Parliament is held in high esteem for its 45% representation of women but, while this may look good on paper, behind it all is a raging debate on what it means on the ground.
Do the numbers reflect mere tokenism, or have they effected real changes for women living in South Africa?
A 2010 Catalyst survey of female leaders found South Africa to be the third most representative government in the world. Rwanda is ranked first, followed by Sweden and South Africa — the US ranked 73rd. But Amanda Gouws, professor of political science at Stellenbosch University, said the real question is “to what extent do these women make a difference to other women?”
Good progress was made during the first eight years of democracy, Gouws said. “Now it seems there are more and more women in government but with less and less influence.”
At a local level there is even a decline in female representation. A Gender Links analysis of the 2011 local government elections showed that women constitute 38% of councillors, down from 40% in 2006. The reason was the decline in support for the African National Congress — the only party that endeavoured to field equal numbers of women and men.
A real hurdle, politicians claim, is that women are simply not available. Freedom Front Plus general secretary Piet Uys said: “In our own experience women are not really available. They have other things to do. When raising a family they often cannot become involved.” Uys noted that the party has had women as candidates at every election — but they are still by far in the minority.
Democratic Alliance spokesperson for women, children and persons with disabilities, Denise Robinson, agreed with Uys. She said going into politics means a life of service and sacrifice. She described party leader Helen Zille’s executive committee, consisting only of men, as an “awkward situation”, but claimed there were not enough women available at the time. “It’s old-fashioned, but it’s a reality.”
Robinson said that while female representation in national government may look good, there’s a lot of tokenism. “There are a lot of backbenchers and people who lack the experience. The DA does not believe in going for instant quotas, we like to have people chosen on merit and based on competence.”
Spokesperson for the Inkatha Freedom Party Women’s Brigade, Sibongile Nkomo, said the party has always played a role in women’s rights and fought against unfair policy. During the Codesa talks, where liberation parties came together to draw up a new constitution, the IFP was the only party with female representatives. She said there has been much progress in government but “we could have done better if we had monitored the process and acknowledged where we have erred”.
Nkomo warned of setting women up to fail. “We need to be conscious of the number of women in government, not because they are women, but because they can deliver.” Mentoring, she said, is key.
The representation of women in Parliament jumped from 2.7% during apartheid to 27% after the first democratic elections. The proportion of women MPs increased to 30% in 1999 elections and 32% after the 2004 elections.
After the adoption of the 50/50 gender parity at the 2007 conference of the ANC, the representation of women increased to 44%. The goal now is to achieve 50/50 gender parity by 2015 as required by the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Gender and Development.
Minister Angie Motshekga, president of the ANC Women’s League, said tokenism is not the real concern, but rather women who buy into the patriarchal notion of what it means to run a state.
“I have no doubt about the ability of these women to perform, but it is who they answer to that matters.” And in all elections it is men who determine who leads among women, she said. “We are reaching a stage where women are leading on behalf of men.”
Motshekga said women have always been an integral part of the party and it’s policymaking. At Codesa, the women’s league began a multiparty caucus for all women, which is one of the “most coherent”. “It has not been an easy struggle, we are looking for things that men want too.”
To achieve a 50% female representation may mean 30% of men must be bumped off. “There seems to be a stalemate and now it’s about how to proceed with the women’s struggle, not the anti-men struggle.”
Nkomo agreed an impasse has been reached. Civil society is losing spirit and no longer has that “fire in their bellies”. The IFP, she said, appealed to them to lobby people in power as there is a need to review legislation and its relevancy in modern times.
Changes needed for the ANC Youth League
The ANC Youth League has been accused by gender activists of communicating the wrong message by failing to put women in positions of power. Given the increasing power and influence of the league, how would this shape the future for women in politics?
But deputy secretary general Kenetswe Mosenogi, the only female in the league’s top five, said women have a bright future in politics although there are undeniable challenges. “We have got more women than men in the composition of the national executive committee and the provincial executive committees — in fact most structures of the youth league.”
The youth league constitution requires that there be more than 50% female representation across the boards. However, the top five are exempt as they are elected into positions regardless of the quota. “I think we have done much, but we do need to occupy more female officials in the top five.”
Mosenogi said women in politics still face many challenges. “People are always expecting a lot from you and there is always the challenge to prove yourself.” She applauded government for striving to address the issue of gender representation but admitted that “very little is happening at the moment”.
Real changes are still needed when looking at the number of females occupying senior posts in government management and administration, she said. “If before the challenge was about education — we have covered that ground. It is no longer an excuse and qualified women need to be exposed to opportunities.”