Do we deserve to celebrate Women's Day?

As South Africans celebrate Women’s Day, the contribution of great women are often heralded and echoed across the nation, and rightly so.

It is only fitting that we, as a nation, mark the immeasurable sacrifices and suffering of leading women in our society. The names of Lilian Ngoyi, Mamphela Rampele, Helen Joseph, Albertina Sisulu, Adelaide Tambo, Ruth First, Gertrude Shope, Fatima Meer, Helen Suzman come to mind, among the many other celebrated “political celebrities” and “struggle royalty”.

However, as we continue to build a post-apartheid South Africa and move forward as a free and inclusive democratic society, it is time to note, recognise and celebrate the continued daily sacrifices, suffering and contribution of women who surround us and influence our life’s trajectory.

Keeping in mind, and never forgetting, the generation of ’56 and “struggle heroines”, we have an obligation to nurture, celebrate and support the women of 2010, who in turn have an obligation and a duty to continue the struggle for the total emancipation and empowerment of women in South Africa and Africa.

The women of 2010 are duty-bound, in memory of those women who passionately and defiantly marched on the Strydom government in 1956, to defend and constantly reaffirm the hard-won constitutional and democratic gains, and the basic human rights the post-apartheid dispensation guarantees all of us: freedom, fairness, equality, dignity and integrity.

It is also imperative that the women of 2010, and indeed every single South African, continue to earnestly endeavour for a society in which these are not only formally and legally guaranteed, but tangible and substantively experienced.

Progressing beyond formal legal equality, the women — and men — of the present-day South Africa have an obligation to continue the struggle for substantive and social equality in all spheres of society: socially, politically and economically.

The total emancipation and empowerment of women must extend beyond mere lip-service and slogans, and must do justice to the sacrifices of the countless women who, in some cases, gave their lives to guarantee a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it.

There are sadly a number of particularly important and concerning issues plaguing women as we enter the second decade of the new millennium.

Daily experiences of rape, violence, physical and emotional abuse and crime in general continue to mar our new and free South Africa.

Inadequate support for young mothers, the impact of HIV/Aids, lack of and unequal access to quality education stand in stark contrast to the vision championed by the women of 1956.

Continued marginalisation and a lack of empowerment of women in the corporate world and disproportional representation of women in society and political institutions particularly highlight a bigger, and deep-seated, underlying reality: a society informed by values and a mentality reflecting outdated and anti-democratic paternalistic and patriarchal social attitudes and views.

The challenges may appear insurmountable and daunting, but as demonstrated by the women of 1956, women can and have successfully demanded and exacted change in a society seemingly hard-wired with a patriarchal structure.

Women of South Africa rise up and heed the call for continued activism and pro-active engagement in society! Men of South Africa, support our mothers and the mothers of tomorrow and protect them to secure our future.

Malibongwe igama lamakosikhazi! Phambili abafazi! Wathint’ abafazi, wathint’ imbokodo, uzokufa! Abafazi be the Rock of our Nation, a foundation upon which a sustainable and prosperous future is built.