Plight of SA women highlighted on Women’s Day

Limpopo Premier Phophi Ramathuba says many women who are stuck in abusive relationships are also the face of poverty.

She was speaking at the Nkowankowa stadium outside Tzaneen in Limpopo ahead of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s keynote address at the national Women’s Day celebrations.

2025 marks the 69th anniversary of the historic women’s march to the Union Buildings in Pretoria. The theme is “Building Resilient Economies for All”.

It is aligned with the priorities of South Africa’s G20 Presidency of solidarity, equality, and sustainability. Ramathuba says many women are desperate.

“It’s not like they don’t want to lead. Now we are saying, Mr President, if we build a resilient economy that is inclusive, starting with black women. We need to start there, empower our women. They are neither shareholders nor directors, but they are the ones who are running the tourism sector.”

P20 Summit

The presiding officers of Parliament, National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza, and National Council of Provinces Chairperson Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane say women’s leadership, economic empowerment and gender responsive budgeting are at the centre of the African agenda for the P20 summit.

The P20 is a high-level gathering of Presiding Officers from G20 member nations. For the first time, South Africa will host this summit. It’s also the first time the summit is being held in Africa.

As part of the build-up to the global summit, Parliament held consultations with African female legislators.

A need for African Parliaments to strengthen collaboration in tackling gender-based violence is one of the recommendations of these consultations.

Parliament will convene the P20 Women’s Parliament later this month.

Meanwhile, Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has called for urgent advocacy against South Africa’s gender-based violence and femicide crisis.

Speaking on the sidelines of the African National Congress’s Women’s Day event in Soweto, Kubayi says her department has looked into the model and infrastructure of police stations and magistrates’ courts, with the aim of making Gender-Based Violence and related cases a priority.

“Happy Women’s Day to all the women in the country. The issue of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide remains a critical issue that we have to deal with as a country. You’d remember yesterday as the Justice, Crime and Prevention Safety Cluster in Cabinet, we went to Ga-kgapane as part of advocating for safer communities.”

VIDEO | GBVF remains a critical issue in SA:

Many women continue to feel unsafe in SA: Gwarube

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube says her department has introduced visible policing in schools and signed an MOU with the South African Police Service to strengthen security.

Leading the Democratic Alliance’s Women’s Day march in Gugulethu, Cape Town, today, Gwarube emphasized that many women continue to feel unsafe in South Africa. She added that while it is important to celebrate women, the country must also invest in the development of boys.

“It has been a sober month indeed. Unfortunately, millions of South African women still feel very unsafe. So, today we are here to commemorate the women of 1956 and we’re also saying that while they were fighting for a different kind of injustice, we too are fighting a different kind of injustice.”

VIDEO | DA march against GBV, DNA testing backlog:

Eastern Cape Rural Development and Agrarian Reform MEC Nonceba Kontsiwe says women have proven that they are capable of taking leadership roles and need to be placed there.

Kontsiwe was speaking to the SABC during the Eastern Cape’s official Women’s Day commemoration in Dikeni.

She says the commemoration is one of the provincial government’s efforts to acknowledge the role women play in the growth of the Eastern Cape economy.

“At least we want them to be empowered so that they know their rights and that they too are not dependent on others for their survival, and do things for themselves to survive. We know that when women are given responsibilities, they take them seriously and empower even the society other than the families.”

Also in the Eastern Cape, the Pretty in Pink Ladies 5km fun run is underway in Gqeberha with hundreds of women of all ages taking part and celebrating Women’s Day dressed in pink tutus and T-shirts.

The event is in its fourth year and this year the funds raised will go to two beneficiaries: the Pink Drive for early cancer detection and the Vision 4 Women organization based in Nelson Mandela Bay, which mentors high school girls by pairing them with women in business.

Alongside the fun run, participants are enjoying Zumba classes, cheerleading, and a strong sense of community spirit.

Vision 4 Women board member Gillian McAinsh says the day is about more than just the race.

“Pretty in Pink has given us a wonderful opportunity to show what we do, which is to empower girls to reach for their dreams and know that they are destined for greatness. So it gives us a wonderful platform, you’ll see the girls all around wearing the bright green T-shirts. Those are girls at school right now who are here at this lovely outdoor, healthy event.”