Report on Delivery to Women

25. TRADE AND INDUSTRY

    Internal Achievements

    • The Department has employed a Gender Co-ordinator.
    • The Department appointed three women in motor assembly, patent and trademarks and regional industrial development.
    • A Gender Policy document is being completed to provide guidelines for gender mainstreaming.
    • Internal policies include an Affirmative Action Policy and a Sexual Harassment Policy.
    • A Gender Forum and a Gender Executive, made up of nominated representatives from all directorates, have been established to fast-track gender equity in the Department.

Achievements For South African Women

Policies and Legislation

• All departmental policies seek to facilitate women’s economic empowerment and inclusion.

Programmes and activities

• The Deputy Minister has taken up issues of women in business, in particular in small and medium-scale enterprises.
• The last five trade missions included 32 women, of whom 20 were black.
• Tax Holiday Scheme: 42 projects were approved which created 1 707 jobs for women.
• Small, Medium and Micro-Enterprise Projects have been established to ensure that small businesses have access to information, training, counselling, markets and technology.
• The Technology and Human Resources for Industry Programme to increase the skills of women in technology, of which approximately 500 of the 2200 targeted students are women.
• KHULA Start Programme caters for the needs of rural women by providing training and access to micro credit schemes and provides loans from R300 to R3500 to individuals to help start a business. 14 projects have been set up as pilots in rural areas including in KwaZulu Natal, Eastern Cape, Northern Province and Mpumalanga.
• Technology for Women in Business matches technology with women owned Small Medium Micro Enterprise Projects and currently focuses on the textile, clothing, craft, food and agro processing sectors. This project aims to link the science councils and the women entrepreneurs and to entice young women into the commercial sectors of science and technology.
• Small Scale Industry Promotion for Women Groups is a project aimed at encouraging and facilitating access to training opportunities for unemployed women who want to learn a range of non-traditional skills in order to start group-run businesses.
• The Tourism Project is working on the establishment of local and sub-regional structures necessary for linking the tourism and crafts business to the Spatial Development Initiative and other macro economic interventions.
• The Food Processing Project introduces food-processing techniques to rural women to assist them to increase the value of the in output and to minimize the loss from community vegetable gardens.
• Gugulethu Women and Youth Training Project in Construction assisted the development of the local economy through the training of women and youth in bricklaying, carpentry, joinery, plumbing, tiling and plastering. Graduates from this course went on to build low-income houses in Gugulethu.
• Talking Beads is a project that trained trainers to enhance the capacity of craftswomen in product improvement training. Courses included costing and pricing as well as marketing. This project has been contracted to develop corporate gifts.
• The Foundation for Entrepreneurial Development co-ordinated pilot projects aimed at improving women’s production and designing skills in the garment-making sector. Aftercare support for the 90 trainees will be provided and contracts secured.
• The Department supported the Embocraft Training Centre Trust training project. This project, based in Kwa-Zulu Natal, assists rural women to produce new products out of waste material. Embocraft assists women to purchase the raw materials and equipment so that they can start their businesses and then sell their goods in craft markets.
• Amadiba Adventures is a project in Pondoland that has assisted the local community to own the tourist industry by creating job opportunities and conserving the environment. Approximately 80 people in the community are employed in this venture, of which a percentage are women.
• The Small Scale Food Processing Project trains women’s groups in techniques of drying fruit and vegetables that have been locally grown. Courses on business-start up and network marketing will form part of the programme.
• The Local Business Service Sector provides business training for women entrepreneurs. 529 new and 525 established women entrepreneurs have received business counselling. In addition, 845 new and 804 established women entrepreneurs were supplied with various kinds of business information. NTSIKA has created 652 new women led enterprises in the first two quarters of 1998/99.