The Masjidul-Quds’ Women’s Day Gala Banquet was held on Sunday, August 11 at Kelvin Grove in Newlands to honour the most amazing women of South Africa. Acting Judge Rehana Khan Parker delivered this address.
As salaam u alaikum and good morning to you all. I stand here in appreciation to my hostess Laila Parker on behalf of Masjidul Quds and in honour of my parents, teachers, husband and family.
As the first speaker on the program, I don’t think you realise just how daunting that is appreciating that I share this platform with iconic women each having carved paths for others to follow.
Former Minister Naledi Pandor, a name on so many tongues. Who continues to fly the flag high for humanity and who has taken us to the centre stage of the most gross of human right violations. I always hang onto each and every word she utters which leaves me spellbound. Our intersection however started some years ago , probably for as long as our democracy, when we both were invited by Mrs Fatima Khan and Moulana Ali Adam, where we became trustees of the Muslim Women’s Federation and later, after receiving the substantial funding the site in Schaapskraal was purchased and saw the launch of the Tuan Yusuf Learning Centre. This centre was aimed at developing skills for women and also to serve as a drug rehabilitation Centre in a very challenging Cape Flats community.
To another woman, who takes us to heights of a different kind, pilot Fatima Jakoet, although I don’t know her personally, I probably know 90% of her Jakoet family. As for being the first pilot and a woman who challenged the system as the first Muslim woman commercial flight pilot. Fatima, I have been following you too. You see I follow women who are intentional of shattering that glass ceiling.
To my Acting Judge President, Patricia Goliath. Again I am glancing into the mirror for well over 30 years ago. She comes from where I come from, Lotus River being her home suburb and I am in Grassy Park. We also served on Black Lawyers Association together. She broke down the barriers by being first black woman Deputy Judge President and then the position she currently holds as the Acting Judge President the High Court Western Cape Division, Cape Town and she has led us well.
Together we celebrated the 100 year centenary of women in law in court last year April 2023 and it was the first High Court to host the centennial celebrations in which we also celebrated the first two black women in law who went into practice, first it was Zainunesha Cissy Gool, followed by Desiree Mamsie Finca. I knew she would pull other women along with her. So you now can see why I am nervous. It’s like going to a dinner with one’s principal.
Standing here as the guest of Masjid Quds has ushered in several memories for me. Not so long ago and whilst President of the biggest philanthropic organisation in the world, Lions club of Kirstenbosch, we together with Cape Hindu Seva Samaj held successful outreach events. I still remember the sandwich drives, where communities as far as Khayelitsha, Paarl and Vrygrond benefited. It is in the value of combined efforts that we can raise the hopes of others.
However bringing it up close and personal, Leila your dad was my MC at my wedding, so he must have done a pretty good job as I am still married. Sunday mornings I get a good dose of relaxing ghazals from your father Sattar Parker, this morning it was one from the great Mouhammed Rafi and artist from India who recorded record-breaking songs, so you see I am now calm and all ready for your Court AJP on Monday.
My dad Gulzar Khan, a political activist and educator was my mentor. He taught us to think wider than just our needs and ourselves. After his death there was this envelope which read to my dearest daughter Rehana. I opened it and it contained his will. There was a clause in which he bequeathed a sum of money to the Masjid Library and I remember the tears in my eyes because for him reading was his world. Debating was his hobby and sharing the value of education was his mission. He sold insurance policies, they were called endowment policies in the apartheid era when NSVAS bursaries were not conceived, he sold these polices to enable parents to pay for the university education of their children. And today I am reminded of the value of education and how it can impact, uplift and change lives.
This memory takes me to when I was part of a panel to interview Grade 11s for a bursary for matric. And I recall interviewing two persons, a girl from Langa who was I think at Spine Rd High in Mitchells Plain and then there was a boy from Hanover Park. These were A grade students, who had so little, of things our children take for granted, that for the girl from Langa, she would be the first to achieve a matric in her family. As for the boy, he could only study once his siblings were asleep as the room was so small and he had to deafen his ears to the sounding of shooting outside. These were learners who despite their circumstances achieved amazing results.
And it’s the teachings of my father which saw me devise training programs for lawyers who did not have the skillset or experience in certain disciplines in law. Rendering pro bono legal services and sharing such opportunities with other lawyers emanated from the teachings of my mentor.
As lawyers, we advocate for rights and we are defenders of people’s rights when trodden on. That’s our duty to the profession, ourselves and our community and beyond. You stand up for what is right, you become the voice for those whose voices are shut and you turn every no into a yes, and did I not have my fair share of naysayers. You have to slay it, right there and then and be assertive to achieve what you believe is right. Parallel to that we have to continue to work towards creating equal opportunities for all genders as there are still many challenges which we need to fight for, equal pay being one of it. Safety for women is a definite and should be prioritised.
For you see unless we have women who hold strong leadership positions, not only hold them but have a voice at that table, and to pull others as they rise, then and only then will we see change. Women leaders must foster dialogue and be the drivers for accelerating gender parity. Women’s day is only but an occasion to reflect on the progress made. Not forgetting it is important that we need to celebrate the acts of courage and determination by women who play extraordinary roles in their communities and countries. Where we see the disparity or gaps, we need to demand change.
And before I conclude I need to tell “her” story as in our “own” story. There was this wonderful exhibition at the Castle you know which castle I’m talking about? The one where we as learners were taken on in a school outing, we crammed in this cold chamber, the door was shut and the tiny shutters were closed and all we saw was black, and there we were, reminded that if we did not submit this is the hole where we be reckoned in.
So Chantal Coetzee had her art on display of Queens, no, not of Queen Rania or Victoria but on reshaping our colonial history through art by educating us on the queens of Africa. Incidentally talking about Victoria, at last the King Edward Hospital in KZN was renamed after the anti-apartheid struggle veteran Victoria Mxenge who some of you will recall, she was gunned down in front of her children under apartheid.
No I was not part of that renaming as the mandate of the SAGNC is transforming the heritage naming landscape such as town names, rivers, airport, etc., Chantal portrayed three iconic queens from South Africa — Krotoa, Nandi and the Queen Moloi of the Makholokoe — telling their story through art, decolonising education of our very own role models, forcibly swept to the sidelines. So as part of our own women’s history we need to document the contributions made by our women in South Africa and render the intangible history tangible.
In the last month I have seen heinous videos of children beating up a parent and grandparent. Abuse of women and the elderly are showing intolerable levels. Daily we see in the media of another missing person and the shock to read of a 16 year old found in a storeroom at school a day before Women’s Day. We need to make the effort to educate the boy child to respect women and give them chores equal to that of a girl child.
We hear the plight and cries of women who are at the mercy of their abusive partners, some who sadly are bludgeoned to death, some remain in this vicious cycle for financial reasons most cases go unreported. Some of those who do make it the police station, withdraw their cases due to family pressure or because they are blamed and become the secondary victims and are told “it’s you”.
Therefore whilst we honour the trailblazers who challenged the status quo and paved the way for future generations, we need to be intentional to strive for a better future for the girl child, with equal education opportunities, free of abuse and discrimination of importance, we need to be the torch-bearers to hear these voices and act upon them and not turn a blind eye.
And of course we need the buy-in of our male counterparts to play their role to empower women, to believe in their strength, chase their dreams, and to teach them never to be limited by their gender.
There's something incredibly powerful about words, and even more so when they're used to uplift, motivate, and celebrate. To all the young women, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserve every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your dreams.
So yes we need a collective effort to beat these ills. You. Me. Everyone.
* Acting Judge Rehana Khan Parker is the founder of RKP Attorneys, a firm that has been in existence for over 30 years.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Independent Media or IOL.