Every year, in August, our country marks women’s month. We also pay tribute to the more than 20,000 women who marched to the Union Buildings on August 9 1956 in protest against the extension of pass laws to women. It was a system meant to control women even further and reduce them to passive beings, at the mercy of men.
Today, women’s month provides us with an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of women across our country and beyond. Around the globe, women are primarily responsible for providing water for their families. Tasked with this critical role, they face an impossible choice; certain death without water or possible death from illness due to dirty water.
Women and girls often spend up to six hours each day collecting water. This takes time away from school, work and caring for the family. Empowering women is crucial to solving the global water crisis. Water is an ‘elixir of life’ much more than a commodity. This vital resource is intricately linked to culture, economy and politics. However, it is also threatened – often in short supply or polluted, and can be a cause of conflict, in communities, between countries, also between women and men.
Water can also bring people together. The impact of inadequate access to safe water and sanitation is stronger for women who live in rural areas of our country. The gender disparities between men and women, boys and girls, in accessing opportunities and resources will never improve in the absence of safe water and sanitation services.
It is evident that women and girls are deeply affected by the lack of access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene, mainly due to the gendering of home making and care giving. Making a difference in the lives of women and girls can have a multiplier effect across whole households and communities. Access to safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene enables women and girls to take control of their lives.
We are celebrating this year’s women month under the theme: “Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights for an Equal Future”. The concept of Generation Equality is a global campaign and links SA to global efforts to achieve gender equality by 2030.
However, women’s month is a tribute not only to the thousands of women who marched on that day in 1956, but also a tribute to the pioneers of the women’s movement in this country. Our picture of women in this country has shifted considerably. Women are now professionals, scientists, researchers, data gatherers and are asking the questions, analysing, experimenting, advising and solving problems. Therefore, women’s leadership and decision-making power in water and sanitation is critical. This is recognised, and is improving.
The gender gap often found in planning, design and construction is slowly starting to narrow as women assume more prominent roles: from managing water users’ committees, to making financial decisions, to overseeing business administration, technical operations and maintenance.
While there will be many celebrations to honour women this month, the vast majority of women are hardly convinced that these will bring about any material change in their lives. The structure of patriarchy remains alive and intact.
In line with this year’s theme, the department of water & sanitation is working to debunk the notion of men being superior to women. In this regard, the department is advancing the role of women and placing them at the forefront. Meaningful strides have been made towards creating an enabling environment for women's empowerment and gender equality.
A number of programmes and workshops have been carried out to address gender disparities in the workplace within the department. The Accelerated Development Programme has been initiated for middle managers with the intention of growing and nurturing a pool of potential managers from within the department. It has ensured that women managers are work-ready to be appointed to senior positions.
• Ngcobo is a senior communicator at the department of water & sanitation
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