The ANC Women League’s proposal of a special women’s ministry has run into flak from the ANC and from women’s activists who feel it could ‘ghettoise†women’s issues.
The league insists the ANC policy conference last week had agreed to set up a special ministry for women’s affairs. But the ANC itself says there was no outright resolution supporting its establishment and that the issue needs further research before the party’s national conference in December.
The ANC says another strong view at the conference was that there should be better implementation of existing mechanisms for improving the position of women.
However, the women’s league is confident that it can get support for for the idea of an exclusive ministry ahead of the national conference, which translates conference resolutions into policy.
ANC Women’s League spokesperson Charlotte Lobe says the problem is that no one could be held directly accountable for the government’s performance on women’s issues.
‘The office on the status of women in the presidency had limited influence because it had no executive powers and no director general,†she says.
‘At policy implementation level it cannot take decisions as and when it wants to,†she says.
‘This idea arose out of an assessment of poverty levels and the acknowledgement that those worst affected by poverty are women. You need a targeted intervention.
‘The problem is that departments, private businesses and black economic empowerment initiatives claim to benefit women. But no one actually checks if this is true,†Lobe says.
But Liesl Gerntholz, of the Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre, says there is a risk that such a ministry could be marginal and under-resourced, resulting in the ‘ghettoising†of women’s issues.
‘You need to integrate women’s issues across all departments. Otherwise you will have the attitude that anything relating to women’s issues should be referred to the ministry — almost saying: ‘Take it to the ministry, we want to carry on with the real business of government.’â€
Gerntholz says that during the Codesa negotiations that led to South Africa’s new dispensation, women organised under Women’s National Coalition had decided against a women’s ministry.
‘There was support for a web of structures that permeate all departments, such as the gender commission, office of status of women and gender focal points in departments to monitor women issues. Even internationally the idea of a women’s ministry does not seem to have worked,†she says.
University of the Witwatersrand political studies professor Shireen Hassim says the proposal for a special ministry represents a backtracking from ‘mainstreaming†— spreading women’s rights advocacy across the government.
‘It’s an admission of the failure of mainstreaming. This is a real pity because South Africa was expected to have the necessary resources. We need to look at why the plan, which is in place, has failed.
‘I doubt whether simply setting up a ministry will solve our problems. Whatever idea we implement we must ask if it will have powers and ability to mobilise expertise. Gender mainstreaming require high levels of expertise and capacity to intervene across sectors.
‘You need resources to develop expertise and those resources were never made available. For example, the office of status of women was never resourced properly,†Hassim says.
However, she added that while mainstreaming is the best option, ‘a women’s ministry could be regarded as a subÂsector of interestsâ€.