and to other parliamentary committees,
Beaufort West did not appear to warrant serious attention being glossed over at
times. He wished to know whether the CGE had done any research on identifying
the poorest provinces and the poorest areas of the provinces. His impression
was that gender inequality was worst in the rural areas and especially so for
poor rural women. He wondered whether his Parliamentary Office in Beaufort West
could serve as a local office for the CGE, especially in parliamentary recess
times when he was present. He felt that his personal assistant would be able to
play a major role in advancing the educational programmes of the CGE and that
his office email and fax facilities could be a service point.
He also was concerned about prostitution as a health risk. Any inspection of
the N1 between Worcester and Beaufort West, at any time of day and night, would
reveal that women were lining the sides of the highway in both directions to
consort with the truck drivers. He felt that in this way
rural women, especially the young and poor and hence the vulnerable,
were being drawn into prostitution. He raised the question of the family
violence interdicts. Women were applying for, and receiving, these interdicts
but when it came to the implementation of these, the SAPS were not enforcing
them, thus rendering then valueless and mere pieces of paper. He was concerned
that the SAPS should be educated about the importance of family violence
interdicts. Further he knew that many a family violence interdicts when it came
to the return day before Court, were withdrawn. In
this regard he felt that undue pressure was being brought upon the applicants,
or that the applicants realized that they were economically and/or emotionally
dependent upon the respondents. He wondered whether there were statistics to
either confirm or disprove his impression. Also he wondered whether an
amendment to the Criminal Procedure and Domestic Violence Acts would not remove
from the applicant the right to withdraw the complaint which must then be
adjudicated by any court. Lastly he was concerned about abuse of alcohol by
women. It was common to see women, some with babes in arms, drinking and
disporting themselves in bars and shebeens and other drinking dens, with a very
harmful effect upon family life.
Dr van Heerden (FF+) asked whether any of the conclusions from the research by
the CGE was submitted to the SA Law Reform Commission for consideration and
possible further action. He referred to a recent Judgement by the
Constitutional Court, the Roberson judgement he thought, where Judge K O”Regan
had delivered a strong minority decision regarding primogeniture and the
surviving partner and he felt that this judgment, both the majority and the
minority, and the subject matter should be considered by the SA Law Reform
Commission. Additionally on the question of maintenance and custody he wished
to know whether the CGE liaised with the Courts onthis. Finally he was aware
that recently there was a meeting of the Women’s Lawyers Association and he
wondered whether this tendency of pressure groups to sub divide into gender
pressure groups was to be countenanced. He wondered whether such gender
groupings were not going too far.
Mr Fielding (ANC) asked if in their work the CGE looked at the CPIX. He was
also concerned about a possible conflict between the CGE and Human Rights
Commission since they approached the same problems from seemingly diametrically
opposed points of view. He felt that the two Chapter 9 institutions should
collaborate and work together. In addition there were the instances where
empowered women were working and the husband was a househusband or non-worker
and there were complaints or issues about maintenance.
Finally there was the problem where the Courthouse served a widely outlying
district and at great inconvenience and cost women had to travel to the
Courthouse for maintenance payments, only to find that for one reason or another their journey had been wasted and they had been
inconvenienced. He wished to know whether the CGE could do something about
assisting the women concerned.
Ms Majake expressed herself impressed by the number and kind of questions and
would be leaving the answering thereof to her staff.
Mr M Mzizi (IFP) then referred to the question of witchcraft. He stated that
the old regime authorities had complicated this issue by attempting to change
the customs and practices of the people. He seemed to him that where an old
woman was doing well by judicious small scale farming or use of her grant, the
community became jealous of her and then someone accused her of witchcraft,
sometimes with murder or ritual killing taking place. He felt that the tribal
leaders and/or healers should be educated, and especially the youth for in many
cases the person who first cried witchcraft was a young person
.
Ms Majake said that although witchcraft was still prevalent it was not as
prevalent as some years ago. She expressed the hope that it was dying out but
conceded that it occurred in waves.
With regard to the use by the CGE of the Constituency Offices as satellite
offices, she was very impressed by this suggestion which she intended to follow
through.
Commissioner Maitse addressed the subject of witchcraft and said that she felt
that if the accusers were to be charged criminally for the insult this would go
a long way to curbing the prevalence of such accusations. She accepted that in
many cases both the CGE and the Human Rights Commission had not only an
interest, but a role to play. She was of the opinion that these two bodies
collaborated but would take steps to ensure that both institutions advance
their separate interests co-operatively.
With regard to Equality Courts these were being established in terms of the
Equality Act 2000, and were situated in the ordinary Courts but the Judicial
Officers and Prosecutors required specialized training and sensitization. Quite
frankly it was a challenge to the CGE - for example, there were 49 Equality Courts
in the Western Cape and 79 in the Eastern Cape and the distances between courts
was vast, the geographical layout presenting a
challenge to both the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and
the CGE. For instance it meant that the legal officer had 5 courts to visit
each week, and within the courts there were difficulties. For example
Stutterheim already had an Equality Court but it was
not operating as the public was not aware of it. Cathcart had no court, having
to share an office. Queenstown had an Equality Court
but thus far only one case had been heard as the public were not aware of it.
The task before both the CGE and the Department of Justice and Constitutional
Development was an educational one, and both had to
await the lodging of complaints, where after there would be a question of
capacity.
There were many instances of harassment, such as the withdrawing of family
violence interdict complaints and she would be asking the provincial CGEs and
the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development and the Department of
Labour which controlled the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration
(CCMA) to take these into account and do everything in their powers to curtail
it.
By contrast maintenance was an easier matter. The Department of Justice and
Constitutional Development was being computerized and electrified and so could
pay maintenance monies, if received, directly into the bank accounts of the
intended recipients obviating the necessity of travel to the courts. She conceded
that much required to be done but added that strides
of progress had been made.
A problem with divorces was the settlement agreements in terms of which the
woman would be entitled to the domestic residence but only after the male, or
she, had paid off the mortgage bond, and this was not done, possibly because
there were no resources.
With regard to the question of victimization she felt that the Sexual Offences
Bill had made provision to end most victimization and she pleaded with the
Committee members to do all in their power to pass this Bill.
With regard to custody of and access to children, the Courts usually mero motu
awarded the children to the mother, although the best interests of the child
were required to be established, and taken into account. Once she had the
children, in some instances the mother "abducted" the children in so
far as she denied the father, whether married or not, access to the children.
The father had the right of access to his children and the CGE was trying to
enforce such rights and alter the perception that the CGE was biased in favour
of women. This was not so, the CGE worked on the basis of equity and it just so
happened that women were more victimized, or conscious of their discrimination.
With regard to primogeniture there was a case before the Constitutional Court
for a decision. However, the feelings out in the field were that this is a
custom and it should not be disturbed, notwithstanding the equality provisions
in the Constitution. She ventured to suggest that in time it would be
appreciated that the Constitution is the supreme law of the land and as such
people would decide that long held customs were discriminatory and should be
done away with, giving certainty to gender interests.
With regard to gender based violence although there were increasing statistics
of such she felt that this was under reported and was hopeful that the Sexual
Offences Bill, when enacted, would lead to an upsurge in reporting, and
prosecution to a consequent diminution of gender based violence.
Ms de Waal then added that CGE was busy identifying issues of concern and
referring such to the provincial bodies. South Africa was a very dynamic
country but more implementation was required. In fact implementation of the
current laws was an enormous problem.
With regard to discriminatory legislation she ventured to suggest that most of
it now existed in the third sphere of government, the municipalities, but it
was being addressed as was the question of gender representation both among
elected councillors and appointed staff.
Ms Majake then added there was ongoing research,
collaboration and co-operation with international bodies similar to the CGE,
and especially in Africa and more especially in the field of conflict
resolution in Burundi, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Sudan. In all these conflict
areas the question was how does one begin resolution if there was no forgiveness. In this regard South Africa was a good example,
a starting point. On the matter of primogeniture, the question was how do we change an attitude based upon custom. With
primogeniture, in almost every case the female was worse off than the male,
which sex was clinging to its privileges, notwithstanding the constitutional
imperative.
With regard to publication of research and papers there were a million goals.
They were trying to align themselves with NEPAD but much work remained to be
done. In the field of local publications in addition to the eleven official
languages it was contemplated that Braille was also necessary.
As far as outreach they were currently approaching the educational institutions
starting with the primary phases and aiming to work up to the tertiary
institutions.
All in all the CGE was operating on a complaint by complaint basis rather than
mero motu and this was as a result of available resources.
She felt that South Africa is a unique country and it must send a strong
message both internally and externally to secure equality of treatment between
the genders with neither being preferred or subservient.
The Chair raised the question of a break. It was unanimously decided to
continue by raising questions, which would be answered in writing in due
course.
Mr Mzizi persisted in wanting oral answers and raised a question about the
status of the CGE.
The Chief Executive Officer, Ms Majake stated that wherever possible the CGE
collaborated with other institutions such as the Civil Society Advocacy
Programme which was funded by the European Union and the African bodies working
in the field of gender equality.
With regard to co-habitation the CGE receives many complaints from women who
live with men, and have children and acquire property, mainly movable, and then
the man disappears with the property or assets of the (temporary) unions. It
was hoped that the Civil Union Act would go some way to obviating this problem.
With maintenance payments it had been arranged with Department of Justice and
Constitutional Development to deposit the monies directly into the account of
the recipient. The problem arose when the payer did not pay the Department.
Mr Mzizi then added that he felt that questions were asked but not answered. In
divorce cases not withstanding the CGE intentions or the regulations, the question of
custody of children was settled but one or other of the party went against the
court order. He wished to know what the CGE were doing about this.
He continued that the old regime had instituted the crime of accessory to
witchcraft and he knew of a case where the accessory had been charged and found
guilty. As the convicted prisoner was being led down he looked at the
magistrate and said that for as long as he was down the magistrate would not
rise. It happened that in the face of such curse, the magistrate could not rise
from his chair and the prisoner had to be recalled and made to clear the curse.
Mr Manyosi wished to know whether for comparison purposes, the CGE was looking
only to Africa or whether it was also looking to the so called developed
countries as well and if so, which.
In respect of finances he was concerned about whether the CGE was lean, and if
not what measures were under consideration to make it lean. He asked what the
vacancy rate was and what plans there were for filling vacancies. He commented
that in some provinces such as Kwa Zulu Natal, old customs persisted such as
virginity testing which he personally considered unconstitutional as well as
gender discriminatory
He asked if it was in fact a myth that the CGE was not biased against men for
the people believed it was. Finally in Limpopo and Mpumalanga there is the
practice of a "candle wife". If a man should die before having
fathered a son the Royal Council insists that the widow must marry another
approved man and a boy child is fathered, but the father is not “known” except
to a small group of courtiers. Then the child is raised by the mother who also
acts as regent pending the appointment of a successor to the deceased. This is
approved and administered but yet the deceased sister who has a better blood
claim to the position and the property is not allowed to assume the deceased’s
position and property. Where did the CGE stand on this?
Other questions were:
- What was the CGE policy regarding retention of staff and expertise?
- Internal human trafficking. There had been reference to the women on the N1
but this did not only occur on the N1. What was the CGE doing about all the
internal trafficking, especially women who were beguiled into traveling to
accept non existent work and forced into prostitution.
At this point since the members did not appear to have more questions, Ms Joyce
Piliso-Seroke thanked the Committee for attending to the reports of the CGE. Mr
Mzizi at the request of the Chair thanked the CGE for their attendance and
report.
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