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08 April 2021 | Story Nonsindiso Qwabe | Photo Sonia SMall

How has COVID-19 further widened the gender inequality gap in the workplace?

This was the central question addressed during the first instalment of a webinar series on Gender and Social Justice hosted by the Unit for Institutional Change and Social Justice at the University of the Free State (UFS). The webinar, which was hosted on the UFS Qwaqwa Campus on 29 March 2021, featured Prof Pearl Sithole, Qwaqwa Campus Vice-Principal: Academic and Research; Advocate Nthabiseng Sepanya-Mogale, Commissioner at the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE); and Tholo Motaung, skills trainer, moderator, and gender activist at the Vaal University of Technology as panellists. 

Prof Sithole said COVID-19 revealed the disparity that still exists between men and women in the workplace. “COVID-19 has been the magnifier. We’ve modernised quite a lot, but we’re still unequal in terms of gender. Why are we not progressing in terms of women moving forward towards equality when there has been so much progressive thinking in the political space, social justice space, as well as in the kind of feminism we have had in academia? Why are we actually not winning the battle of just regarding each other as equals?” 

Women hardest hit by COVID-19 lockdown

Advocate Sepanya-Mogale said the lockdown revealed the gender gap mostly through the significant impact it has had on South African women.

In 2020, 34% of the country’s workforce comprised women – a sharp decline of 9,8% from 43,8% in 2018.
“This decline is alarming and a clear indication of who becomes the first victims, but that is hardly talked about. A lot of women have experienced resistance from industries they had been serving diligently,” she said. She said women were often faced with the burden of integrating their work with increased care responsibilities for their children and sometimes also the elderly as primary caregivers. The double responsibility placed on women continues to re-enforce gender roles in our societies and further pushes away the success of closing the gap on gender equality prospects in our society.

Advocate Sepanya-Mogale said women were the hardest hit in most industries. In the beauty and tourism industry; air transportation; informal trading; and healthcare sector to name a few, women bore the brunt the most. “Women are the biggest employees on all economic levels in South Africa, especially the low-income and unskilled levels,” she said.
She said as the spread of the virus was likely to continue disrupting economic activity, all sectors of society needed to get involved and play their part.

“As disease outbreaks are not likely to disappear in the near future, proactive international action is required to not only save lives but to also protect economic prosperity. Academic institutions are authorities in terms of opening up new discussions, leading new debates, and putting critical issues at the centre of the table. Let us all do what we can so that we empower our people relevantly for the times we’re living in.”

News Archive

UFS forms a strategic partnership with Yale University
2010-03-16

 
At the official inauguration of the Jonathan Edwards Center Africa was, from the left, front: Prof. Harry Stout, Chair of the Department of American Religious History at Yale University; Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS; back: Prof. Dolf Britz, Director of the Jonathan Edwards Center Africa at the UFS; Prof. Kenneth Minkema, Executive Director of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale University; Prof. Adriaan Neele of Yale University, now also Professor Extraordinary in the Faculty of Theology at the UFS; and Prof. Francois Tolmie, Dean of the Faculty of Theology at the UFS.
Photo: Stephen Collett


The University of the Free State (UFS) officially inaugurated the Jonathan Edwards Centre Africa in its Faculty of Theology last week. This centre, affiliated with the Jonathan Edwards Centre Yale University in New Haven in the United States of America, was established at the UFS last year.

The strategic partnership between the UFS and Yale University exemplifies the vision of the Faculty of Theology to be an internationally renowned theological and training faculty.

Leading scholars from Yale University, Prof. Harry Stout, Chair of the Department of American Religious History, and Prof. Kenneth Minkema, Executive Director of the Jonathan Edwards Center at Yale participated in the inauguration of the Jonathan Edwards Center Africa.

The Dean of the Faculty of Theology, Prof. Francois Tolmie said, “This visit underscores the strategic relationship between Yale University and the Faculty of Theology and will assist in us continuing to foster high aspiring scholarship, student and faculty support.”

This is an exciting development between universities renowned for excellence in learning, and innovation in scholarship. Prof. Minkema added, “The establishment of this renowned center for research, education and publication, at the UFS is a significant expansion of Edwards scholarship and will serve widely both academia and the church,” Said Prof. Stout.

The Faculty of Theology also announced the appointment of Prof. Adriaan Neele of Yale University as Professor Extraordinary. The appointment follows the vast growth of the Jonathan Edwards Centre Africa. “I welcome this appointment with much anticipation as the strategic relationship between Yale University and the Faculty of Theology develops in unprecedented ways, attracting doctoral students from Southern Africa, South Korea and America,” said Prof. Tolmie.

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758), pastor, revivalist, Christian philosopher, missionary, and president of Princeton University, is widely regarded as North America’s greatest theologian. He is the subject of intense scholarly interest throughout the world, because of his significance as a historical figure and the profound legacy he left on America’s religious, political and intellectual landscapes.

“The centre and appointment of Prof. Neele will provide sustainable scholarship of primary sources in new and promising ways, said Prof. Dolf Britz, Director of the Jonathan Edwards Africa at the UFS.

“My appointment at this prestige university of Southern Africa is both an honour and humbling. I look forward to a beneficial and academic engagement with students, as well as to serve the academy and the church,” said Prof. Neele.

Prof. Neele’s inaugural address entitled A Transitional Moment in Theology argued for the classicality and catholicity of Edwards’ theology.

The interest in Edwards globally has in part been fuelled by the work of the Jonathan Edwards Centre at Yale University, whose sole mission is to support inquiry into the life, writings, and legacy of Jonathan Edwards by providing resources that encourage critical appraisal of the historical importance and contemporary relevance of America’s premier theologian.

The primary means to achieve this are with the Works of Jonathan Edwards Online, a digital learning environment for research, education and publication that presents all of Edwards’s writings, along with helpful editorial materials that allow the reader to examine Edwards's thought in incredibly powerful, useful ways.

Media Release
Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication (actg)
Tel: 051 401 2584
Cell: 083 645 2454
E-mail: loaderl@ufs.ac.za  
15 March 2010
 

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