The world financial crisis, including in South Africa, is not over, SA Reserve Bank governor Gill Marcus said on Wednesday.

"We are meeting in very difficult times... We may go in and out of the recession but we have not come out of the financial crisis," said Marcus.

"Behind the statistics are ordinary people whose lives have been fundamentally affected."

Marcus was speaking at a PricewaterhouseCoopers breakfast in Sandton on women in banking and capital markets.

She said South Africa was still in "unprecedented times" and it was not business as usual.

Her speech was primarily focused on women, women in leadership, and the problems women faced in business.

Women often needed to make more sacrifices because of social responsibilities like looking after children and their households, and therefore women needed a better support system.

"Women tend to rise on support services," she said.

"Weigh up responsibilities and see the price women have to pay, then create a support network to cope," Marcus told the women at the breakfast.

She encouraged women to be "present" at work and said they needed to add value in the workplace.

The skills shortage made it important to educate girls.

She encouraged women who wanted to succeed to enhance their skills levels, as well as work on exposure and experience.

-Sapa