The African National Congress’s equal gender representation policy for the upcoming local government elections is expected to spark a scramble for positions as male councillors lose their jobs.
The ANC decided at its national general council in June on a 50/50 quota of men and women representatives for the local government elections and all future polls. Currently the organisation has 30% female quota, which means that about 20% of councillors (who are also male) face the chop.
The local elections are scheduled for some time between December this year and March next year.
Men — whether as mayors, members of mayoral committees or councillors — have dominated ANC local government structures. But a spokesperson said the next elections will see an influx of new women candidates. Some male councillors interviewed in Gauteng municipalities expressed concern that the ANC had no programme to train women without government experience, limiting the candidate pool.
Many men were afraid to be quoted by the Mail & Guardian, for fear that they might seem opposed to female empowerment.
The ANC insisted that men who were not re-elected had no reason to worry, as it would deploy them elsewhere, according to their skills.
ANC Women’s League spokesperson Charlotte Lobe said: ”It is natural for men to have fears, just as whites had fears about affirmative action. But the ANC is a big organisation and we will not kick people on to the streets.”
She said there was no reason to assume that all incumbent male councillors were doing a good job and deserved to keep their seats. ”Even women who are not doing a good job will not be returned. Each woman will be assessed on her contribution and some will be removed.”
ANC Gauteng spokesperson Hope Papo said that for every male ward councillor nominated, a female candidate was nominated as back-up in case the overall election list failed to reflect a 50/50 balance.
Local lists would be taken to regional, provincial and national list conferences, and finalised by a national list committee. The ANC is planning to field about 8 000 candidates in the elections.
In its guidelines, the party says its public representatives should be above reproach in their political and social conduct and actively involved in the fight against corruption.
The ANC’s candidate list must also be geographically representative, fairly represent all national groups, age groups and disabled or ”differently abled” people.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has criticised the current deployment strategy, saying it does not always reflect the wishes of branches. At its recent central executive committee meeting it agreed that Cosatu and the South African Communist Party should be allowed more say in the selection of candidates.
”The -process of making the list more -representative in terms of geography, gender and disability is often seen as undermining the initial nomination of candidates by branches,” said Cosatu secretary Zwelinzima Vavi.