Status of women in South Africa since the advent of democracy
Written by: Javu Baloyi and Thabani Mdlongwa
The question on the status of women since the advent of democracy should not be looked at in isolation from the most pertinent issues that confront them. Some might think, there has been a fundamental and meteoric rise of women issues being in the forefront of the agenda. However, juxtapose that with the Statistics South Africa Quarterly Labour Force, which constantly indicates that the triple challenges of unemployment, poverty, and inequality are still fundamentally skewed towards women. A discussion ought to ensue on whether there has been significant inroads towards women empowerment? Several challenges remain which are outlined in this article.
South Africa’s national budget is still not gender responsive despite advocacy efforts through policy initiatives by the Department of Women Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD), non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other developmental partners like UN Women. The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) on its part and based on its mandate has also monitored the efforts towards having a gender responsive budget (GRB) with CGE producing research reports and providing recommendations to various stakeholders including (government departments, NGOs and developmental partners) to ensure GRB becomes a reality. However despite these efforts nothing has changed to date.
Last year, the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) hosted a 30-year conference where women decried issues of unemployment, inequality, Gender based violence (GBV) and poverty. It seems there are no deliberate attempts to ensure that women, who constitute the majority of the population, are empowered. As much as there is an acknowledgment that strides have been made, there remains an underlying aspect of deliberate intent in ensuring that women are empowered in the true sense of the work, substantive equality is achieved.
Current efforts being made do not address the challenges women consistently raise adequately. A country like ours to date does not have a policy that will ensure equal representation of women in particular, in leadership roles. Moreover, equal pay for the equal work done. We still have a big gender disparity pay gap between men and women, and this has gone on for far too long. We need to redress this so as to ensure that the principle of equality does not discriminate unnecessarily against women. According to Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) research survey, the pay gap between men and women is 17%. Often, statistics can be misleading when one looks at women in both the private and public sector, yet holistically, women who hold senior positions in management are a drop in the ocean. Yes, more women are being employed; however, we must ask the question what positions are they being appointed at? Mostly it is in junior positions and that cannot be translated as empowering women. We need a system wherein various mechanisms are set in place to fast-track women into leadership roles. That will translate into true empowerment.
In addition, the government’s national policy framework on gender equality calls on departments to create positions of Gender Focal Points (GFPs) in each department (at the level of Director or upwards) and to provide the necessary budgets/resources to ensure that departments address issues of gender transformation. This has been a complete failure (The Commission’s research report on GFPs addresses these failures).
The country’s own progress in terms of tackling issues relating to gender transformation is outlined in the Commission’s recent African Gender Development Index (AGDI) Report in terms of its compliance with national, continental, and international obligations relating to gender equality and transformation. This also points to a difficulty in addressing issues affecting the most vulnerable persons of our society, who are women.
The CGE has noted that there is not adequate budgeting on gender-based violence and the implementation of the National Strategic Plan on Gender Based Violence (NSPGBV) is still lacking by both the government and private sector. CGE’s research reports point to these issues and the need for a serious mindset change to have an adequate budget set aside for GBV and other related atrocities. The police stations and courts are not victim friendly. Some SAPS stations use victim rooms as office space. Rape victims suffer in most instances, secondary victimisation due to inadequate resourcing of the facilities that are meant to protect them. More specialised courts to address the scourge or carnage of gender-based violence and sexual offences are needed.
Another area of concern is Women’s economic Empowerment (WEE) with CGE reports and others highlighting that women and continue to be sidelined when it comes to procurement and business opportunities. The Commission, through its gender transformation hearings both in the private and public sector, has identified a lack of opportunities for women. The working environment tends to be hostile and not conducive for women. Lack of programmes that are geared towards capacitating and empowering women as soon as they are in the system/employment.
Women’s access to land in rural areas also continues to a problematic issue. A woman’s ability to own, inherit, and control land and property is vital for her ability to access resources and participate in the economy. In many countries, including South Africa the Constitution and international obligations promise equal protection and equality with regards to accessing economic benefits. The reality is that laws and practices continue to constrain women’s rights, discriminatory practises continue with the horrific levels of gender-based violence against women an indication of the value placed on women in our society. In South Africa many women do not have legal ownership rights to land on which they live and work because they are dependent on spouses and land ownership patterns through relatives due to the plural legal system and customary law.
Women are expected to farm and produce from the land, yet they do not have the capital to facilitate production. Society and men in particular tend to look at women to bring something from the fields, yet the system is so constrained and more so, not helpful to women. South Africa needs to allocate women’s budgets to activities that seek to empower women. The recent study by the Commission on access of communal land points to a dire situation that women in rural provinces still face in accessing land and being the sole owners of the land.
On the whole, it might be seen as if there is progress; however, in reality, the status quo remains the same, women are getting educated, including in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects; however, that does not negate the fundamental problem of lack of true empowerment. The voices of women have risen in numbers; however, that does not translate in evaluation in their statutes. We must have a deliberate attempt as a country and bias for that manner in ensuring that not a selected few women benefit, but overall, all women, including those that are in far-flung rural areas, do benefit. It will then be then that we shall talk about women empowerment. Those in the informal trading sector also need to be protected. What happens to them during rainy seasons? What happens to them in case of sickness and other sexual and reproductive health issues?
Javu Baloyi and Thabani Mdlongwa are employees of the Commission for Gender Equality.