THE South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) said women should use their influence to build communities, economies and countries.
On National Women's Day, Sanco National Interim Committee (NIC) national co-ordinator Paul Sebegoe said women are the glue that keeps communities together.
"The launch of Sanco-Women will revive civic activism and ensure that issues affecting women who happen to be the majority in all our communities take centre stage in community struggles," Sebegoe said.
"The strength of women lies in unity and their power to uplift one another in the face of male chauvinism as well as growing right-wing politics that seek to reverse the gains of our struggle for liberation and put women at the backburner of sustainable development."
He urged women to reclaim the unbeatable spirit of heroines of the liberation struggle that led the historic August 1956 march to the Union Building, such as Lilian Ngoyi, Mama Adelaide Tambo and Ruth First.
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"These community builders inspired women to fight against apartheid oppression, colonialism as well as inequality and raised the bar in terms of ethical leadership because they were selfless and worked tirelessly for the unity of our people," he stressed.
Sebegoe called for the eradication of gender-based violence and for the efforts to be intensified against abuse, including exploitation of domestic workers and women employed as farmworkers.
"We plead with women to reject the shackles of patriarchal oppression that have overcome them over centuries and to demand their rightful places in decision-making processes," he said.
He said the historic triple oppression of race, gender and class had denied women their basic rights and stunted their growth and development.
"Radical socio-economic transformation has to empower and affirm women as change agents to drive the development agenda in their communities," Sebegoe said.
