1. HON. Members, as we embark on honouring the rightful place of women in society, as legislators we must be guided by SDG5, 5.2 to eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in public and private sphere, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation.
2. The Women’s Caucus and the Standing Committee on the Quality of Life need to now measure equality and empowerment of girls and women with qualitative and quantitative indicators.
3. Like the US, UK and India currently, high achieving women are speaking out against workplace, sexual harassment against very famous, now infamous men. This wave will reach SA.
4. Therefore, to our HON. Male counterparts, your interest in these gender based committees, stake your claim and start changing the mind-sets of boys and men to embrace females as equals and complement our government’s social protection programmes and policies that benefit women in all sections.
5. Finally, HON. Speaker can we further amend the Liquor Amendment Bill to consider the impact on women who bear the brunt of domestic and sexual violence by men or who also drink and endanger the health of their babies, which can be prevented.
6. Thank you.

Shameen Thakur-Rajbansi

Minority Front Leader (KZN Legislature)