South Africa’s Director-General of Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Mikateko Maluleke, has urged civil society organisations to work with the department to realise the National Strategic Plan (NSP) on gender-based violence.
She made the call during a virtual webinar, where she said that the department and CSOs were two sides of a coin.
‘We both need each other, we would never disrespect or disregard CSOs because we know that we need one another and that we have the same goal’, Maluleke said.
A lawyer and activist, Sibongile Ndashe, said, ‘When we say “no” to the board of trustees, we are saying “no” because chapter five of the NSP says let us put in place a legislative framework that regulates how we work’.
According to the government, the board of trustees would consist of 13 people, maximum, six from the government and seven from civil society.
Maluleke agreed with Ndashe that the understanding/agreement of the NSP was clear that legislation should be developed by the justice department.
‘Even if a draft bill is put on the table, we do not know how long it will take to pass it’, Ndashe said.
‘In the meantime, there is no formal coordination led by both government and CSOs, so the purpose of the structure is so that it can be able to coordinate and push for the legislation’.
Source: News24
Photo source: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture
