POLOKWANE – They were accompanied by other members of the DA during the visit on Thursday, 9 August.
“Women in Limpopo face persistent challenges brought about by poverty, unemployment and the lack of access to opportunities. In certain instances, they are forced to exchange sexual favours or money in order to gain access to work opportunities,” Mbombo said. Mbombo recently visited the Bheki Mlangeni District Hospital in Jabulani, Soweto, which became the centre of a sex-for-jobs scandal where 100 women exposed senior officials who demand sexual favours and cash in exchange for access to job opportunities.
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During the taxi rank outreach, one desperate woman was encountered who did succumb to demands of sex for a job, but the job has not yet realised. Van der Walt said the name of the perpetrator is known to her, adding a desk will be established in Limpopo by the DA to address such issues, which are drastically increasing.
Mbombo said when the women of 1956 embarked on a march to the seat of the Apartheid government, they did so for the rights and humanity of all people. “We owe this generation of women and young people better than the society we live in now. It is not right that women and young people make up the majority of the almost 10 million jobless South Africans.
These aren’t faceless people, they are our neighbours, our sisters, our mothers; people who have dedicated their existence to not only keeping families together but also building communities through their selfless struggle for equality.” She said women bear the brunt of the humanitarian crisis of unemployment, caused by an ANC government only focusing on enriching themselves and who don’t know how to manage the real problems South Africa faces. Using the expanded unemployment figure, 41,2% of women are without work, compared to 33,7% of men.
“This humanitarian crisis leaves women vulnerable to the oppressive and inhumane system of patriarchy and the abuse, physical and mental, which accompanies it. Women who have to exchange sex for jobs is corrupt and strips women of their dignity. It does not stop once one gets a job, it continues because threats of dismissal are made if they do not continue subjecting their bodies to men in power. Mbombo said good men have a critical role to play in the fight against gender-based violence. As a man, when you hear your friends making crude comments about women, call them to order. When you see a woman being harassed, intervene. We need to stand together in keeping women safe.” She also said the role of the police is of critical importance. “When women enter the charge office, you have a duty and responsibility to listen, be compassionate and investigate. Be honest and professional. Serve and protect with pride.”
