SIZANI NGUBANE

SIZANI NGUBANE - SOUTH AFRICA

Poor women in South Africa are discriminated against on the basis of gender and economic status. One of the most difficult forms of discrimination for women, children, and communities is the eviction of widows and single mothers from their homes by their male relatives.

For the past 40 years, Sizani has been working with grassroots women’s organizations. She is Founder and Director of the Rural Women’s Movement (RWM), which now works with 500 community-based organizations with a membership of about 50,000 women in South Africa. Through RWM she will conduct case studies of evicted women and determine how restitution can be achieved through existing laws or the passage of new legislation to correct weaknesses in existing laws. In the process, Sizani will educate women and communities about the property rights of South African women.

Vision: Securing the Legal Rights for Women to Own and Control Property

Sizani Ngubane’s vision is to secure women’s property rights through enforcement of existing laws and creation of new and stronger legislation and policies. “I want to actively engage local women to tell their experiences and speak to their needs, and how they believe these needs and concerns could be met by the government. I want to address situations where the law can be applied to secure restitution and, where it cannot, to advocate for new legislation that will secure their land and property rights.”