REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA COMBINED SECOND PERIODIC REPORT UNDER THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN AND PEOPLE`S RIGHTS and INITIAL REPORT UNDER THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA PART B: THE PROTOCOL INTRODUCTION 1. In July 2003 the African Union Assembly adopted the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (hereinafter referred to as the Protocol) with the objective of enhancing the implementation of women’s rights in Africa. The Protocol complements the African Charter and other instruments on women’s rights by extending the substantive scope of the law, improving the means of compliance and focusing on the particular circumstances of women in Africa. 2. South Africa signed the Protocol on 16 March 2004. It ratified the Protocol on 17 December 2004. The Protocol thus entered into force in respect to South Africa on 25 November 2005. 3. This is the initial report of South Africa under the Protocol and captures the period 2005 to 2014. It is submitted in accordance with article 26 of the Protocol as read with the Guidelines for State Reporting issued by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Given the extensive reporting period and in the interests of putting all relevant information in this initial report, Part B exceeds the recommended number of pages as set out in the Guidelines. 4. In accordance with these Guidelines, this report reflects legislative and other measures taken by the South African Government for the full realization of women’s rights as recognized in the Protocol. 5. In preparing this report information was sought from across Government departments; and the views of state institutions involved in human rights promotion and protection and civil society have been solicited and incorporated where appropriate. Consultations during the different stages of the drafting of the report have been undertaken, with Government departments, the South African Human Rights Council (SAHRC), the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), as well as with civil society organizations. Background information 6. The Women`s Charter, dated 17 April 1954, states in its Preamble that - “We, the women of South Africa, wives and mothers, working women and housewives, African, Indians, European and Coloured, hereby declare our aim of striving for the removal of all laws, regulations, conventions and customs that discriminate against us as women, and that deprive us in any way of our inherent right to the advantages, responsibilities and opportunities that society offers to any one section of the population.” 7. South African women have come a long way in the struggle for the recognition, promotion, protection and realization of their rights. This struggle was part of the larger struggle against apartheid, the consequences of which are still felt to date. Thus, the empowerment of women and the achievement of gender equality in South Africa also involve dealing with the legacy of apartheid and about the transformation of society, particularly the transformation of power 142