The ANC Women’s League wants an Equality Bill that will extend the ANC’s 50:50 gender quota to government institutions and the private sector.
‘Everybody by law must be compelled to work towards nonsexism. Companies should explain why they cannot achieve certain targets in relation to women,” league president Angie Motshekga told media during the NGC.
The league also:
- Wants to compel state-owned enterprises to award half their contracts to women
;
- Believes half the direct beneficiaries of procurement and enterprise development should be women
; and
- Called on the Independent Electoral Commission to decline lists from political parties that do not reflect a 50:50 gender balance.
The league took a swipe at the performance of the ministry of women, children and persons with disabilities, led by former unionist Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya.
The ministry was established last year after a resolution at Polokwane, which followed the league’s call.
In a document before the NGC the league said Mayende-Sibiya’s ministry lacked clear policies on how to consolidate all interventions and programmes aimed at changing the socioeconomic and political landscape on gender.
It also said private, public, community-based and NGO work on women’s matters was uncoordinated.
The ministry could find itself on a collision course with the gender commission, the Women’s League warned.
‘We await a clear policy position as to how the ministry will propose to package the gender mainstreaming machinery, including clarity on the roles and responsibilities between the ministry and the Commission for Gender Equality,” the document said.