Honourable Members,
A powerful force unites women across the globe – a force born from our unyielding thirst for justice, our righteous anger!
For too long, society has dismissed women’s anger as irrational, but I ask: What, if not anger, should we feel in the face of the injustices that plague our nation?
As South Africa buckles under the weight of unemployment and a stagnant economy, it is women who bear the heaviest burden and suffer the sharpest edge of poverty and inequality in a harsh society.
In one of the most violent nations on Earth, where gender-based violence rages unchecked, our sisters, daughters, and mothers live in constant fear. We are bombarded with reports of unspeakable acts committed against women and children – in our schools, universities, and workplaces.
This violence is not abstract; it has names, it has faces.
We remember Tshegofatso Pule, brutally murdered by her partner while carrying a new life. We remember Karabo Mokoena, whose life was snuffed out by an ex-boyfriend, her body desecrated by fire.
We remember Reeva Steenkamp, Anene Booysen, Sihle Sikoji, and Valencia Farmer. We cannot forget Thembekile Letlape, Honourable Kgosi Letlape’s daughter, another bright light extinguished by a dangerous man. May her soul find no rest until justice is served!
These women’s stories are not just statistics, they are our nation’s story!
For every name we know, there are countless others we do not. Women who suffer in silence, whose pain goes unreported, whose lives are lived in the shadows of fear and oppression.
As we close Women’s Month, let us commit to transforming our society into one where every woman is safe, valued, and heard.
We must rise together to amplify women’s voices, to remind every woman that she carries the power to change the world. For it is women who carry half the sky.
While we mourn, we must also celebrate the women who have defied the odds and triumphed where others thought they would fall.
We honour the women who held families together while men laboured in the mines and those who fought on the frontlines against apartheid.
We remember Indlovukazi uNandi, mother of King Shaka, the architect of a kingdom. We remember Lillian Ngoyi, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Nontsikelelo Biko, Connie Chiume. We salute warriors like Sojourner Truth, Shirley Chisholm, Coretta Scott-King, Betty Shabazz, and Palestine’s Benazir Bhutto.
Today, we witness a new generation of women taking their rightful place – women like Bulelwa Mabasa, leading just land reform, filmmakers Naledi Bogacwi and Mmabatho Montsho.
The fierce and fearless Women Waging War Movement in the Northern Cape.
Thandiswa Mazwai, whose powerful song “Nizalwa Ngobani” reminds us that we are our ancestors’ wildest dreams.
We honour women in every field – in sports, medicine, law, finance, social work, policing, the army, as pilots, engineers, journalists, and domestic workers.
We honour the young and the old, our mothers, sisters, aunts, and caregivers.
In their strength, we find our strength. In their courage, we find our courage. In their stories, we find the resolve to fight until justice, equality, and dignity are the birthright of every woman in our nation.
Thank you.
ActionSA Commits to Fighting Tirelessly for Justice, Equality, Dignity, and the Empowerment of Women
Honourable Members,
A powerful force unites women across the globe – a force born from our unyielding thirst for justice, our righteous anger!
For too long, society has dismissed women’s anger as irrational, but I ask: What, if not anger, should we feel in the face of the injustices that plague our nation?
As South Africa buckles under the weight of unemployment and a stagnant economy, it is women who bear the heaviest burden and suffer the sharpest edge of poverty and inequality in a harsh society.
In one of the most violent nations on Earth, where gender-based violence rages unchecked, our sisters, daughters, and mothers live in constant fear. We are bombarded with reports of unspeakable acts committed against women and children – in our schools, universities, and workplaces.
This violence is not abstract; it has names, it has faces.
We remember Tshegofatso Pule, brutally murdered by her partner while carrying a new life. We remember Karabo Mokoena, whose life was snuffed out by an ex-boyfriend, her body desecrated by fire.
We remember Reeva Steenkamp, Anene Booysen, Sihle Sikoji, and Valencia Farmer. We cannot forget Thembekile Letlape, Honourable Kgosi Letlape’s daughter, another bright light extinguished by a dangerous man. May her soul find no rest until justice is served!
These women’s stories are not just statistics, they are our nation’s story!
For every name we know, there are countless others we do not. Women who suffer in silence, whose pain goes unreported, whose lives are lived in the shadows of fear and oppression.
As we close Women’s Month, let us commit to transforming our society into one where every woman is safe, valued, and heard.
We must rise together to amplify women’s voices, to remind every woman that she carries the power to change the world. For it is women who carry half the sky.
While we mourn, we must also celebrate the women who have defied the odds and triumphed where others thought they would fall.
We honour the women who held families together while men laboured in the mines and those who fought on the frontlines against apartheid.
We remember Indlovukazi uNandi, mother of King Shaka, the architect of a kingdom. We remember Lillian Ngoyi, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, Nontsikelelo Biko, Connie Chiume. We salute warriors like Sojourner Truth, Shirley Chisholm, Coretta Scott-King, Betty Shabazz, and Palestine’s Benazir Bhutto.
Today, we witness a new generation of women taking their rightful place – women like Bulelwa Mabasa, leading just land reform, filmmakers Naledi Bogacwi and Mmabatho Montsho.
The fierce and fearless Women Waging War Movement in the Northern Cape.
Thandiswa Mazwai, whose powerful song “Nizalwa Ngobani” reminds us that we are our ancestors’ wildest dreams.
We honour women in every field – in sports, medicine, law, finance, social work, policing, the army, as pilots, engineers, journalists, and domestic workers.
We honour the young and the old, our mothers, sisters, aunts, and caregivers.
In their strength, we find our strength. In their courage, we find our courage. In their stories, we find the resolve to fight until justice, equality, and dignity are the birthright of every woman in our nation.
Thank you.