Different groups from the whole of Mpumalanga province shared their views during the session of the Woman in Parliament.
They were given a chance to present themselves and their organisations during the women’s forum as they celebrated their month.
The groups presented their issues at the provincial legislature chambers in Mbombela; it started on Friday, August 23.
They were grouped in different commissioners and on the following day they had their presentations under four different themes.
Ms Phindile Nkosi represented women in business in the province.
In her presentation she stated that multiple contracts are offered to one company which is a problem to other companies who also need to be given a chance.
She also said that there’s a few women participating fully in mining and construction and that the government should involve more women in construction and mining by offering incubation programmes for women and develop them to higher grades.
Ms Nkosi was also concerned about the age problem which restricts them as women on professional job opportunities.
She said women who have passed age 35 should be considered and have programmes that are created for them in order for them to get into professional level and be part of decision making in the country.
“Women are not fully aware of the services that Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) offers because they are limited to particular regions. Seda should host workshops in remote areas and make communities fully aware of their services offered in their offices. Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) should attend the women parliament and also inform the communities on the services they offer. Central Supplier Database (CSD) rotation on companies that are offered opportunities is limited to the same companies, there are no rotations. It has become a gatekeeper for other companies to enter into the market. We request the government to find task teams that can monitor the system and find ways in assisting officers to comply with the law. CSD has no option for individuals who live with disability and cannot be recognised to be first preference on the system,” said Ms Nkosi.
Ms Nkosi also suggested that the national treasury must consider people with disabilities and add the option of disability on the CSD so that other companies also have an opportunity of obtaining contracts from government departments and SOE’s.
She also requested that government limits a company to a long term contract in one department and SOE and the company cannot render services for more than two terms.
Ms Nkosi also complained about men getting high paying jobs and huge contracts in businesses while women are only involved in lower paying jobs and lower positions in the work place.
She said that government should give opportunities to women and offer contracts to them without compromising the quality, safety and regulations.
“Women in business cannot obtain funds to grow their businesses. The IDS, SEFA and other financial bodies that offer the funds for business support should lower their requirements to meet the needs of the women in business. It is expensive to obtain mining rights and water licence rights, government should assist women who are skilled in the industry and offer support until their businesses obtain those rights. Government should close down on all suppliers of fake goods and service because it kill local businesses. Government should close down all suppliers of goods and service providers who don’t comply with the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) standards. Women in mining and construction are being exploited, government should have task teams that reports on the progress of women in the area of mining and construction. Women feel that the reports of running the women in parliament over a 12 months period only are not fruitful. All resolutions should be attended to on a quarterly basis and have a structure on how the resolutions can be conveyed back to the communities before the formal Women in Parliament which happens only in August, during the women’s month,” concluded Ms Nkosi.
