Image: ESA ALEXANDER
ANC Women's League president and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said people should not be so sensitive over comments about women, according to a report.
"If President Jacob Zuma says young women must marry and other things, let's not make a big thing out of it."
Beeld newspaper reported on Monday that 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 reflection 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.