ANC veteran and former anti-apartheid activist Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.Image: Timothy Bernard / Independent Newspapers
Dr Nkosazana Dlamini‑Zuma warns that despite laws and progress, South African women remain trapped in poverty and inequality. Urgent reforms and equal opportunities are long overdue.
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As South Africa honours Women’s Month and the legacy of 1956’s bold women’s march, ANC veteran and former AU chair Dr Nkosazana Dlamini‑Zuma offers a hard truth: the system still punishes women while promising equality on paper.
Speaking earlier this week in the Independent Media newsroom, she confessed that constitutional rights and gender laws haven’t shifted the lived reality of millions of women. Instead, poverty, unequal pay, and denied opportunities continue to define their days.
“Even when women have good ideas, they find it difficult to access funding from financial institutions. Everything is just against women,” Dlamini‑Zuma said.
It’s not rhetoric—it’s backed by numbers. Nearly six in ten South African women live in poverty, and 74.8% of female-headed rural households fall below the poverty line (South Africa Government). Despite legal safeguards, men still hold most leadership roles and financial power, reinforced by deep-seated cultural lessons that boys are more capable than girls (University of Limpopo, IOL).
Dr Dlamini‑Zuma recounted how her father insisted on equal education for girls and boys, saying education was the one inheritance that could never be taken away. Her own life proved the power of that message—but not every girl is born so lucky (IOL).
She warned that private-sector pay discrimination remains rampant. Companies with more women in management levels earn 5–20% higher profits, and those with gender-diverse leadership are 21% more likely to outperform peers (University of Limpopo). Yet, women still earn less and struggle to reach senior positions.
And it doesn’t end there. Women bear the brunt of gender-based violence, unpaid household work, and economic exclusion. These realities literally hold back national growth.
“No country will reach its full potential without involving women,” Dlamini‑Zuma stressed (UNDP).
She insists on more than speeches. She calls for gender-responsive budgeting, for workplaces to advance women into leadership, for banks that fund women-led businesses, and for breaking the cycle of patriarchy from home to corporate boardrooms.
Here’s her challenge today:
South Africa can’t declare progress and sit back. Laws don’t equal equality. Treaties don’t equal transformation. Without serious reform, the ripple effect of injustice keeps women stuck—and the economy crippled.
Poll: In 2025, how much closer do you think we are to real equality for women in SA?
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We’ve made solid progress
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We’ve made little change in real life
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It’s worse than 10 years ago
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I don’t know, but I want to learn
(⏺️ Vote or share your story below)
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Tags: South Africa Women’s Month, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, gender equality SA, poverty disparity, Women in leadership SA, economic emancipation women, gender-responsive budgeting
Sources:
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Gender stats & poverty data for women in SA (cogta.gov.za, IOL, UNDP)
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Historical and policy context of women’s struggle and leadership in SA (University of Limpopo, IOL)
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Business case on women’s impact in corporate leadership (University of Limpopo)
(Custom Open Graph Meta Tag inserted for: Women’s Month 2025 — Dlamini‑Zuma on Poverty, Inequality and the Road Ahead)
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