Women exist on the margins of society, says Advocate Mojanku Gumbi. [Picture: SABC News]
While a number of things have improved for women in South Africa, the reality is that the majority exist on the margins of society. This year, womens’ month coincides with the country’s 30th anniversary of democracy.
This was the assessment of Adv. Mojanku Gumbi, chancellor of the University of Venda, LP. She was speaking in an interview with SABC when she said many women will have different reflections.
“What really have women benefited from this freedom?” she asked. “The reflections will be very different, depending on where one finds themselves in the socioeconomic spectrum.”
Life has improved on some scores, she noted. For example, more women than before are accessing higher education.
“If you go to universities, we find that more women graduate than men. When I graduated students at the University of Venda, quite a number of women excel in areas that they were excluded from,” she said.
But the reality, she emphasised, was that the majority of women, particularly those living in far-flung rural areas, “exist on the margins of society”. Simply accessing justice was unrealistic for those affected by issues like GBV.
“To talk about access to justice, for them it’s a dream. It doesn’t exist. It’s ridiculous what it costs to access effective justice,” she said.
