Speech by the City’s Executive Mayor, Patricia de Lille
City celebrates Women’s Month with women who have overcome
adversity
Note to editors: the following speech was delivered by the City’s Executive
Mayor, Patricia de Lille, at a Women’s Day event with the South African Blind
Women in Action group.
The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Social Development and Early
Childhood Development, Councillor Suzette Little
City councillors and officials
Members of the Cape Town Society for the Blind
Members of South African Blind Women in Action (SABWIA)
Members of the media
Honoured guests
It gives me great pleasure to be here today with this group of inspirational
women.
By refusing to be victims and instead taking action to empower yourselves,
you set a shining example for us all.
You remind me of the 20 000 women who, on 9 August 1956, made history
when they marched to the Union Buildings to petition against the divisive pass
laws which defined people along racial lines and required black South
Africans to carry a pass.
Those women made a powerful statement that marked one of the most
significant turning points in the fight against apartheid.
They took a stand against the oppressive regime and made their voices
heard.
They refused to be victims.
Like those women, you, the women of the Cape Town Society for the Blind
and the SA Blind Women in Action, have also taken a stand.
Despite the physical challenges you face every day, you make a daily
decision not to be victims of your circumstances.
Instead, your will to succeed has led you to overcome adversity, learn new
skills and use your time to serve people in need.
I was pleased to hear that you run entrepreneurial projects focusing on
knitting, weaving and craft work, as well as programmes that empower
women by providing social work services, placement services, computer
literacy, office administration and entrepreneurial training.
The City of Cape Town also has a number of programmes in place to assist
vulnerable individuals such as women, people with disabilities, and older
people.
They are defined as vulnerable as they tend to be at higher risk of social
exclusion and marginalisation.
Our Vulnerable Groups Programme focuses on raising awareness and putting
in place initiatives around gender-based violence, abuse against senior
citizens and people living with disabilities.
The Vulnerable Groups Programme also provides skills and work placement
opportunities for people with disabilities.
It aims to create employment opportunities that might lead to permanent
employment, temporary employment, learnerships, or further education and
training.
During the 2014/15 financial year, 37 candidates, 20 of whom were women,
successfully completed the programme.
Nineteen of these candidates are now employed or have gone on to
learnership programmes. Ten of them are women.
These programmes are in line with our mandate to build a caring city that
seeks to empower and uplift residents, especially those in need.
Your work at SABWIA supports our mission to be a caring city by providing a
home and a voice for blind and partially sighted women, and empowering
them to make a meaningful contribution to society.
Women like you are an inspiration to me, and to many others.
You have not allowed your disability to stand in the way of your ability to do
good work.
I am therefore proud to support the work you do with a donation of groceries
and knitting items worth R10 000 for your outreach and small business unit.
By working together, we can make progress possible.
To all the women of Cape Town, I would like to say: be the hero, be the rock
in your families, and do all you can to empower yourself, and to protect
yourself and your children.
To the women at the Cape Town Society for the Blind and SABWIA, thank you
once again for the great work that you are doing, and for the shining
example you set.
You are a testament to all women that they can achieve anything if they rise
above their circumstance and empower themselves.
I salute you. God Bless.