South Africa’s sportswomen who are involved in various sporting disciplines, including African football champions Banyana Banyana, deserve to have equal pay with their male counterparts, President Cyril Ramaphosa has said.
Speaking Wednesday when he welcomed the champions of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Pretoria, Ramaphosa said the victorious footballers made the country proud to win the WAFCON trophy in Rabat, Morocco, last Saturday for the first time ever.
“I do believe that you deserve equal pay for the work that you do. I have been told that you get 10 times less than what the men get when they play. That has to come to an end today,” Ramaphosa said.
He added: “Even in the various sporting codes that we have, I would like us to embark on a programme that is now going to recognise equal pay for equal work so let us do everything we can.”
Ramaphosa noted that as a non-racial, democratic and non-sexist country, South Africa should be “hugely opposed to unequal pay and it must come to an end.”
“We must demonstrate our appreciation for you with regard to the pay that you get and everyone in the country supports that you should be given what you deserve,” the president told the women, adding that “unequal pay is unfair and unjust.”
NM/jn/APA