By BAKANG MOKOTO
South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) in the North West has appealed for the Post Covid-19 Economic Recovery Plan to extricate the overwhelming majority of women in rural areas who are afflicted by poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment.
This comes ahead of the much-anticipated speech by the Republic of South Africa (RSA) President, Cyril Ramaphosa who is expected to outline his Economic Recovery Plan strategy to the nation at 2pm.
Sanco provincial chairperson, Paul Sebegoe said: “Rural women must be placed at the centre of every development programme targeting rural communities if poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment are to be addressed.
“Women are one of the central pillars of development therefore their needs and rights must be addressed if poor communities are to prosper and grow. Rural women need support to help them adapt to commercialisation, globalisation, climate change as well as new technologies and migration patterns that are impacting on subsistence farming.”
He added that communities would benefit socially and economically when women have access to land, water, education, training, financial services and strong organisations because the empowerment of women and equality are fundamental in reducing poverty, hunger and malnutrition.
Sebegoe further said the contribution of women and the possibilities of mobilising their unutilised labour for economic development are generally overlooked.
“A fitting tribute to Dr Vuyokazi Feliciity Mahlati who selflessly championed the interests of rural women as well transformation in the agriculture including agro processing sector would be to ensure that land expropriation reverses the legacy of land dispossession and gives effect to the vision of the 1954 Women’s Charter,” he underscored.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa is expected to address the nation at 2pm amid South Africa’s economic trouble. He is expected to announce a range of measures that would initiate to set the country on a new path of growth, employment and transformation amid COVID-19 pandemic.
Ramaphosa is also expected to take the country into his confidence and take decisive steps to rebuild investor confidence too. However, as corruption has rear its ugly head, much is expected from him to come up with ways to end corruption and state capture, restore good governance at state owned enterprises and strengthen critical public institutions.
The Guardian 