The South African government regards businesswomen to be at the heart of the country’s economy, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Tuesday.
The president said this on Tuesday at a dialogue organised by Business Women’s Association of South Africa (BWASA), an association of business and professional women focused on initiatives targeted at women entrepreneurs, women within the corporate and other sectors,
According to Ramaphosa, his government was working hard to ensure that women were prioritised in the government’s budget.
With gender-based violence still at the forefront of issues faced by women in the country, Ramaphosa highlighted safety as another key priority of government, lamenting that the country could not continue operating as a place where women felt that a war had been declared upon them.
“At Cabinet level, we have taken a decision that the budgeting process in our government is going to be gender sensitive.
“We are going to ensure that when we do budgets, they focus on the gender aspect of how we empower women,” Ramaphosa said, adding that he would soon sign agreements with ministers that would outline how women could be empowered according to the mandates of each ministry.
This would ensure that government expenditure lived up to the policies that seek to empower women but often lose traction at implementation level, the president said.
Through the dialogue, businesswomen from all sectors engaged the president on pertinent issues that affect women and their role and contribution to the economy.
The dialogue was held under the theme “The Economy is Woman”.
NM/jn/APA