MEDIA RELEASE

DATE: 13 AUGUST 2019

The Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Ms Nomalungelo Gina will deliver the keynote address at the second annual Women Empowerment Conference that will be hosted by the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Commission at the Meropa Casino on 23 August 2019. Deputy Minister Gina’s speech will focus on how women should lead economic transformation in South Africa.

The conference will be attended by more than 500 people representing women entrepreneurs, women’s organisations, women in government, interested Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), associations, university students, people with disabilities and women at large, including the youth as they have been identified as people who are lagging behind in accessing economic opportunities.

The aim of the conference is to raise awareness during the Women’s Month about issues related to transformation and the economic empowerment of women.

“The conference will provide us with an opportunity to exchange ideas on the state of women economic empowerment in this country since the dawn of democracy 26 years ago. It will focus on ways to eradicate barriers that women and other groups such as people with disabilities and the youth, still have to contend with in their efforts to grow their businesses, as well as how they can take advantage of the opportunities provided in the B-BBEE Act to develop their businesses,” says Gina.

She adds that the Black Industrialists Programme of the dti and other incentives, as well as the B-BBEE points available for entities who have higher percentages of women in management, ownership and in procurement spend, are part of the opportunities that women entrepreneurs should be benefiting from.

Studies conducted by the B-BBEE Commission in 2017 and 2018 show that black women still occupy less positions compared to males and white people on the Boards of Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), standing at 18% in 2017 and 21.63% in 2018. Further, the studies show that in terms of ownership, black women were sitting at about 9% in 2017 and 10.1% in 2018, which remains low considering the demographics of this country.

The mandate of the B-BBEE Commission is amongst others, to supervise and encourage adherence to the B-BBEE Act in the interest of the public, to promote good governance and accountability by creating an effective and efficient environment for the promotion and implementation of the objectives of broad-based black economic empowerment.

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