Durban - The Public Services Association (PSA) closed off Women’s Month by celebrating women in their different roles and reminding them of the importance of taking up space in the positions they hold.
The event took place at Coastal College on Thursday, with the purpose of celebrating women who have filled up spaces in male-dominated industries. The panellists called on the government to empower women.
Mlungisi Ndlovu, provincial manager for PSA, said the event aimed to establish ways it could tackle issues faced daily by women in the workplace as they took up leadership positions.
“Our country has a history of male dominance and patriarchal structures, and women are often marginalised, their voices are silenced, and their potential untapped due to deep-rooted societal norms,” he said. “We need women to understand the importance of being financially stable. We need our members to be equipped on how they should lead, and the value they add to society.”
Nondumiso Mvubu, director of the PSA and chairperson of the Public Health Social Development Sectoral Bargaining Council, said: “Women are faced with so many challenges, and we seem to not be recognised in leadership. We get to embrace who we are. It’s important women take care of who they are and they groom each other.”
‘‘We need to fill up space, and we always need to outshine ourselves, which is why we push women to fill and take up these spaces. This is just a learning curve, and there is growth, ‘‘ she said Phindile Sibiya, chairperson of Inkosi
Albert Luthuli Hospital, said events like these were a reminderr of the struggles faced by women in 1976.
“We were out to bring revolution for the working class. It put us as women in a position to understand our role in the workplace, and also how we continually have to prove ourselves, so this is to just ground us and for us to understand we can do so much more,’’ she said.
‘‘We need women who know and understand the importance of taking up spaces, and understand their values are heard and taken note of. We cannot be continually fighting for our positions when it comes to filling up positions we know are the best fit for us. So it is a reminder that women matter, and we should not only be celebrated in August but every day, and these very same men must know that if we were not around, they would not be here.”
