WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY:
SOUTH AFRICA

" The next century has to be women's century, and I challenge every one of you. We no longer want to walk behind a man. We want to walk side by side. We don't want to continue saying, "We play an important role in the informal sector of the economy." Why only the informal sector and not the formal sector? We also want to be in the formal economy. We want our seats and our place in our parliament, in our government, in our judiciary, in all decision-making bodies. We want to be there. South Africa is an example and Mozambique is an example. Yes, we are starting to get there. South Africa has one of the highest rates of women in parliament and women in government. Probably the only countries better than us are the Scandinavian countries. We are determined. We are serious about it and we will make it."

Graca Simbine Machel, 27 September 1999

“My main line of organization was always in the women’s movement. I really grew and developed because of the way the women in these organizations nurtured me and gave me opportunities. […] Women were more likely to join women’s organizations, because if they belonged to general civic groups with their husbands and they disagreed with him, they couldn’t say so. We spent a lot of time talking about the status of women in transformation at the community level and our involvement with the liberation. At some point, women started moving in to broader civic structures, and we felt dispirited. But then we realized that maybe this was an important role of the women’s movement. […] Together both the rich and the poor women became aware that they had suffered in many of the same ways. They realized that rich and poor men can treat women with the same humiliation. So it was coming together around the issue of dignity. […] (Today) if women aren’t part of some important body of activity, people ask why they aren’t there. I cannot overemphasize the need for women to organize together as women, to make sure that there is a coherent movement, that we listen to one another, that those of us who are sitting in the process are considering the needs and concerns of all women. Everything else flows from there.

Cheryl Carolus, on the role of women’s civil society in the political struggle of South Africa during the 80’s and 90’s