We are more than the sum of our parts
Honourable Speaker,
Women of the Western Cape.
INTRODUCTION
The story of women’s progress in the Western Cape is more than a list of statistics. It is a story of courage, resilience, and ambition. The 2024 Provincial Economic Review and Outlook (PERO) shows a declining fertility rate, reflecting that more women are pursuing education, building careers, and achieving financial independence before starting families.
More girls are staying in school, more young women are entering universities and training institutions, and more are stepping into sectors where women were once absent. But we are not defined only by our job title, our family role, or a number on a page.
We are not just what happened to us. Our worth is made of the courage we carry, the dreams we dare to dream, and the impact we make in every corner of society.
We are more than the sum of our parts.
INVESTING IN WOMEN
Speaker, we cannot celebrate progress without acknowledging that too many women remain locked out of opportunity. That is why we must invest in high-impact programmes designed to open doors and break barriers.
1. Procurement Client Centre
Through the Provincial Treasury’s Procurement Client Centre, we are ensuring that government procurement becomes a tool for empowerment, not exclusion. In 2023/24, 23.41% of provincial procurement spend went to women-owned businesses. This is our baseline; and we are determined to grow it through supplier training, onboarding, and open days that equip women to win and deliver on government contracts.
2. Entrepreneurship and Business Development Support
Through the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, we fund women-led events and enterprises, providing up to R80 000 per project during Women’s Month in August and Entrepreneurship Month in November. It is about equipping them with networks, mentorship, and market access so their businesses thrive year-round.
3. Export Competitiveness Enhancement Programme
The Western Cape Government’s Department of Economic Development and Tourism, in partnership with Wesgro, operates the Export Competitiveness Enhancement Programme (ECEP), a fund designed to assist export-ready or soon-to-be-export-ready businesses with technical support such as product refinement, international packaging and certification, labelling, export logistics, and e-commerce listing to help them access global markets.
It is a pathway for women to take their ideas global!
4. Tourism Growth Fund
The Western Cape Government's Tourism Growth Fund is a strategic initiative by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism to stimulate sustainable tourism growth through collaborative investments in infrastructure and product development. By co-funding high-impact projects, the Fund aims to enhance the province's tourism offerings, attract more visitors, and create meaningful employment opportunities.
5. YearBeyond & Planet Youth
Through YearBeyond, young women gain work experience, leadership training, and pathways into careers. They are benefiting from literacy and numeracy tutoring to community development roles. These opportunities ensure that talent is not wasted for lack of a first job.
The Western Cape Government further officially launched the Planet Youth programme in Mitchell’s Plain on July 24, 2025, as part of its provincial area-based safety strategy, including over 50,000 Grade 8 and 9 learners across 123 high-crime area schools participating in the survey.
This aims to inform community-specific interventions aimed at reducing youth substance abuse and enhancing well-being through collective, data-driven action.
6. Masakh’iSizwe Bursary Programme
In the infrastructure sector, the Masakh’iSizwe Bursary Programme is bringing more women into engineering, construction, and the built environment. These are fields where women have been underrepresented for far too long.
7. Agriculture Skills Programmes
Through our Department of Agriculture, we have prioritised the inclusion of women in commercial farming projects and agri-processing. The Commodity Approach Programme is giving women access to land, equipment, and training, ensuring that our food systems are more inclusive and resilient.
CONCLUSION
In 2024, the Western Cape led the country in female labour market participation and professional representation, with the lowest female unemployment rate in South Africa and the highest proportion of women in professional roles. This is not accidental; it is the result of deliberate policy, targeted investment, and a refusal to merely pay lip service to women’s empowerment.
The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
A woman’s worth cannot be measured only by her job title, her family role, or a list of achievements.
We are more than the marches and talk shops and pronouns.
We don’t just want a seat at the table, we want to build the table, own the table.
We want your automatic response not to be requesting additional expertise after the expertise we have already provided.
Don’t repeat what we already said in a meeting, don’t start your response with “Yes, but […]”, and credit the idea to the woman who originally raised it.
We must continue to back women. Not just in August or by putting the word ‘Women’ in front of a project name, but in every month of the year and through everything that we do, so that every woman in the Western Cape has the tools, opportunities, and support to shape her own future.
This is because we want every woman in the Western Cape to live a life SHE values.
Speaker, I thank you.