COMMISSION ON GENDER EQUALITY

PRESENTATION BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE COMMISSION ON GENDER EQUALITY MS JOYCE PILISO-SEROKE

JOINT MONITORING COMMITTEE ON THE IMPROVEMENT OF QUALITY OF LIFE AND STATUS OF WOMEN

1 June 2007

 

Chairperson, Members of the Joint Monitoring Committee, Ladies and Gentlemen.

 

We have come a long way: the establishment and institutionalization of the Gender Machinery in South Africa over the past decade bears testimony of the dedication and advocacy over many decades of many people in this room. It is indeed an honour for me to make this presentation to colleagues in the Joint Monitoring Committee on the Improvement of Quality of Life and Status of Women - as our partner in the Gender Machinery.

 

Following their recent appointment by the President, a new body of Commissioners has finally come on board. Let me introduce the Commissioners who are here today….

 

The other Commissioners are….

 

We were requested to present to you an overview of the activities and financial report of the Commission on Gender Equality for the period 2006-2007, together with the strategic plan for the coming year. These documents have already been presented at the Budget Hearings of the Justice Portfolio Committee. As the Commissioners’ term of office has just commenced, the stratplan document still has to be deliberated with Commissioners for their input.

 

Before I request the Chief Executive Officer of the Commission on Gender Equality, Ms Chana Majake to present the report, please allow me to highlight a few milestones that illustrate the road we have traveled:

 

Securing the entrenchment of gender equality in the Constitution of South Africa and the state’s commitment to international, regional and sub-regional instruments, have been major achievements of advocacy for gender equality and the empowerment of women. The establishment of appropriate institutional mechanisms or gender machinery can be traced to direction given at the Beijing World Conference. The Beijing Platform for Action, which was adopted endorsed by the South African government, committed the South African government to:

·         Create national machinery “at the highest level of government” for the advancement of women

·         Give this machinery a clearly defined mandate and authority

·         Provide the machinery with adequate resources

·         Ensure the ability and competence of this machinery to influence policy, and to formulate and review legislation.

 

Since this time, South Africa has developed a comprehensive gender machinery, in which the Commission on Gender Equality, alongside with the OSW and the JMC, are key structures.

 

The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE)[1] was established as an independent statutory body in terms of Section 187, Chapter 9[2] of the Constitution of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996. The Commission on Gender Equality, as an institution established to strengthen constitutional democracy, the CGE is mandated to promote respect for gender equality and the protection, development and attainment of gender equality. 

 

The powers and functions of the CGE are detailed in the Commission on Gender Equality Act 39 of 1996.  In terms of Section 11(1), the CGE must inter alia monitor and evaluate policies and practices of organs of state at any level, statutory bodies and functionaries, public bodies and authorities, and private businesses, enterprises and institutions, in order to promote gender equality and make any recommendations that the Commission deems necessary.

 

Also applicable to the Commission on Gender Equality as a national institutional supporting constitutional democracy, in terms of the Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions (The Paris Principles), as adopted by the General Assembly resolution 48/134 of 20 December 1993, are the various principles espoused in relation to national institutions supporting and promoting human rights. Central to these is that such national institutions shall be vested with competence to promote and protect human rights, be given as broad a mandate as possible, and that the principle of independence is guaranteed. The Commission on Gender Equality as a Chapter 9 institution is also based on these Principles, which includes the mandate to report to UN or regional treaty bodies on the status of human rights as independent national institutions of human rights.

 

South Africa’s National Policy Framework for Women’s Empowerment and Gender Equality describes the structure and components of the institutional framework for mainstreaming of gender through the Gender Machinery. The Gender Policy Framework captures this specific function of the CGE in the description of “key institutional processes” (section 1.6):

 

Advancement of the empowerment of women and gender equality and monitoring the effectiveness of departmental policies on gender equality; and

Liaise with parliamentary committee (JMC) and monitor the implementation of the Policy Framework.

 

This specification of the role of the CGE within the Gender Machinery resonates with the Paris Principles for national institutions, where it states that national institutions shall “maintain consultation with the other bodies, whether jurisdictional or otherwise, responsible for the promotion and protection of human rights (in particular ombudsmen, mediators and similar organisations); and “develop relations with the non-governmental organisation devoted to promoting and protecting human rights, to economic and social development, to combating racism, to protecting particularly vulnerable groups… or to specialised areas”.

 

STRENGTHENING OF THE GENDER MACHINERY

 

At the beginning of 2007, for the first time since the advent of our country’s new-found democracy, parliament introduced the process to review all chapter nine bodies that support democracy. For our part, the CGE has welcomed the initiative, which we believe will inform how we strengthen our country’s democratic processes and practices, also through the Gender Machinery.

 

We have given our input to the Ad Hoc Committee set up to undertake this enormous task. As we navigate our way in the seas of democratic change, we hope that the Ad Hoc Committee received and will consider our submission in a constructive manner.

 

We now look forward to its insightful outcomes, and stand ready to shift gears where such recommendations are made.  In the end we hope that the Ad Hoc Committee will ensure the independence, impartiality and effectiveness of the Commission on Gender Equality to exercise its powers and perform its function without fear, favour or prejudice.

 

The Commission on Gender Equality remains strongly committed to strengthening South Africa’s Gender Machinery and we have embarked on a number of initiatives in this regard. Along with South Africa’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, the CGE drove the planning and co-hosting of a successful workshop earlier this year at the United Nations. The workshop was designed to run concurrently with the conference of the UN Committee on the Status of Women (CSW). It drew a kaleidoscope of participants, to consider South Africa’s experience in the quest to the strengthening of institutional mechanisms for the eradication of prejudice, stereotypes and gender-based discrimination; and to also probe the advancement of women and gender equality. Our country was commended for its advanced progress in this area, and in particular for creating and facilitating such an international dialogue.

 

The CGE believes that an integrated package of institutions is necessary to deal with the many and complex human rights issues of women and girls. Global best practice has showed that a comprehensive national gender machinery is essential to a democratic state, with clarity about coordination, powers, functions and relations among the institutions to avoid duplication and confusion. Furthermore, global best practice indicates that one of the institutions in the package should be a constitutional body with powers to enforce its decisions and perform a watchdog role. This is seen as necessary to prevent arbitrary government interference, protect its autonomy and reputation, and allow it wide effective powers.

 

The Commission on Gender Equality has since its inception delivered on its mandate despite a host of challenges mostly based on insufficient resources. We continue to insist that government should fulfil its obligations and prove its commitment to gender equality by providing sufficient resources to the gender machinery and to the CGE. We recognise that greater cooperation is needed between national machinery, NGOs and other civil society organisations. Also, a stronger, more watchful and more supportive women’s movement and civil society will contribute to our quest for a more effective national machinery.

 

 

In terms of the operations and programmes, I wish to bring the following to your attention:

 

The CGE now has offices in all nine provinces, and each of the provincial offices have now been beefed up with core personnel in the form of researchers, legal, as well as education officers. This bodes well for our outreach efforts to both the South African citizenry and our partners who need our support in every part of the country.

 

In this past year, our relations with partners have widened in scope and depth. We have engaged in collaborations with them both at the national, sub-regional, regional and international levels. In the year under review, CGE collaborated with key partners in the gender sector to host a number of successful workshops, campaigns, dialogues and conferences on various topics. Highlights of these activities include:

 

·         A conference on ritual murders in Limpopo Province.

·         A workshop to garner inputs on the SADC Draft Protocol on Gender Development, a precursor to the meeting of Heads of State later this year that we expect to ratify this important instrument. The gender machinery and other interest groups participated in this exercise.

·         Pre-conference Summits that the CGE ran country-wide, prior to the recent World Congress on Rural Women (WARD), not only extended our reach, but they presented a unique opportunity for ordinary farm and rural women and men to have their own voices heard.

 

Chairperson, these kinds of collaborations have far-reaching impact. They contribute to limiting and/or eliminating duplications, and ensure a groundswell of synergies of our common initiatives. This can only result in integrated approaches and a positive impact on our society and deepening of our democracy.

 

 

INSTITUTIONAL GOVERNANCE

 

Our organizational affairs were run on a sound basis:

 

On the HR front, the CGE staff turnover improved relative to the previous year/s. We filled various positions, new and existing, both at management and lower levels. The provincial offices, which I referred to earlier, are almost fully capacitated. Overall our staff complement has moved from 94 to 101 during the period under review. All this translates into a better resourced CGE that can ably carry out a major part of its mandate.

 

The status of CGE finances is also on a sound footing. Overall, we have managed to receive unqualified reports.

 

During this period we had a qualification on staff leave. This has now been addressed through the revision of our leave system.

 

On another related matter, we wish to bring to your attention, Chairperson, an area of concern that has also been raised at other times and fora, namely: The Budget Process. The current process of budgeting and allocation, including the manner in which we approach the MTEF presentations, continue to dog us. The recent development, Chairperson, is that the CGE cannot make its case directly to Treasury but has to do so through the Department of Justice. This state of affairs has become untenable for a number of reasons, including that:

·         We are not in a position to formally engage Treasury on our corporate plans and priorities that we feel only we can articulate, first-hand; and

·         We feel our independency is compromised by the very process of reliance on a second source – the Justice Department, to receive our annual allocations

 

As you know, Chairperson, due to these constraints, the CGE initiated some discussions around the budget/allocation matter. We wish to request that the said discussions be expedited and brought to a conclusion, to ensure that inputs and recommendations we made receive the attention they deserve. 

 

CONCLUSION

 

Before I close, Chairperson, I wish to reiterate the commitment of the CGE. The biggest challenge of the CGE is being an institution responsible for monitoring gender transformation in a country that is itself still transforming. However, we are up to the challenge:

·         The Commission on Gender Equality will ensure that the legacy of the struggles waged and gains made by countless people shall be carried forward and strengthened;

·         The CGE will continue to monitor, introduce and/or lobby for interventions and improvements, on South Africa’s progress in achieving gender equality.

 

May I take this opportunity to thank you, Chairperson and members of the JMC, for our relationship throughout the years. I wish you continued success in your veritable task. I thank the Secretariat for their support, and wish my new colleagues a successful term.



[1] Hereinafter referred to as the CGE

[2] Constitution of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996.