Minister of Women must condemn Mugabe's sexist remarks at AU Summit
03 February 2015
Media reports detailing sexist remarks made by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, in his capacity as new AU chairperson at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa this week, cannot be left unanswered by the South African government.
I call on the Minister of Women in the Presidency, Ms Susan Shabangu, to publicly condemn these offensive comments. If the Minister is at all committed to the fight against sexism, she will have no problem in doing so (see here).
Mugabe was quoted as saying: "[Women] get married, they must have babies, they must live at home, that's a problem. I'm saying it's not possible that women can be at par with men."
It cannot be acceptable to South Africa as a member state, that the AU Chairperson makes comments such as these at a summit themed the "Year of Women's Empowerment and Development towards Africa's Agenda 2063".