The number of women in the new South African Parliament is set to increase from 120 to 131, a 10% increase, according to calculations by Gender Links.
With a national assembly of 400 seats, this will result in an overall proportion of 32,8% women in Parliament compared to 30% in 1999.
South Africa will now move up in the global ranking of women in Parliament from 15th to 11th place, coming after Austria and slightly ahead of Germany. Rwanda, with 49% women in Parliament, is in the lead position in the global league.
South Africa will also now move to first position in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) ranking of women in Parliament, with Mozambique and Seychelles close behind at 30% and 29,4% respectively.
The main reason for the increase in women’s representation in the 2004 South African elections is the ANC’s higher majority, with the number of ANC women up from 96 in 1999 to 104 in the new parliament.
The ANC is the only political party with a quota for women. Although the proportion of women on its combined lists in 2004 remained constant at 35% (the same as in 1999) the fact that women are evenly distributed in the ANC lists and that the number of ANC seats increased in this election delivered eight of the eleven more women in the new parliament.
ANC women will account for 79% of the total number of women in parliament, virtually the same proportion as in the last parliament.
Although women made a much stronger showing on the lists of opposition parties this year, the total number of women opposition MPs is only set to increase from 24 in 1999 to 27 in the new parliament.
This reflects the fact that women in opposition parties are often not strategically placed on lists, a critical factor for parties that only gained a few seats. For example although the Azanian People’s Organisation had the highest proportion of women on its lists (37%), it will only have one seat in the new parliament. The male leader of the party will occupy this seat. Other parties with no women MPs are the New National Party, ACDP, UCDP, Minority Front and VF.
The party with the highest proportion of women MPs is Bantu Holomisa’s United Democratic Movement (four out of nine, or 44,4%) followed by Patricia de Lille’s Independent Democrats with three out of seven (or 43%) women. The DA has increased its proportion of women parliamentarians from six in 1999 to 13 in 2004 (from 15,7% of the DA total in 1999, to 26% in 2004).
In a statement Gender Links, a member of the Fifty Fifty campaign said: “The fact that there continues to be a steady increase in the overall representation of women in parliament is positive. The ANC has been consistent in its commitment to ensuring that this happens, both through the overall numbers of women and their position on ANC lists.
“Our recent study, “Ringing up the Changes, Gender in Southern African Politics” leaves little doubt of the crucial role that more equitable representation by women in decision-making structures has played in advancing gender equality. South Africa is looked to for leadership in these issues, in the region and globally.
“For this reason we are disappointed that the ANC did not make a bolder move during these elections to raise the stakes from 30 to fifty percent, and that other political parties continue to shy away from taking special measures for ensuring greater representation by women. Their performance illustrates that it is not good enough to simply have women on lists. There has to be a commitment to ensuring that they get into parliament.
“All eyes will now be on the new Cabinet. We hope that President Thabo Mbeki will use this opportunity — one that is entirely in his hands — to increase the representation of women in this top decision-making structure from its current level of thirty percent to gender parity.”