Chairperson and honourable committee members, I wish to thank you on behalf of the Commission on Gender Equality, for affording us the opportunity to present this report on the achievements and challenges facing the CGE.

My presentation is a birds eye view of the work we have done and my colleagues will give reports on specific issues.

My first term as Commissioner in the Commission ended on 31 March 2002. But was re-appointed for a second term again as Chairperson on 1 October 2002. Presently, we have twelve (12) Commissioners, seven (7) of whom are full-time and five (5) part-time as per the CGE Act.

Strengths:
We have very good relations with some NGO’s such as the National Network on Violence Against Women, Getnet, Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre, The Sexual Harassment Project etc with whom we have formed good partnerships in terms of our programmatic work. The CGE also has a very good working relationship with South African Council of Churches.

We also have good relations with some government departments such as Labour and Social Development. We are building relations with the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development.

We work very closely with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in terms of policy and legislation. The Minister has given the CGE a place in the Customary Law Project Committee of the South African Law Commission and we are represented by our HOD, Legal Department, Ms Mmathari Mashao. Commissioner Rashida Manjoo represent the CGE in the Family Courts. This association gives the CGE an opportunity to feed into legislation and policy at an early stage.

We have collaborative relations with the South African Human Rights Commission and the Independent Electoral Commission nationally and in the Limpopo and Northern Cape Provinces.

Weaknesses:
Our budget comes from Treasury, whilst we appreciate it is important to state that the budget is inadequate.
Late appointments of Commissioners, which leave a vacuum in our work.
Skills shortages and lack of capacity within the CGE staff. With our limited funds we are unable to appoint high-level staff that we need e.g. Researchers, Legal Investigators and staff who can develop tools monitoring. As a result some Commissioners take up more responsibilities because of their competences and this poses some problems when some of them are part-time.
The National Gender Machinery made up of the CGE, Joint Monitoring Committee on the Promotion on the Quality of Life and Status Women, and the Office on the Status of Women, while it was intended to enhance the promotion and development of gender issues has had a few problems. While each has a separate mandate, they each have inadequate budgets and this often cause confusion and competition, which blurs our areas of responsibility. For example, when we all participate in United Nations meeting and other international meetings, these different mandates undermine the constitutional obligation of the CGE capabilities in terms of monitoring International instruments.

Opportunities:
When the Chairperson returned from Addis Ababa, she met delegates in the plane to Nairobi who had attended an NGO forum that was working on the amendments to the Draft Protocol of the African Charter on the Rights of Women. This discussion led to the CGE organising a successful Consultative Workshop attended by representatives from, NGOs, Government, Mozambique and Nairobi. This conference enabled South Africa to come up with a position on the Draft Protocol.

Another opportunity has presented itself in the new formation of the Directorate with the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development for Chapter Nine Institutions, which acts as a conduit between Chapter Nine Institutions and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. This Directorate has been helpful in dealing with some of our concerns. And we have begun to engage in an open, professional and constructive dialogue with Advocate, Pikoli, Mr Radman and Advocate Mkhize, in helping Chapter Nine 9 Institutions to access more funds.
The CGE now works in collaboration with men’s organisations such as Men’s Forum, Men for Change and a group in Venda "Munna ndinyi" (What is it to be a man). This alliance has helped the CGE to address the scourge of Violence Against Women and to make men understand that it is also their responsibility.

Threats:
The rumour that keeps on surfacing to the effect that CGE is going to be collapsed within the Human Rights Commission undermines the Constitutional obligation of the CGE’s and causes a lot of uncertainty.
The issue of ex-CEO of the CGE is always brought to haunt us especially by the media and dilutes the impact of our work.
The absence of a strong women’s movement causes a vacuum in terms of identifying women’s needs, concerns and problems which the Cge needs for our monitoring Women don’t speak with one voice.

Challenges
Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Discrimination Act
African Union and NEPAD with regard to engendering the concept
The Outcome of the recent Growth and Development Summing in terms of how the implementation of the benefits will affect all beneficiaries especially women who are the hardest hit.
Black Empowerment and Gender