Mamello Makgana
4 August 2005
Joyce Piliso-Seroke still gets chills at the sight of the concrete floor and walls of cell number two at the Women's Jail at Johannesburg's Old Fort.
The chairperson of the Commission for Gender Equality was jailed there in 1976 for her opposition to apartheid.
In a move typical of South Africa's journey since the fall of apartheid, the commission has moved its national head office into the jail, which forms part of Constitution Hill. The Constitutional Court is also on the Hill.
The communal cell once housed women arrested for taking part in anti-apartheid activities or for petty crimes like shoplifting and beer brewing. Here the inmates received dehumanising treatment from warders and other prisoners.
Now it houses a statutory body set up to protect South Africans against gender discrimination.
The commission's chief executive, Chana Majake, says the location is appropriate "because Constitution Hill houses the Constitutional Court, where the Commission for Gender Equality has the opportunity to act as an amicus curiae [friend of the court] in landmark cases that redress laws that implicate gender discrimination."
The commission educates the public on gender legislation that has been passed in Parliament, holds awareness campaigns and works with corporate sponsors, various non-governmental organisations and the Human Rights Commission.
It also researches workplaces to ensure that women are employed in positions that enable them to participate in decision-making.
Source: City of Johannesburg
