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Everybody says dumb things: Motshekga defends Zuma

ANC Women's League president and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said people should not be so sensitive over comments about women, Beeld reported on Monday.

"If President Jacob Zuma says young women must marry and other things, let's not make a big thing out of it."

Motshekga was responding to the Commission for Gender Equality's findings after a complaint of sexism was lodged against Zuma in 2012 because he said women should marry and have children.

He was found not guilty due a lack of context on the comments, but told to watch his words in future.

Zuma had also said it was a problem that people preferred to remain single.

Motshekga, herself married, said women had a choice over how they lived their lives, but should not be over-sensitive. She did not think there was anything wrong with talking about the joys of marriage and children, but would not put women under pressure.

She thought a warning was enough for Zuma.

"He is only a human being. He may be the president, but we all say dumb things. He is just a human being and it should not be a reflecton of how he treats women, because women like me who work with him, know he has absolute respect for us. I truly feel the president treats us with respect," she said, according to the Afrikaans daily.

 

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