Addressing women during the provincial health department’s celebration and honour of women in the healthcare sector on Tuesday, Ntombela announced that four departments – still headed by acting HODs will be filled with women HODs as part of her drive to change the persisting narrative that women are “incapable to lead and careless”.
“Sixty-five year after women demonstrated the strength of the oppressed and importantly, the strength of women, we are still living in a country that women are continuing to be seen as not capable of holding leadership positions. It can’t be, and this has to be changed by us,” said Ntombela.
Departments of Sport, Art and Culture, Social Development, Treasury and Police, Roads and Transport are the current departments the premier is eying to appoint permanent women HODs as they are headed by acting HODs.
“The process to advertise those posts is already underway and ‘as a matter of fact’ women will fill those posts… with capacity or not. Women continue to be overlooked for senior positions and women continue to be subjected to all kinds of abuse in their homes and in the workplace. The time for that to stop is now,” said the premier.
She said one of the women of South Africa, who had been relegated to secondary citizens for the longest time, had staked their claim on the land of their birth by standing up to the regime. The women declared they would no longer allow themselves to be treated as sub-humans.
Meanwhile, Women such as community health workers, cleaners, emergency medical personnel, nurses, doctors were honour.
A cleaner at Welkom Hospital, Mahadi Mothibi said she is happy to have been recognised by the government that she is working hard.
“We don’t get recognition as cleaners, but I am happy today that premier Ntombela and MEC Tsiu have acknowledged that we are part of the workforce in the health sector,” said Mothibi. MEC Tsiu said the health system is indeed overstretched and finds it very difficult to cope with the resource demand.
“I feel very much honoured and privileged to have a dedicated health workforce, such as these that always went through the test of time in all seasons. They still keep sane and keep on advancing their efforts against the enemy,” said Tsiu. She concluded that all health workers are acknowledged whether physically here, and you are very important to the leadership of this province and its entire community.
