The Unfinished Project of Gender Equality in South African Politics
Written by: Naledi Selebano: Provincial Manager, Gauteng Office
South Africa is frequently celebrated as a global success story in women’s political representation. Since the advent of democracy in 1994, the country has consistently ranked among the better-performing democracies in terms of women’s representation in legislative institutions. This achievement is often presented as evidence of the country’s commitment to gender equality and democratic inclusion. However, beneath this encouraging narrative lies a more complex reality, that while South Africa has achieved notable gains in placing women in political office, it has not yet succeeded in transforming the gendered power relations that continue to shape political participation, leadership, and decision-making.
The persistence of this contradiction reveals a fundamental paradox within South African politics, whereby a country internationally recognised for advancing women’s political representation continues to reproduce patriarchal power structures within many of its political institutions. Women are increasingly present in legislatures, yet remain disproportionately absent from key sites of political authority. They constitute the majority of the electorate, but not the majority of those who exercise political power.
According to the Commission for Gender Equality’s (CGE) report, A Lack of Commitment? Assessing Women’s Participation and Representation in the 2024 National and Provincial Elections, women remain underrepresented in political leadership despite constituting the majority of voters. The report raises concerns about the extent to which political parties have genuinely institutionalised gender equality and whether existing gains are sustainable in the absence of stronger accountability measures.
The numbers themselves reveal a troubling inconsistency. Women constitute approximately 55% of South Africa’s registered voters, yet represented only about 42% of candidates who contested the 2024 elections and approximately 43% of those elected to Parliament thereafter. These figures suggest that while women are central to democratic participation as voters, they remain underrepresented in the structures where political authority is exercised. The disconnect becomes even more pronounced at local government level. Research by the Commission for Gender Equality found that women’s representation in municipal government declined from 41% in 2016 to 37% in the 2021 local government elections, representing a reversal of previously achieved gains.
These trends are significant given that they challenge the assumption that democratic progress is linear and irreversible. They also expose the limitations of relying solely on numerical indicators as measures of gender equality. For much of the democratic period, discussions about women’s political empowerment have focused on descriptive representation. While numerical representation remains important, the presence of women in political institutions does not automatically translate into substantive representation. In other words, women can be present without necessarily possessing equal power, influence, or authority.
The concept of substantive equality therefore offers a more meaningful framework for assessing progress. Substantive equality goes beyond access and participation to examine how far women can genuinely influence political outcomes, shape policy agendas, access decision-making spaces, and transform institutional cultures. It shifts the focus from how many women are present to whether their presence translates into meaningful political power.
Viewed through this lens, South Africa’s achievements appear less straightforward than global rankings might suggest. Women continue to be underrepresented in senior party leadership structures, executive decision-making positions, strategic portfolios, and premier and presidential candidacies. Furthermore, numerical gains have not consistently translated into transformative outcomes for women broadly. Gender-based violence remains endemic, economic inequality remains deeply gendered, and many women continue to experience exclusion from political and economic decision-making. This raises important questions about the extent to which political representation is influencing broader social transformation.
At the centre of this challenge are political parties themselves. Political parties are the primary gatekeepers of democratic participation. They determine who is selected as candidates, who receives campaign resources, who is mentored into leadership positions, and who ultimately becomes politically viable. As such, any serious discussion of women’s political representation must interrogate the role of political parties in either advancing or obstructing gender equality.
Despite public commitments to non-sexism and inclusion, many political parties continue to operate within organisational cultures that privilege male leadership and reproduce patriarchal norms. Candidate selection processes are frequently shaped by informal networks, patronage systems, incumbency advantages, and factional dynamics that disproportionately benefit men. As a result, women often face greater obstacles in accessing political opportunities, securing resources, and advancing into leadership positions.
The uneven performance of political parties on gender representation demonstrates that progress is neither automatic nor inevitable. The greatest gains in women’s representation have generally occurred within parties that have adopted explicit gender quotas and parity measures. By contrast, parties that have relied on voluntary commitments or gender-neutral approaches have often produced weaker outcomes. This suggests that representation is not merely a reflection of societal change but the outcome of deliberate political choices. Political parties cannot simultaneously claim commitment to gender equality while maintaining leadership structures that continue to concentrate power in male hands.
The issue, therefore, is not simply whether women are allowed to participate in politics. The more important question is whether political parties are prepared to redistribute power. Too often women are visible as campaigners, community mobilisers, and voters, yet remain underrepresented in executive committees, strategic policy portfolios, candidate lists, and positions of ultimate authority.
Beyond institutional barriers, women also continue to navigate a political culture that remains deeply masculinised. South African politics is often characterised by adversarial leadership styles, factional contestation, political violence, online harassment, and practices that reward aggression over collaboration. Women politicians frequently encounter gender stereotyping, sexual harassment, intimidation, and disproportionate scrutiny of their appearance, personal lives, and family responsibilities. Their legitimacy is often questioned in ways that their male counterparts rarely experience.
These challenges are even more pronounced for young women, women with disabilities, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual (LGBTQIA+) persons , and women from rural communities, whose experiences are shaped by intersecting forms of exclusion. Consequently, women do not enter politics from equal starting positions, nor do they experience political participation in equal ways. The barriers facing women are not merely individual but structural, reflecting broader patterns of inequality that continue to shape South African society.
This critique should not overshadow the significant advances that have been achieved since 1994. South Africa has produced women premiers, ministers, speakers, commissioners, judges, and senior public officials. Constitutional protections, feminist activism, the efforts of Chapter 9 institutions, and commitments to international and regional frameworks have all contributed to expanding opportunities for women’s political participation. The increased presence of women in South African politics has also yielded significant democratic and legislative gains. Women politicians, often working in partnership with feminist movements, civil society organisations, and Chapter 9 institutions, have been instrumental in advancing some of the country’s most progressive social justice reforms.
Notable achievements include the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act, which expanded women’s reproductive rights and bodily autonomy; the Domestic Violence Act and subsequent reforms to strengthen protections for survivors of abuse; the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Act, which broadened protection against sexual violence; and more recent legislative reforms linked to the national response to Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF), including strengthened provisions relating to sexual offences, domestic violence, and victim protection. These reforms have fundamentally shifted the state’s response to violence against women and children.
Women political leaders have also been influential in advancing policies relating to gender equality, maternal and reproductive health, social protection, child support grants, equal employment opportunities, gender mainstreaming in government, and women’s economic empowerment. Their advocacy contributed to the strengthening of institutional mechanisms such as the national gender machinery and the work of the CGE in monitoring and promoting gender transformation.
Beyond legislation, women’s participation has helped place previously marginalised issues, including domestic violence, sexual harassment, unpaid care work, reproductive health, and economic inequality, firmly on the national policy agenda. The increasing visibility of women in political leadership has also challenged patriarchal assumptions about authority and governance, creating pathways for future generations of women and girls to participate in public life.
These gains are both real and important. However, they should be understood as milestones within an ongoing struggle rather than as evidence that the struggle has been won. These achievements also demonstrate an important lesson, that transformative outcomes emerge not simply because women are present in political institutions, but because they are able to exercise influence within them. The gains secured over the democratic period illustrate the value of women’s representation, while simultaneously underscoring the need for greater substantive power, leadership opportunities, and decision-making authority to drive deeper structural change.
Achieving genuine gender equality in politics requires moving beyond symbolic inclusion towards structural transformation. This demands stronger legislative and regulatory mechanisms to secure parity, greater accountability for political parties, and sustained investment in women’s political leadership. Candidate selection processes must become more transparent, political violence and harassment must be addressed decisively, and political institutions must actively challenge the gendered assumptions that continue to shape conceptions of leadership and power.
The country’s relatively high rankings for women’s representation should therefore not be mistaken for the achievement of gender equality. Rather, they reveal the limits of a transformation agenda that has prioritised numbers without sufficiently addressing power. South Africa has succeeded in opening the doors of political participation, but it has not yet transformed the corridors through which power flows. Until women enjoy equal access not only to political office but also to political influence, authority, resources, and leadership, the promise of a truly inclusive democracy will remain unrealised. Numerical representation may open the door, but substantive equality is what will ultimately determine whether women are able to reshape South Africa’s political future.