Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Women In the Presidency

Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Women In the Presidency Quarter 3 (October- December 2015) 23 February 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Overview of performance Progress on APP Reflections on SONA Conclusion

Introduction • The current reporting period was an important one for the Commission, in which we heightened delivery on programmes in the APP as well as planning and/ setting agenda for work to be undertaken in the coming new financial year. • This time for new agenda setting is particularly important for the Commission as it will be set against the backdrop of what is currently happening globally, regionally and nationally; a time when reviews of important instruments for gender equality such as Beijing and MDGs were done; and revealing the fact that a lot still has to be done as far as this discourse is concerned.

Introduction Number of emerging agenda related to SDGs, AU’s agenda 2030 is currently unfolding as a way to deal with women empowerment and gender equality more comprehensively utilising rights based approach and comprehensive targets. All these have been considered and folded into the programme that the Commission will be delivering on in the next financial year. Primary focus for the quarter was to ensure that work as planned in the Annual Performance plan is achieved and this report will therefore interrogate these against the planned targets, spending patterns, trends and the overall functioning of the institution.

Overview of Performance For the current period the organisation managed to achieve 73% of planned activities; this number excludes about 4 activities that IA classified as unplanned. Interventions are underway in areas that are behind to heighten service delivery in the fourth quarter and ensure all those targets whose achievement does not relates and/ or depend on external stakeholders is achieved. Approximately 73.3%of planned annual targets for this quarter have been achieved. (this is vis-à-vis approximately 60% for Q1 and 74% for Q2) Overall all departments and provinces are on course as far as rolling out of activities is concerned. Most exciting processes towards actualisation of ‘red card; green card campaign’. At this stage, entities have been given the opportunity to respond as a measure to avoid legal action

Overview of Performance • It is imperative to highlight that communications unit has popularised the work of the commission through documentaries, PSAs flighted during 16 days and social media campaigns. These initiatives highlight the great work that can be achieved when strategic partnerships are entered into. ( there were no costs involved).

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

Progress on SO 1

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

The following table provides visual display on the split of the 258 complaints per province, with Limpopo and Mpumalanga ranking the highest. 16

For the reporting period the table represents files that have been handled by the department. These are represented as such through files that were brought forward, new opened and closed 17

The table below depicts the opening and closing of files per quarter 18

Analysis of Complaints Gender based Violence complaints have increased in this quarter and this can possibly be attributed to the fact The complaints received during this quarter can be attributed to the 16 Days of No violence against women and children Campaign. When compared to the last quarter (Q2), Domestic Violence matters have decreased from 23 complaints to 11 complaints and Maintenance matters have decreased from 46 complaints to 42 complaints. There has been a slight decrease of Estate and Labour complaints during this quarter. The majority of the maintenance complaints were received in Limpopo. The majority of these complaints indicated that persons were not aware especially in the rural areas that one can claim maintenance. There were other challenges pertaining to poor administration by the maintenance officers wherein files were missing and/or reference numbers were incorrect. The increase of these complaints could further be attributed to radio slots that discussed Maintenance Amendment Act 9 of 2015. The North West province is the second province to have the majority of the maintenance complaints as this subject was discussed at the outreach-legal clinics. 19

The visibility of the CGE in rural areas and as such it was recommended that the CGE conducts legal clinics on Saturdays also to ensure that persons who are at work (especially at farming areas) are informed of the mandate of the CGE. • Early child marriages. It was highlighted that there is fear to report such matters as the culprits are community members and as such there is fear of victimisation especially if the Legal system were to fail to prosecute the culprits. • Maintenance complaints were raised mostly by young women and it was argued that maintenance monies are not paid expeditiously by the Maintenance courts. • Rape by intimate partner/ spouse: It became clear at the outreach- legal clinics that there was lack of understanding on what constitute rape and whether an intimate partner/ spouse can be charged for such a offence if such an offence was committed against the other intimate partner/spouse. 20

As previously reported in Quarter 2, the department has already achieved its annual target of conducting 90 outreach and legal clinics. A total of 128 outreach and legal clinics have been conducted since the commencement of the financial year. During Quarter 3 there has been a slight decrease of the Outreach and legal clinics as compared to Quarter 2 21

In the reporting period a total number of 68 files were opened during the legal-outreach clinic. Limpopo (33), Mpumalanga (15) and the North West (14) provinces opened a significant number of files at the outreach-legal clinics with the Gauteng (5) and Eastern Cape (1) opening a few. The Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and the Northern Cape outreach and legal clinics unfortunately did not have complaints opened. The opening of files at outreach and legal clinics is totally dependent on whether attendees have complaints. 22

Public Education and Information • Key activities undertaken include: Legal and Outreach clinics implemented jointly with the legal department; an outreach, media and advocacy campaign focusing on women empowerment and gender equality; a community radio education programme through radio slots; an education programme with traditional and religious leaders in seven provinces and coordinated programme with civil society organizations and government departments on gender discrimination. • Under the women empowerment & gender equality PEI focused more on gender based violence as one of the factors that inhibits empowerment. Due to the fact that there was no specific programme for the commission the department continued engaging with various stakeholders within a number of sectors such as LGBTI, religious and traditional leaders. Various key issues were highlighted ranging from:-

Geographic areas covered during this period • H:\Desktop\ACEO\Geographic areas covered during this periodQ3.docx

Communications This unit has utilised a number of partnerships and collaborated with NEMISA, SABC, GCIS and Community television stations to ensure that 16 days of campaign takes place. The media campaign that was running during this period took place through social media, community television, radio PSAs. For this media campaign the SABC availed free airtime and Nemisa made available their production resources in order to ensure that production occurs for the radio adverts that were flighted on SABC radio stations. The unit worked closely with GCIS in order to roll out a viral campaign which aimed to educate public and remind various stakeholders about solutions that are at their disposal to deal with sexual violence and rape. This was done through #didyouknow

A three-part documentary was produced in collaboration with NEMISA which was earmarked for community television. The documentary had 3 episodes which looked at victims of sexual violence, challenges pertaining to current mechanisms available from the State to assist victims of rape and lastly looked at solutions to the problems related to victims’ assistance in rape/sexual violence cases.

Coverage for the campaign The contents in this section seek to look into the coverage of the campaign through mainstream media and social media during the period of the campaign.

Social Media Coverage 31

Communications Unit PSA TV PSA Comm TV_final p.wmv 32

Summated aspects of social media coverage • Most of the interaction of social media took place on Twitter which is a relevant platform for immediate responses to the issues mentioned about the CGE and its programme. • The second highest number of interactions took place on Facebook. • The highest number of coverage on social media took place on 28 December around the time when the chairperson of the CGE was to appear for a radio discussion programme. • More coverage (slightly lower than 28 November) took place on 7th and 8th of December. This was the period when the chairperson of the CGE was on Morning Live programme on SABC 2 where he was being interviewed along with the Minister of Women and Children. 33

PROVINCIAL REPORT • Introduction • During this quarter the Provincial offices embarked on the review of the recommendations that were made to all entities that attended the Employed Equity Hearings. 16 Days of Activism falls within this period of reporting and provinces conducted a lot of advocacy as well as participating at stakeholders’ events and delivering presentations in some instances. The deliberations that were undertaken during this reporting period entailed the following thematic areas: • LGBTI • Women Empowerment • GBV/Domestic violence • Engagement with displaced foreign nationals • Widowhood • HIV/AIDS among young people • Maintenance 34

Maintenance and Gender discrimination still remain the majority cases that are reported across all Provinces. Cases on disputes on Estate and evictions are becoming predominant especially in Mpumalanga. One of the highlights for the Northern Cape was the Commission’s submission of the dossier on the intimate partner killings to the chief of staff in the Premier’s Office for her attention and response. 35

Challenges It is imperative to highlight that during this reporting period, despite of all the initiatives that the government has undertaken to prevent and to control attacks on the foreign nationals, that there were reports on the attacks to foreign nationals in the Eastern Cape Province. Even though the Commission in collaboration with the Human Rights Commission intervened and engaged with the affected parties, there is a challenge for such parties to access basic services. Such services entail access to health facilities, children unable to attend school due to fear of attacks. This is a violation of Section 12 (1), 28 (1) of the Bill of Rights Constitution Act 108 of 1996 Mpumalanga reported that despite the initiatives that have been put in place in the Province as well as the interventions that the Commission has made in preventing early child marriages, the problem still persists. The main Challenge therefore is that people are not reporting is with the fear that they will be victimised by community members should they report it. 37

One of the challenges that were reported during this reporting period was on the fact that there are more maintenance cases being reported and that there seems to be a challenge with the Maintenance officers as they are not conversant with the Maintenance Act and their lack of work ethics in implementing it. 38

Progress against Annual Performance targets 3rd Quarter Performance Report (Tables).docx

INTRODUCTION The CGE welcomes the President’s presentation of the State of the Nation Address for year 2016, and its focus on some of the key challenges, particularly the service delivery, economic and financial challenges currently facing the country. We do, however, note that the speech largely lacked a gendered lens and focus while it’s thrust was mainly on the economic and financial challenges currently facing the country and emphasis on the need for cost cutting and fiscal prudence to avoid a possible financial crisis. However CGE believes strongly that it is during times of economic challenges that a stronger focus on gender equality and transformation is particularly necessary. While acknowledging that the country faces great challenges currently, and that these challenges would need effective policy responses and interventions from the government and other key stakeholders, we also believe that gender equality and gender transformation remain urgent challenges facing the country as a key constructional imperative We noted a number of key issues raised in the speech, with potentially positive implications for promoting gender equity and mainstreaming as well as some important omissions/ missed opportunities from a gendered perspective: 42

RESPONSES TO SPECIFIC ISSUES RAISED IN SONA CGE welcomes the President’s statement that economic transformation remains a key priority for the government, and that economic transformation should include women (However CGE would like to see more details and concrete steps in this regard, especially through the specific programmes and strategies of key ministries (such as Departments of Economic Development, Public Works, Trade and Industry, Land Affairs and Rural Development, etc. to prioritise a gender balanced approach to economic transformation). We urge the government to ensure that the forthcoming budget empowers women’s empowerment. CGE urges that, as part of economic transformation, government needs to focus attention on women’s contribution to the country’s GDP, including women’s care work. This should also take into account the impact of the weaker rand as well inflation, on women 43

RESPONSES TO SPECIFIC ISSUES RAISED IN SONA The President stated that government intended to revitalize agriculture, coupled with the land reform program (reopening the land claim process for those who missed the 1999 process). Government envisages that this would empower women (including through the government’s 50/50 land policy framework for people living in the farms). CGE work (i.e. research report on the land reform programme) has found that the land reform programme has so far benefited mainly men, while women remain marginalized from land reform. We therefore look forward to relevant departments and land reform institutions providing greater details in terms of how the new process will address the need for greater gender balance in the state’s land reform programme. 44

RESPONSES TO SPECIFIC ISSUES RAISED IN SONA The speech identified a set of socio-economic policy measures such as the release of the National Health Insurance (NHI) white paper, the government’s Comprehensive Social Security Plan and the ongoing national minimum wage public policy discussions (the latter is particularly important given in that women tend to be over-represented in low paid employment. CGE wishes to express its support for the government’s continued provision of social grants as part of its important social policy measures. These are potentially important policy initiatives likely to make an impact on the lives of women. These initiatives are also likely to hold potentially positive implications for women in rural areas where very low wages and high levels of unemployment predominate, and primary health care services and facilities are sorely inadequate. In addition, it has been established that more female-headed households in South Africa are at greater risk of falling into poverty compared to male-headed households. CGE therefore awaits greater details to be released in terms of specific measures and interventions to ensure greater benefits for women in many impoverished communities across the country. 45

RESPONSES TO SPECIFIC ISSUES RAISED IN SONA The government’s initiative to support Black Industrialists: On the face of it, the scheme seems extremely important in terms of promoting economic amongst the formerly economically disempowered groups - by addressing the historically and racially skewed ownership and control of the country’s industrial productive capacity/resources. CGE would be keen to see the further development of the Scheme and the implementation/rolling out plans to ensure that they address issues of gender equity and transformation, ensuring that women are not excluded from the beneficiaries of scheme. Similarly, the President’s acknowledgement during the SONA of the crucial role of large scale development financing institutions such as the DBSA and IDC in financing economic development activities in the country, particularly in the agricultural sector is important as it places emphasis on the importance of the country’s financial services institutions for long term economic development and transformation. However, such an announcement should be made accompanied by a formal policy statement or initiative on how government intends to bring gender equity and balance in the area of accessing development finance in the country. Women continue to face intractable constraints in accessing financial services and support for their economic activities 46

RESPONSES TO SPECIFIC ISSUES RAISED IN SONA CGE believes that Development Finance Institutions such as DBSA & IDC should provide financing support that places women entrepreneurs at the focus of their development financing policies and programmes, particularly given women’s limited access to private sector financial services products. Where possible, we urge government to ensure that public sector development finance institutions provided ring-fenced financial support services to women entrepreneurs. The President announced that the South African National Aids Council (SANAC) was now functioning again, and that it would revive national campaigns against HIV. CGE believes that this announcement should have been made in the context of a comprehensive national campaign places greater emphasis on women’s reproductive rights, including a focus on young women between 15 and 24 years of age who tend to be at greater risk of HIV/AIDS infections. This group should therefore be prioritized in these planned campaigns. Many young women, especially those from unemployed and poverty-stricken backgrounds, tend to have limited economic and employment opportunities, often having to rely on older men for financial support, which often leads to exploitation including risky sexual behavior. A comprehensive response is therefore critical 47

RESPONSES TO SPECIFIC ISSUES RAISED IN SONA The Commission notes with concern that the President did not refer in his speech to the fact that South Africa was due to submit its country report to the CEDAW committee in 2015, which didn’t happen, and has yet to be done this year, in addition to the country not meeting the 50/50 target for women’s representation in terms of the SADC Protocol. Finally, the President alluded to forthcoming local government elections, expected to be held sometime between May and August this year. This is an area of women participation and representation in governance the CGE is monitoring closely, and where we have consistently revealed/exposed the level of under-representation for. CGE would have liked to hear the President place emphasis on the importance of increasing women’s participation and representation in order to influence matters of governance, policy making and planning of service delivery to their communities throughout the country. 48

Conclusion The above gives an indication of work undertaken against targets set at the beginning of the financial year and highlights general effectiveness of the organisation. Through continuous monitoring of the APP progress, the organization has managed to reach ones again the 73% mark. The work of the Commission has steadily moved to level of excellence, and use of innovation and media to run some of the programmes has been a highlight and signifies an improvement in utilisation of media as a medium to educate and create a platform for engagement. 49

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Presentation to the Portfolio Committee on Women In the Presidency