Women Politicians In South Africa

"I grew up in a family of strong women. I was taught from an early age that my strength lies within. I was taught to stand up and stand strong."

"I think in order to prevent a situation where government starts thinking about regulation, which might start infringing on freedom of speech. I think a conversation must be had, one of solutions seeking and not an acrimonious one."

"you know we will monitor disinformation in all 11 languages this is what we’ll do, this is what we’ll do. And then after the election, begin the conversation about monitoring disinformation going forward"

"My motivation at all times is for justice. I am a shy, introverted person, but in the face of injustice a fire is lit in my belly and I do not stop until there is justice. Once I set my mind to a goal, I do not stop until it is achieved."

"My advice to young politicians would be to make sure they have an adequate work/life balance, it is important to take time for yourself and self-care. Talk to your friends, family and colleagues if you are struggling. There is no shame in admitting so."

"Most people take up politics at in their late 40s and 50s once they have had life experience and raised their children. Being a young politician can be emotionally taxing if you do not have the right support systems."

"We feel small to say thanks all the time."

"Let us be brave: we have heard of men shaking in their trousers, but who ever heard of a woman shaking in her skirt?"

"My mother firmly believed our tears shall be wiped away in the next world. I believed we should start enjoying life here."

"She can toss an audience on her little finger, get men grunting with shame and a feeling of smallness;Ezekiel Mphahlele"

"She spoke the language of the worker, and she was herself an ordinary factory worker. When she said what she stood for, she evoked emotions no other person could evoke;Winnie Madikizela-Mandela"

"As an activist legislature, our immediate task is to refashion and reengineer all our efforts to ensure clear government response to these pressing challenges."

"“We are therefore challenged by the generation of 1976, as this law-making body, to transform through democratic means the institutions of power in our society that continue to resist and reproduce inequality and social difference.""

"She also stated that the legislature would continue to involve the public in the processes and programmes of the legislature through public hearings, petition processes, sector parliaments, sittings of the house and initiatives such as Taking the Legislature to the People.""

""In light of the financial constraints and budget cuts faced by the legislature, we shall continue with more cost-curtailment measures and a reprioritization of programmes,”"

"She won’t pay the money as the ministerial booklet allowed her to the benefit."

"I will not pay back the money as I am entitled to those benefits. I do not know why only me being brought forward before the committee while there are other MECs who did the same, but they are not questioned."

"Well, it was women in the labour movement in the 1900s that gave us this day. They were calling for bread; they were calling for better working conditions and they were calling for peace. Guess what? We are calling for the same things today, in different ways. We are rededicating ourselves to the struggles of today. Today, for instance, we are calling for decent work because women continue to be at the bottom of the pyramid of economic activity and the work and the jobs that they do continue to be informal and to be low paid."

"The moral of the story there is that it’s important to be involved and be engaged. Being involved also showed to me the importance of having men as part and parcel of the women’s struggle."

"It is important that women celebrate themselves but also that they don’t only preach to the converted and go out there and win more allies for our struggle."

""One of my big takeaways from young people is courage. The courage to sometimes walk where no one has ever walked. And I also think young people are not afraid to do the work — it's not as if young people are waiting to be saved. They want to save and deliver on the number of things that they feel strong about. So it is important that as older people, we don't treat them as people we have to carry, they actually will carry us I think. "thumb|Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka 2014"

"Young people, of whatever time and generation, feel invincible. That’s important for necessary change"

"I would hope that at this point in time, our children do not have to die in order to bring about changes."

"This is where you can see that it is really necessary to open up and allow young people to play the role they want to play in providing leadership and solutions in society."

"It's important that at a school level, in a comprehensive way, that all young people are prepared for the world of work that they will graduate into. If we do not provide those skills, we risk leaving these young people behind, they will graduate and they will be inadequate for the future that awaits them."

"I think that it is important that women grab the opportunities that are there. Young women must stay at school much longer. They must delay having children until they can afford to have and look after them. They must be assertive and not be afraid to talk and to engage, because this world belongs to them just as much as it belongs to men."

"We don't have a groundswell in a critical mass of countries that have allowed young people to take their rightful place. So something has to change in Africa, so that we do not have so many young people who are so desperate."

"The women’s movement has led the struggle, very bold, very courageous. But the change that is required­– respect for human rights of women– is not just the responsibility of women alone. So we need to mobilize and to involve men."

"We also know that companies that involve women at a high level and engage them fully are much more competitive and profitable. As a matter of fact, amongst Fortune 500 companies, it has been argued that such companies are 34 per cent more competitive than their counterparts when it comes to returning profits to shareholders."

"We are also calling for women to be given equal pay for work of equal value, but also women still do a lot of unpaid work at home: caring for the aged, caring for children and that means that women cannot go out in the labour market and be part of the formal economy. So we are still, in a way, campaigning for the same thing. Women are campaigning for peace in countries where there is conflict. Women are campaigning against violence against women, which also means that where women have experienced domestic violence at home and outside the home they are not at peace with themselves."

"While people with disabilities continue to be unemployed and underemployed, it remains important to promote and support the empowerment of persons with disabilities to reduce economic vulnerability"

"Disability may be present from birth, or occur during a person's lifetime. It may be permanent, temporary or episodic in nature."

"If I turn out bad, please blame Aziz because he taught me how to do and handle matters the best way I can."

"The history and story of liberation is incomplete without Aziz’s contribution. It is no coincidence that he wrote in his biography that his life experience cannot be separated from the ANC and SACP."

"Very little is going to support women in South Africa. Ugandans are so serious about that policy, such that all annual budgets go through their human rights entities to be approved"

"We need to liberate women and create safe spaces that offer them economic freedom and independence because had it not been for women, many homes would have collapsed. They’re strong mentally and very strategic thinkers who raise children single-handedly"

"I am not saying I have solutions but merely seeing signs of a psychologically affected community that needs to shift to a new way of doing things, and doing away with stereotypes that promote violence, the bullying of individuals and infringing on their human rights."

"Young couples also need guidance in creating these safe spaces and healthy marriages. That will alleviate GBV and domestic violence. We can do it. It’s not as bad as it looks"

"A typical example is that the average woman wakes up every morning to nurture a newborn, raises the child in hardships, putting herself aside to ensure the child's growth and development. And then get abused when she brings and nurtures life. What is the problem?"

"Commemorating Disability Awareness Month offers an opportunity for all of us to remove social barriers and perceptions while improving the quality of life of people with disabilities through concrete action of empowering persons with disabilities through resourceful, sustainable and safe environments"

"People with disabilities should not be excluded from their constitutional rights due to disability. The National Disability Rights Policy, namely, the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, aligns with the National Development Plan and the Strategic Priorities of the Sixth Administration in calling for economic transformation and job creation."

"Your power must lie in the degree to which everybody feels represented.your power lies in you having authority over everybody and bullying you’re not really powerful. You’re a bully."

"We are appalled at how this horror and tragedy that is unfolding continues to get worse and worse. I think the world has seen enough, and it is time for the most powerful in the world to put a stop to this horror that Israel is unfolding against the people of Palestine."

"We would have anticipated that the ICC would react much earlier because thousands of people have been mowed down."

"We know people cannot own property, [and] that property can be seized without any compensation, which is what we experienced in our own country. People have to carry identity documents that reflect your ethnicity rather than citizenship. All of this is part of the apartheid feature."

"We believe human rights should be available to everybody equally and not to some, and that if we say that we’re committed to freedom, human rights, and democracy, it doesn’t mean to a particular country or people. It means all over. So we try to espouse that perspective."

"Blacks tend to still be a minority within the robust areas of the economy. They don’t own land. They don’t own shares in businesses. So we’ve got to change that because we cannot really live with a history where the majority are poor forever."

"The notion of international rules is very comfortable for some people to use when it suits them but they don’t believe in international rules when it doesn’t suit them because they don’t apply international rules or law equally in all circumstances."

"You can’t say because Ukraine has been invaded that suddenly sovereignty is important, but it was never important for Palestine. It’s very peculiar. If you believe in international law, truly, then wherever sovereignty is infringed it must apply and this is the point we’ve been making, that we use the framework of international law unequally depending on who is affected, and we are arguing that that must change."

"We’ve got to rethink the multilateral system, ensure it’s more fair, more open, transparent, and democratic."