Research conducted at the University of the Free State (UFS) has presented some disconcerting findings on the development status of women in South Africa — at national and provincial levels. The study, conducted by Annelize Booysen as groundwork for her PhD thesis, reveals that the development status of women in South Africa not only deteriorated in absolute terms between 1996 and 2001, but also in relative, between-gender terms, leaving women in a more vulnerable position.
Making use of 1996 and 2001 census data to calculate (freshly minted) gender-specific Human Development Indices — the female-specific HDI (FHDI) and the male-specific HDI (MHDI) — the study found that the development level of men was higher than that of women in both years and that, although the absolute level of development of both men and women declined between the two years, the decline of women was more pronounced. This highlights the growing gender differences in the pace of development, as reflected by the national increase in the gender gap of almost 3%.
Despite distinct provincial differences in human development, the development status of both women and men declined in all nine provinces during this time. KwaZulu-Natal lost most development ground in absolute terms, for both women and men. A disconcerting finding is that although women in the nine provinces all lost ground during this period, those provinces that initially lagged the furthest behind in this area were losing comparatively more ground.
At the absolute level, the women of Gauteng and Western Cape were in top position in the two years, with the women of Limpopo being in the bottom position. Comparing the development levels of women to that of men, it was found that the women of Eastern Cape (1996) and Western Cape (2001) lagged the least behind men, while the women of Limpopo and Mpumalanga lagged the most.
The study’s analysis at the disaggregated level highlighted that KwaZulu-Natal had the lowest female life expectancy in all of South Africa, both in 1996 and 2001. In 1996 the women of Western Cape, with the highest female life expectancy, could expect to live 7,1 years longer than the women of KwaZulu-Natal. By 2001, they could have expected to live an astounding 15,3 years longer because of the fall in KwaZulu-Natal’s life expectancy, reflecting the devastating effect HIV/Aids appears to have had on this province.
A further disturbing finding is that it would appear that a poor female development status predisposes women to poor development gender parity ratios, while a high absolute development rate seems to be linked to a less bleak development rate relative to that of men. This does not bode well for women who find themselves in provinces with a low development status, as it implies that they will in all probability continue to bear a double burden: a poor development rate compared with other women, and a particularly poor relative development rate compared with men.
A further finding was that, between 1996 and 2001, six of the nine provinces showed a marked improvement in gender equality in political, economic and professional activities in South Africa, as judged by the Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM). KwaZulu-Natal, once again, stands out with an exceptional improvement of almost 22%, in contrast to the Free State, with the biggest decline among the provinces during this period, a drop of 4,6%. Gauteng was the province with the highest GEM score in both years, indicating that women had more opportunities for empowerment in this province than in other provinces. It is interesting to note that provinces presenting fewer empowerment opportunities for women were gaining ground on counterparts that offered more opportunities, leading to a more equal distribution of empowerment opportunities between the two years.
The study concludes that much still needs to be done before gender equality, and its positive impact on sustainable development, can be unconditionally celebrated in South Africa. For this to happen, more needs to be known about the development status of women and how it can be accurately measured. Booysen believes that some beacons have been lit with this study, but more of this path will have to be uncovered ‘before women will cease to have the ubiquitous, yet dubious, distinction of being wives, mothers, and the poorest of the poor”.
Mangaliso Radebe is assistant director: communication, University of the Free State