While South Africa had an Office on the Status of Women in the President's Office, it had a Joint Committee on the Quality of Life and Status of Women in parliament. With the creation of a stand-alone ministry, there is now a portfolio committee on Women, Children and People with Disabilities. The reasons they cited boiled down to demystifying the institution, feeling valued, feeling that they knew and felt strongly about issues such as gender and the plight of women in rural areas, as well as the fact that they had proprietary knowledge (Mtintso 1995, 1999a).