Tag: Women in politics

This week on Womanity – Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to by Ms. Masefako Clarah Dikgale, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development in the South African Parliament, representing the African National Congress. Ms Dikgale unpacks the critical role of portfolio committees in parliament as constitutional entities tasked with legislating, monitoring, and overseeing executive activities to drive national development goals. One of the mandates of the Department of Small Business is to create 11 million jobs by 2030. The government has committed to placing small, medium, and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) and cooperatives at the heart of economic growth and job creation. With approximately 3 million entrepreneurs supporting 13.4 million jobs in South Africa, the potential for growth is immense. Ms Dikgale highlights transformative initiatives like the ratification of the amended Small Enterprise Bill, which combats unfair practices and strengthens the economic inclusion of small businesses. Another initiative is the creation of a one stop shop to give SMMEs access to finance and business support through amalgamation of the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (SEFA) with the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) and the Cooperative Banks Development Agency (CBDA) to form the Small Enterprise Development Finance Agency (SEDFA). As a champion for inclusivity, Ms. Dikgale underscores the prioritization of businesses owned by women, youth, persons with disabilities, and those in rural and township areas. She shares her belief in the power of education, both as a pillar in her own career development and as a tool for empowering women and youth in her community. Through free training programs and resources, the department has supported women in achieving financial independence. Ms Dikgale’s entry into politics stemmed from her dissatisfaction with political campaigners’ empty promises to develop her village, which led her to taking action and orchestrating meaningful developments in her village that serve the people. We also discuss the African National Congress's (ANC) policies supporting gender equality, including its 50:50 representation, and the collaborative efforts of the Multi Party Women’s Caucus in Parliament, where women across party lines unite to advance gender equality, uphold human rights and dignity. Tune in for more.

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January 9, 2025

Parliamentarian & Chairperson Portfolio Committee: Small Business Development – Masefako Clarah Dikgale – Job Creation

This week on Womanity – Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to by Ms. Masefako Clarah Dikgale, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Small Business Development in the South African Parliament, representi...

Welcome to Womanity Women in Unity, join us for our new year broadcast with a compilation of voices from female leaders in politics, the judiciary and medicine talking about aspects of their journeys. Our first guest in this feature is South Africa’s Minister of Basic Education, Siviwe Gwarube, who shares her passion and vision for transforming education in South Africa, impacting the lives of 13,500,000 learners. Drawing inspiration from her upbringing in a typical South African household, raised by her grandmother, Minister Gwarube reflects on her grandmother’s influence as a trailblazing feminist whose relentless pursuit of quality education shaped her life. Many South Africans straddle multiple worlds, such as living in a village and schooling or working in a city. Our next guest, High Court Judge Jacqueline Henriques demonstrates how law and policy can be used to drive change that supports and protects the rights of women. She highlights some of the recent amendments to domestic violence legislation, such as stricter bails imposed on persons charged with domestic violence offences and harsher now prescribed for offences related to gender-based violence. The Act has expanded its definition of what constitutes domestic violence, encompassing physical abuse, spiritual abuse, economic abuse, controlling behaviour, harassment, intimidation, elder abuse, and related person abuse to name a few. The Act now also requires the community to play an active role in stopping the scourge of domestic violence it is mandatory for the public to report incidences or reasonable suspicions of domestic violence, and also criminalises the failure of a person to report such abuse. Closing today’s programme is orthopaedic spine surgeon Dr Lusanda Bomela (women account for just 5% of all orthopaedic surgeons in South Africa). Dr Bomela shares how her interest in the spine, coupled to the fact that few women take up this area of specialisation motivated her to pursue her studies in this field. One of her hopes is that she sets an example to encourage other women to take up orthopaedics and specifically spine as a specialisation.  Medicine can be a demanding career choice, but this profession does not preclude women from having a family life. Dr Bomela notes how having the right support structure in place enables her to be a spine surgeon, mother, wife, mentor and teacher. She reflects that it is not possible to be everything to everybody all the time but with a team ethos and good communication everything is doable. Dr Bomela is passionate about learning and has a deep desire to share education with others, which is part of her maternal philosophy, she believes that if we have a skill it must be passed on or used to better someone else. We have a responsibility to empower the next generation by imparting what we know to them, both in terms of skills and enlightenment. She tells us how her grandmother used to walk her mother to school 20km away for the sake of education, and years later part of her grandmother’s legacy was establishing a school 500m from her house, so no children in the village had an excuse not to be educated. Happy New Year from Womanity wishing you peace and prosperity in 2025.

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January 1, 2025

2025, New Beginnings: No Limits

Welcome to Womanity Women in Unity, join us for our new year broadcast with a compilation of voices from female leaders in politics, the judiciary and medicine talking about aspects of their journeys. Our first guest ...

This week on Womanity – Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to by Ms. Carol Mokgadi Phiri, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure in the South African Parliament, representing the African National Congress. Ms. Phiri shares her insights into the transformative role of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure in shaping South Africa’s future through job creation, durable infrastructure development, and innovative projects that benefit all citizens. This point was highlighted in President Ramaphosa’s speech at the opening of parliament, “In the next five years, working together, drawing on our collective capabilities, we will forge a new inclusive growth path for South Africa by pursuing a massive investment in infrastructure. Significant projects are underway around the country in areas such as transport, roads, water, energy and human settlements. We will massively increase the scale of investment in infrastructure through a more holistic and integrated approach, positioning Infrastructure South Africa as the central institution of coordination and planning.” Ms Phiri discusses the department's collaborative approach with various entities and other governmental departments, as well as initiatives aimed at creating awareness and exposing young learners to opportunities within the construction and infrastructure sectors. Special emphasis is placed on empowering women to excel in traditionally male-dominated industries by fostering support networks and creating spaces for women to succeed. On the latter point she remarks that women must support and assist other women in their respective industries. Ms. Phiri reflects on her political journey, from being appointed mayor of Musina at the young age of 26, to leading critical national committees. In this role she narrates the story of the premier leaving an important present for her – books on policies and rules for the job at hand – and whilst he supported her, he did not spoon feed her, she rose the responsibility of the position and took ownership and accountability for her role. She underscores the importance of leadership, discipline, decisiveness, and mentorship in navigating the challenges of politics. As a woman in leadership, she shares personal experiences of overcoming societal prejudices, standing up to disrespect as soon as it arises, and developing resilience to thrive in the face of adversity. Ms Phiri has an unwavering commitment to improving the lives of South Africans through infrastructure projects, her dedication to community upliftment, and her belief in going beyond limits to achieve personal and professional growth. Every time you make your target stretch further – we have no limits. Tune in for more.

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December 19, 2024

Parliamentarian & Chairperson Portfolio Committee: Public Works and Infrastructure – Ms Carol Mokgadi Phiri – Integration

This week on Womanity – Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to by Ms. Carol Mokgadi Phiri, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure in the South African Parliament, represent...

This week on Womanity – Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka speaks with Meagan Chauke-Adonis, who is a Member of Parliament representing the African National Congress (ANC). She serves on the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities; Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation; and Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies. Mrs. Chauke-Adonis shares her compelling journey into politics and activism, highlighting the transformative life experiences that shaped her purpose and drive to advocate for a more inclusive society. At just 23, Mrs. Chauke-Adonis was diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension, which led to blindness. This life-changing event pushed her to reevaluate her purpose and ignited her passion for advocacy. She discusses how she channelled this challenge into an opportunity to create meaningful change, particularly for persons with disabilities and marginalized groups. Her focus is clear: dismantling barriers of discrimination and exclusion to build a future where equity and inclusion are the norm. Mrs. Chauke-Adonis shares her passion for technology and innovation, which propelled her into the entrepreneurial space. As a 2021 Global Young Innovator, she developed solutions to enhance accessibility, including applications that enable real-time document editing and interaction. Her ambition extends to bridging the digital divide and ensuring that transformative technologies are affordable and accessible, especially for women and persons with disabilities. As a member of the Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies, Mrs. Chauke-Adonis explores the department’s mandate to enable South Africa’s digital transformation. She highlights how digital technologies can be leveraged to advance accessibility and inclusion, allowing persons with disabilities to live independently and empowering people with access to information and opportunities. Beyond her political and technological pursuits, Mrs. Chauke-Adonis advocates for greater representation of persons with disabilities in leadership roles. She aims to destigmatize disability, emphasizing that with an enabling environment, people with disabilities can thrive, lead, and contribute to national development. Her mentor’s powerful words resonate: “Disability is not about physical attributes; it’s about how society disables you from opportunities, your environment, and your rights.” She passionately asserts that disability is a human rights issue. From the 3rd of November to 3rd December (International Day of Persons with Disabilities), South Africa celebrates National Disability Rights Awareness Month. This is a period for people to be cognisant of lifting impediments and improving the quality of life of people with disabilities for a more equitable society. Tune in for more.

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November 29, 2024

Member of Parliament – Meagan Chauke-Adonis (ANC) – Empowered

This week on Womanity – Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka speaks with Meagan Chauke-Adonis, who is a Member of Parliament representing the African National Congress (ANC). She serves on the Portfolio Committee o...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Dr Thokozani  Chilenga-Butao from the Department of Political Studies at the University of Witwatersrand. 2024 is an election year for more than 60 countries around the world, representing almost 50% of the global population. Political policies shape the narrative of societies and underscores importance of citizen’s having a say in the way that their country is governed. Dr Chilenga-Butao shares her perspectives on three benefits afforded to citizens voting in democratic elections. The first is representation, the possibility of electing officials that not only hear their needs, but deliver them too. The second is the protection of basic freedoms and human rights, so that people are able to express themselves in and live life in a way that they choose to. Thirdly, people should be able to live peacefully, and not find themselves in a dictatorship. Recent elections in South Africa, have shown that people were dissatisfied with the status quo and used their votes to effect political change. We note that the global representation of female parliament members is 26.9%, and consider that education, access to funding and countering personal attacks, such as insults and negative commentary, adhering to party rhetoric are some of the barriers that impede women’s access and progress in politics. Dr Chilenga-Butao notes that women politicians, irrespective of political party affiliation, tend to speak the same language when it comes to injustice, and this consistent collective common voice drives change. For example, in South Africa, female politicians banded together to abolish period tax and tackle gender-based violence. Dr Chilenga-Butao reminds us that time is finite and encourages us to take action today and keep pushing the edge of our boundaries open to more opportunities. The gains we make for ourselves and families also serve to inspire others to action their own dreams. Tune in for more…

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June 7, 2024

Dr Thokozani Chilenga-Butao – Department of Political Studies, University of Witwatersrand – Opening Spaces

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Dr Thokozani  Chilenga-Butao from the Department of Political Studies at the University of Witwatersrand. 2024 is an election year for more than...

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Professor Tinuade Adekunbi Ojo, from the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg. She also serves as the Pan African Women Studies unit head at the Institute of Pan African Thought and Conversation. 2024 is an election year for more than 60 countries around the world, representing almost 50% of the global population. Political policies shape the narrative of societies and underscores importance of citizen’s having a say in the way that their country is governed. Prof Ojo, shares her journey into political studies, which grew out of her background in developmental studies, and focusses on issues that address women’s economic empowerment. We reflect on the political representation of women in various countries, such as Rwanda with the highest representation of women in parliament in comparison to Nigeria, which has one of the lowest. We discuss how women’s political representation impacts on gender sensitive policies, for example, health, education, financial inclusion, gender equality, gender-based violence etc…which contribute to better lives for women. Aspiring female politicians are change makers for women; and they need support to function optimally through personal and collective collaborative networks.  Prof Ojo, reminds to be tenacious and fight for our dreams, to believe in ourselves, to use challenges as opportunities to grow and to surround ourselves with positive supporters. Tune in for more…

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June 1, 2024

Professor Tinuade Adekunbi Ojo – Politics and International Relations, University of Johannesburg – Lead Your Life

This week on Womanity-Women in Unity, Dr. Amaleya Goneos-Malka talks to Professor Tinuade Adekunbi Ojo, from the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Johannesburg. She also serves as th...

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