Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, has called on all government departments and the private sector to give 40% of procurement to women owned businesses.

“Women economic inclusion and access to the mainstream of the economy should be a priority,” Nkoana-Mashabane said.

Addressing the media during the official launch of Women’s Month 2021 on Friday, Nkoana-Mashabane said access to information on how to register a business, and how to do business with the State in all languages, remains a challenge for tens of thousands of women.

The Minister said from next year, the department will begin a series of radio shows on 11 ofouth Africa’s largest stations.

“The focus is to answer the questions women business owners have, but cannot get answers to, especially in all African languages,” the Minister said.

The department will also late this month host the Women’s Economic Assembly in response to Pillar 5 of the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF), which is economic empowerment.

The Minister said the assembly will put major sectors under the spotlight to evaluate the level of participation of women-owned businesses.

She said the department is also beginning to look more into manufacturing, mining and mineral exploration, and women in the green economy.

This year’s Women’s Month will be commemorated under the theme, ‘The year of Charlotte Maxeke: Realising Women’s Rights’. This is in recognition and celebration of the 150th birthday anniversary of Mme Charlotte Makgomo Mannya Maxeke.

Source: South African Government News Agency