Just 17.4% of board directors are women in South Africa’s business sector. According to the Businesswomen’s Association, women constituted only 11.8% of board chairpersons among JSE-listed companies in 2017, while one in six JSE-listed companies had no women on their boards at all. A comprehensive study by Gallup showed that businesses that have gender-diverse boards and workforces perform monumentally better than those dominated by a single gender.
Women bring fresh perspectives and talents, new views, alongside structural and cultural diversity to the companies they work for and are far more effective as leaders. They are more empathetic and can accept that everyone perceives the world differently without passing judgment. It’s not that we women want to win the battle or become the superior sex, we just want to participate and contribute to the greater success story of life and in business alongside our male counterparts.
South Africa’s women are especially in a crisis, not only do they struggle more than men to find work with unemployment figures the worst they have ever been, but when they do, they are often paid less, and very rarely are able to climb the corporate ladder to positions of leadership. Equal opportunity and equal treatment in the labour market are at the core of decent work.
According to the Quarterly Labour Force Survey of the second quarter of 2021, men are also more likely to be in paid employment than women, regardless of race, while women are more likely than men to be doing unpaid work. The rate of unemployment among women was 36.8% in the second quarter of 2021 compared with 32.4% among men according to the official definition of unemployment. The unemployment rate among black African women was 41.0% during this period compared to 8.2% among white women, 22.4% among Indian/Asian women and 29.9% among coloured women.
As we celebrate Women’s Month, we remember those brave women who marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to fight for our freedom as black women in South Africa. But the fight is far from over. Men’s perceptions of women are still biased and while we are the sex that can carry and care for infant children, it’s also the responsibility of those fathers to step up and play their role in society. This in essence is where I believe we’ll begin changing these perceptions. With more women in powerful roles, it will also pave the way for other women, and men to build empathy in the workplace so we can finally address gender inequality.
Khuthala Gala Holten is the co-managing director at Joe Public United, South Africa’s largest majority black-owned, independent agency group, where women have 40% representation on its board.
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Mail & Guardian.