Gaye Davis
WOMEN in Parliament have a doubly loaded agenda. They bear the hopes and dreams of millions of South African women wanting a better life — and the responsibility for making sure the constitution’s great-sounding new clauses become more than just paper guarantees.
Yet, a year down the line, they still lack the basic research and administrative back-up they need. And although a measure of consensus on a national machinery for the advancement of women was reached during negotiations, it is still a long way from reality.
Women’s rights activists outside government have applauded the fact that South Africa now has significant numbers of women in Parliament, women in the cabinet, women sitting on the Constitutional Court and the Land Commission.
But they also feel there has been more talk than action. Where, they ask, is the Gender Equality Commission provided for by the interim constitution — a key component of the national machinery mooted to enable the advancement of
Intended to promote gender equality and to advise the national and provincial legislatures on any laws affecting the status of women, the Gender Equality Commission was provided for in the constitution to balance the interests of women on the one hand and traditional leaders on the other.
It must be created by an Act of Parliament. After an initial delay — an unpublished Bill for its establishment, drafted by former Minister of Justice Kobie Coetsee’s office, was thrown out in the face of women’s opposition — the process of setting it up is now under way.
ANC MP Ruth Mompati heads the ad hoc committee guiding the process. ”It would be a powerful lobby group which monitors each government ministry as well as big business in terms of the progress they are making in addressing the gender question,” she says.
It would need a research arm to fill the statistical black holes where data on women are concerned, but its funding, staffing and powers all have to be determined.
The ad hoc committee has a significant number of male members. Says Mompati: ”Gender equality is taking so long because it is seen as women’s business. We’re saying, let the men come in. Let them build together with us today so that, tomorrow, it’s not just the women’s commission, but
It’s a strategy that has succeeded in the past. Says ANC MP Mavivi Manzini: ”Bringing men on board is critical. In the ANC, (men) saw us as women who were impossible until we started with workshops and training … A lot of them have come and said, ‘you have really educated us’.
”If the ANC women’s caucus had not been organised, we would not have had Frene Ginwala as speaker. We lobbied to ensure all women would vote for her — then it was an easy matter to get the men on board.”
Constitutional Assembly members must decide whether the Commission should be entrenched in the final constitution and, if so, in what form.
In her submission to the committee, Dr Cathi Albertyn, head of the Gender Research Project at the Centre for Applied Legal Studies at Wits University, argues that it should be — in broad terms, with details left to the law.
This would protect it — a constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority — ”from the political and economic contingencies of the day”. Albertyn points out that in many developing countries, gender structures are often the first to go ”when economic troubles surface”.
It should not duplicate the functions of the Human Rights Commission, she argues. Women’s rights should be seen as part of human rights, not separate from them.
On May 10, the ad hoc committee will start public hearings on the Commission. Anyone wanting to make submissions or give evidence should contact Rita Schaafsma on (021) 403 2827 or write to her at the Committee Section, Room 506, 100 Plein Street, Cape Town.