1.4 Cross-cutting Issues Further efforts aimed at accelerating the process of land reform in South Africa include: the establishment of a dedicated Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, mentioned under the thematic area Democracy and Governance, to deal with issues of rural development and land affairs in order to ensure sustainability of land reform programmes; and the tabling of the Expropriation Bill before Parliament with the object of empowering government to pay a fair price for land. Recognising that violence against women is an obstacle to the achievement of equality, development and peace, governments at the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing committed to strategic objectives, and in October 2009 the South African government produced a report in anticipation of the 2010 Fifteen Year Review of the Beijing Platform for Action. In South Africa, violence against women and children contravenes numerous constitutionally guaranteed rights, such as rights to inherent dignity, the right to life, the right to freedom and security of the person and the right to bodily and psychological integrity. The South African Safety and Security Education Training Authority (SASSETA) is supporting the development of the Family Law Learnership, which includes training on the social context of domestic violence and the Domestic Violence Act (DVA), Act 116 of 1998. Recognising that the fight against crime is not the business of government alone, the South African citizenry has formed community groups and societies, across sectors, to assist the government in combating criminal activities. The South African National Heritage Council is also spearheading the use of national symbols, indigenous knowledge systems and the historical experience of South Africa to build national identity. Consequently, government introduced the Affirmative Action policy whose spirit was expressed in the Employment Equity Act of 1998, the Black Economic Empowerment Act of 1999 and generally the legislative framework that is currently being developed specifically to respond to the challenges faced by vulnerable groups (women, children, youth, the elderly and people with disabilities). Disparities continue to exist between the public and private sectors regarding employment equity targets. In the public sector, concerted efforts to ensuring compliance with employment equity targets have generally resulted in an improvement across all levels over the years. For example, the Public Service has witnessed a steady increase of women in senior management positions (levels 13- 16) over time: 30% in December 2005; 34.8% in March 2009 and 36.0% in March 2010. Although targets are as yet to be met, in particular at the Senior Management Service (SMS) level and for people with disabilities, there is notable improvement and government continues to set progressively higher targets to demonstrate commitment in the recruitment and retention of women, Blacks and people with disability, to the levels of middle and senior management. 19