During the P20 Women’s Parliament discussions on the topic Women and Climate Justice, Inclusive Land Reform and Resources Management, gender activist and founder of Black Girls Rising, Ms Xoli Fuyani, claimed that by 2060 close to 160 million girls and women may be pushed into poverty as a direct result of climate change. Hence, Black Girl Rising is helping young black girls to lead climate justice in marginalised African communities to train them to become stewards of land, water and community resilience against the effects of climate change.
The solution, in her view, lies in inclusive land reform and effective management of resources, along with ongoing training and additional resources. Recognition of the problem is another key element as gender climate policies are still an afterthought, she said. To mainstream this, gender budgeting is required and a specific quota for climate change-related initiatives and funding.
The Commissioner National Planning Commission, Dr Lebohang Pheko, spoke of gender inequality rooted in patriarchy, capitalism and neoliberal, masculinised norms that dictate the sexual division of labour, historically positioning men as breadwinners and women as caregivers. She also blamed the disproportionate burden of social reproduction responsibilities often shouldered by women.
She also highlighted policy blind spot that need to be addressed. “Mainstream macroeconomic policy often assumes a gender-neutral economic actor, ignoring how fiscal, trade, and labour policies have gender-differentiated impacts.” She cited current fiscal consolidated frameworks as exemplars. “For instance, austerity measures and public sector cuts disproportionately affect women, both as the primary users of public services and as the majority of workers in education, health, and social care.”
She commended government for the plethora of legislation, policies and framework that advocate for gender mainstreaming, but stressed the need for effective coordination and implementation if gender equality is to be achieved. She is of the view that “there is an opportunity to leverage the processes and lessons learnt from planning and implementation of the National Development Plan to address these challenges.
The MD: Programmes - Geographic Lead Africa: (Open Society Foundation), Mr Brian Kangoro, focussed his input on women’s central role in food production while experiencing challenges related to ownership of land and access to credit and capital. The problem at hand, he elaborated, is not inappropriate ideas or inadequate resources, policies, money or institutions. What is needed is “to transform our mindsets and we need to do so quickly. To go beyond, see beyond and do beyond the limits of historically constructed black anti economics,” he suggested.
Practically, there a lot we can do, Mr Kangoro said. He mentioned the 820 thousand stokvels in South Africa, which generate savings of R50 billion annually, and 60 per cent of which are comprised of women. However, he also pointed out that there is no symbolic relationship established in our financial architecture between stokvels, pension funds and lending mechanisms. “In essence, these trust-based economies are not seen as South African financial imaginations and emancipation from donor dependency. Nor is it seen as a premise upon which women bankability and access to finance can be derived,” he said.
Women driven stokvels should be used for women investment and assets accumulation and local economic development, he said. ‘Let us imagine for a moment,’ he urged, “how much this can be harnessed by young women who participate in a digital economy. Perhaps co-operative banks and national development banks are an answer to women economic empowerment.”
Abel Mputing
18 August 2025
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