As we close off this very important month, I found myself thinking about how women are doing in our country. Women’s month is always the commemorative month that reminds us to do an introspection. It is a time to check if the sacrifices of the past have yielded any results when it comes to women empowerment.
It is a time to admit that as much as there has been some progress made to support women in the country, a lot of work still needs to be done to ensure complete emancipation of women. Echoing the sentiments of our President: “The face of poverty in our country is the face of an African woman”. A sad but very true reality that this country is facing especially after the COVID period. Life has become even harder for most women especially those in previously disadvantaged communities like townships and rural areas. President Ramaphosa went on to say that he noted that South Africa has far fewer women entrepreneurs than many other countries.
According to Stats SA: “Globally, women who are looking for work and are available to work have a tougher time finding work than men. This phenomenon is more pronounced in South Africa, with higher unemployment rates for the general population as compared to the rest of the world. In 2022, 47,0% of South African women were recorded as economically inactive. This means that almost half of the working age women in South Africa are out of labour force compared to 35,6% of their male counterparts. The latest global labour force participation rate for women is about 47% compared to 72% for men (ILO,2022). The productive potential of South African women in the labour market remains unused.”
Unemployment unfortunately has unintended consequences and negative ripple effects that include poverty, crime and complete loss of hope in many households. Recently, I came across a very gloomy story of a Butterworth-based mom here in the Eastern Cape who allegedly killed herself and her children ‘because of poverty’. These are stories that I would ideally not want to read about – at least not now after almost 30 years of our democracy. It is really sad to realise that people are hungry enough to even want to kill themselves. Then, there’s the plight of women finding themselves stealing food or other essential items so that they can feed their families.
I know that this all sounds like doom and gloom but trust me it is not intended to take away any hope that we still have. This column is not taking away from the fact that there are a large number of women that are employed and those that are hustling through their own businesses. I’ve written this column because I want to remind everyone that as bad as things are – there is always hope. There’s always people around us or even organisations that are willing to assist. I’m still encouraged by ‘Ubuntu’ that is shown by South Africans when someone puts up a post on social media asking to be assisted with either food or electricity – as hard as things are for everyone – people still respond positively. I am also encouraged by the number of women empowerment initiatives that companies in South Africa are involved in. So, bottom line – it is not all bad!
The reality is that our economy is not growing much after the COVID period. Because our economy is not thriving – it will be difficult for jobs to be created in an environment that is not conducive. The alternative is for our people, especially the youth to explore the option of starting their own businesses. If one is going to sit around and wait for a job, it is unfortunately going to be a long wait. Let’s continue to think of some business ideas and start there. Aluta Continua Cdes!
Miranda Lusiba is the Founding Director of Strangé Consulting – a boutique PR Agency specialising in Communication, Freelance Writing, Media Relations, Reputation Management and Media Training. #youthmatters
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