In her welcoming address to a conference driven by the Office of the Speaker, the speaker herself Mme-Kedibone Mogotsi confirmed that the gathering is indeed the final leg of an unfinished conference held during the women's month activities in August last year.

Central to Emerald Two has been the breaking-up into smaller discussion groups by the conference delegates, their adoption of a plan of action and a declaration to guide the municipality and its allies within the non-governmental and private sectors of the regional economy.

Welcoming the representatives from various sectors of the women movement, the council speaker cllr. Mogotsi revealed that the district has pioneered an online mentoring centre for women in the region. Regarded as the unique in the world, the mentoring centre supplies free mentorship to women on a variety of topics.

Also speaking at the event, the District Executive Mayor Mahole Simon Mofokeng did not just follow suit in listing some of the district activities regarding women emancipation, but he chose to also speak on the significance of 2010 to the region and the country.

'This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the events that even shaped the future of the country,' he said in relation to the events that happened in Sharpeville 1960. He related how the church fraternity disputed any reference to this year's 50th anniversary of the Sharpeville events as a "Jubilee."

Neither could mayor Mofokeng resist talking of the unfolding catastrophe at the first Black Republic in the world - the former slave-created Republic of Haiti. Relating to the unfolding events at the two-centuries-old republic that has been the greatest of all inspiration to the oppressed people of the world, an emotional mayor Mofokeng said: ‘Our South African team did very well in Haiti.’

He thanked the programme director Mme-Matawana Moleleki for her earlier request for conference to observe a moment of silence for the victims of the earthquake that left scores injured and thousand more dead in Haiti's capital Port Lau Prince.

Gender-wise, mayor Mofokeng emphasised that key to the municipality’s development plans is the mainstreaming of the designated groups in society including women. ‘We are looking at increasing the participation of women through the ward committee meetings, Izimbizo as well as at council meetings,’ he emphasised.

Before welcoming the keynote speaker at the event - the Mayor of the City of Tshwane and also chairperson of the Gauteng Chapter of the Women Empowerment Movement - Dr Gwen Ramokgopa, Executive Mayor Mofokeng thanked the speaker’s office for championing women struggles.

Taking the podium, Dr Ramokgopa did not just challenge women in the region to move fast with the launching of the Sedibeng chapter of the Progressive Women’s Movement, but instead she suggested that conference agree on the date for its launching. 'All regions have been launched except for Metsweding and Sedibeng,' Dr Ramokgopa warned. She made use of the occasion to also introduce a Sedibeng-based member of the provincial chapter, Mme-Tapsy Ntsoane.

A farmer by profession, Mme-Ntsoane is part of the Gauteng team of the movement working on a programme of action on food security and the building of a cooperative movement among women. She emphasised though that the Gauteng movement is looking forward to launching the Sedibeng and Metsweding chapters of the movement. ‘Tshwane was the first to launch and we currently on the process of renewal,’ she boasted of progress in her home-region.

A trained doctor specialising in public health, she bounced a new concept of “impowerment” as opposed to "empowerment," within the women emancipatory talk.

Defining "Impowerment" as having to do with the development of inner-confidence and the inner-self of a woman, she warned that 'If we do not strike a distinction between the two concepts we will continue chasing our tails for many years.’

She revealed that South Africa is well respected throughout the world and is on par with the Scandinavian countries regarding the empowerment of women.

The performance of the business and the religious sectors of society were never spared criticism by Dr Ramokgopa. She lamented the sluggishness by the two sectors compared to the state in addressing disparities between men and women. 'Women form the majority of the church congregants yet they not so visible within the church leadership,' she said.

Dr Ramokgopa said the skills revolution, economic development and a redress of gender-based violence are the three niche areas of a partnership between women in the region and their provincial counterparts.

Drawing on the Chinese experience, she related how mass production in that economy is being driven by small families organised as co-operative units yet competitively producing for the world economy.

After a few presentations, the conference then split into commissions whose reports became part of a plan of action and declaration adopted by the conference.

A vote of thanks was rendered by the speaker of the Emfuleni Municipality, Cllr. Greta Hlongwane.