The post-1994 parliament has far more women in it than any previous South African parliament. Many of the women parliamentarians have a history of working for gender equality. Many men leaders also recognise the importance of gender equality. The Constitution guarantees the equality of women and allows for affirmative action to address gender and race inequality. The government has established a number of bodies to ensure that gender issues are addressed.

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The National Machinery for Gender Equality

Post-apartheid South Africa has a number of bodies which deal with gender issues. These are often called the "national machinery" for gender equality. Figure 1 shows how the different parts of the national machinery for gender equality fit together.

The Commission on Gender Equality

The Commission on Gender Equality (CGE) is provided for in the new Constitution. It was established in April 1997. There are eleven commissioners, of whom half are part-time. The commissioners are appointed by the President. However, the Commission is independent of government and commissioners are not civil servants.

The tasks of the CGE include:

• monitoring and evaluating government and the private sector;
• public education and information;
• making recommendations about laws, policies and programmes to government;
• resolving disputes through mediation and conciliation;
• investigating inequality and commissioning research.

The first annual report of the CGE records what the Commission has done in the areas of gender policy and the institutional framework, public education, law and justice, safety and security, economic empowerment, political empowerment and the Southern African region.

Government

The Office on the Status of Women (OSW) was established in early 1997. Its functions include:

• developing a national gender policy;
• promoting affirmative action in government;
• supporting government bodies to integrate a gender perspective in all policies and programmes;
• organising gender training for government departments;
• helping different government departments to work together on issues.

South Africa does not have a separate ministry for "women’s affairs" like many other countries do. Instead South Africa hopes that by having gender units in all departments, it will ensure that each department takes responsibility for addressing gender issues in their policies and programmes. By May 1997, eleven of the 28 departments had gender units.

There is a gap in the national machinery at local government level. Yet it is local government which delivers many of the services which are so important for lessening the burden of women’s household responsibilities. The South African Local Government Association (SALGA) brings together representatives of local councils from around the country. SALGA has established a Gender Working Group. At present the Group is concentrating on supporting women councillors in local government to perform their duties effectively.

Challenges for the new bodies

South Africa’s national machinery is very new. It faces a lot of challenges.

Firstly, the OSW and CGE were only established three years after the 1994 elections. Some departments established gender units before this, but these units did not have the backup of the central bodies. Even after 1997, the OSW focused on the national gender policy and provincial OSWs rather than the departmental units.

Second, the power of the OSW is limited. For example, it is not automatically involved in the drafting of national policy. Its staff consists of one director plus a secretary. At provincial level, there are similar problems.

Third, many departments only look at gender equality issues in terms of their personnel and internal workings. Many do not think about how their policies affect ordinary women and men.

Fourth, the national machinery has limited funds. Some provinces have not allocated any budget for their OSWs. Many departments rely on donor funds for gender-related activities, rather than allocating money from their main budget. These activities are in danger if donor priorities change. The CGE received only R2 million in its first year of operation, while the Human Rights Commission (HRC) received R6 million. CGE commissioners also earned less than HRC commissioners. After protests and lobbying, the 1998/9 CGE budget is R10,2 million.

Fifth, some of the people holding positions in the gender machinery do not understand gender issues well, although they know a lot about politics and sectoral issues. A number of women’s and gender studies courses have begun to offer training for women and men in these positions. The South African Management and Development Institute is the official training institutions for public servants, but it does not deal with gender in its courses.

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Political representation

National government
In South Africa the national parliament is elected according to a proportional system. People vote for parties rather than individual candidates, and each party gets a number of seats proportional to its total votes.

For the 1994 elections the ANC agreed that at least 30% of its list of candidates would be women. The ANC won over 60% of the votes in the elections. Their decision to have 30% women on the party list ensured that, overall, over a quarter of the new parliamentarians were women. This is an enormous increase on the 3% of parliamentarians who were women before 1994.

Four out of South Africa’s 25 cabinet ministers and eight of the 13 deputy ministers are women. The women ministers are Sankie Mthembi-Mahanyele (Housing), Stella Sigcau (Public Enterprises), Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi (Welfare) and Nkosazana Zuma (Health). The speaker, Frene Ginwala, is a woman. About a third of the chairpersons of Select Committees in Parliament are women.

Provincial and local government
Just under a quarter (102) of the 425 members of the nine provincial legislatures are women. The speaker of the Northern Cape, and the deputy speakers of Gauteng, Northern Province and the Western Cape are all women.

The first democratic local government elections were held in 1995. Just under one-fifth of all councillors elected were women. Women also hold 14% of all executive committee positions. These proportions are lower than at national and provincial level. Local governments are elected through a mix of proportional representation and a ward system. In the 1995 elections, women won 29% of the proportional seats, but only 11% of the ward ones.

  Has parliament changed?
Women’s participation has meant some changes for Parliament. The working hours have changed to make it easier for parliamentarians to combine their jobs with their child-care and domestic responsibilities. There is now a creche for the children of parliamentarians and parliamentary workers. There are more toilet facilities for women. The language used in debate and legislation must now be non-sexist.

Nevertheless, many women still find the culture of Parliament unfriendly. They complain about the conflict between work and family responsibilities and relationships. They feel frustrated by parliamentary procedures. They feel isolated from their communities. Some of these difficulties are shared by men parliamentarians. Some are more of a burden to women than men.

A multi-party Parliamentary Women’s Group has been set up to help women members in their work. The Speakers Forum has established a Women’s Empowerment Unit. This unit will train and assist national and provincial representatives to do their work better.

The Committee on Improving the Quality of Life and Status of Women was established in August 1996. Its members include women and men from all parties. The Joint Standing Committee on Finance, together with NGOs, established the Women’s Budget Initiative. The Initiative has analysed all votes of the national budget for their impact on women and men, and on poor women in particular.

Some of the women ministers have actively promoted gender issues. Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi worked hard for the establishment of the national machinery. Nkosazana Zuma led the South African delegation to Beijing. They and others have promoted gender-sensitive policy within their ministries.

Civil society

Most civil society organisations, including women’s organisations, are weaker now than during the apartheid years. There is no longer the same sense of urgency to fight against race and gender oppression. And many of the women leaders are now in parliament or government.

The Women’s National Coalition was a strong lobby during the pre-election negotiations. It had members from all the main parties. It organised them to put pressure on their party leaders. After the elections the WNC was weaker. There were complaints that the organisation was dominated by white, middle class women. There were other areas – such as government – for women to focus on.

Most organisations of and for women are in urban areas. But the majority of the most disadvantaged women live in rural areas. In the last years of apartheid a few NGOs started to address the issues of rural women. These organisations ensured that the government’s Land Reform Programme tries to address the needs of women.

Meanwhile some new organisations have been formed, particularly around violence against women. There are also new women’s unions, such as the Self Employed Womens Organisation and the Gauteng Self Employed Women’s Associations. Women’s organisations and NGOs have lobbied strongly around laws such as the Termination of Pregnancy Act, the Local Government White Paper and the child support grant.

Media and religion

The media
Newspapers, magazines, TV and radio influence people’s views and actions. The Women’s Charter for Effective Equality says that the media should show women in a "positive, active and life-affirming" way which emphasises their achievements and contributions to public life.

South African women do not all agree about pornography. Some women oppose pornography. They say it exploits women and encourages violence, abuse and inequality. Other people say pornography must be allowed because the Constitution guarantees freedom of speech.

There are few South African women journalists in powerful decision-making positions. None of the major newspapers have women editors. Many women journalists write on traditional topics such as fashion, home-making, food and gardening. Men appear much more often than women in the news, particularly when the news is about politics. The media continue to use sexist language.

During apartheid women activists established Speak and Agenda magazines. Speak was for grassroots women, while Agenda was for more academic women. Speak closed because of lack of funds, but Agenda continues despite ongoing financial difficulties.

Religion
About 15% of South Africans are ‘traditionalists’ and 80% are Christians. Other South Africans are Muslims, Jews and Hindus. There are very few women leaders in any of the religions, although religion plays an important role in the life and views of many South African women of all races and classes. Many women leaders in NGOs and government first became activists through their religious involvement.

Some women and men in most of the religions have developed new ways to interpret what their religions teach. These interpretations support gender equality and the rights of women. Often the new interpretations look, in particular, at areas such as marriage, divorce and children.

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The Constitution

The South African Constitution is very firm about non-racism and non-sexism. The Bill of Rights allows for affirmative action to address the legacy of past discrimination. The Bill says that neither the government nor individuals may discriminate, directly or indirectly, on grounds:

including race, gender, sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin, colour, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, conscience, belief, culture, language and birth...unless it is established that the discrimination is fair.

The Constitutional Court can review all laws, regulations, administrative practices and policies of the government. The first few test cases suggest that the Court is interpreting equality in a broad way. It is clear that the Court is prepared to learn from international experience about promoting gender equality.

The South African Government accepted the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in December 1995. CEDAW is an international agreement to do away with all forms of discrimination against women. South Africa presented its first CEDAW report to the United Nations in June 1998.

Customary law and gender equality

African women married in customary law are considered to be minors under the Black Administration Act of 1927. They are under their husband’s guardianship and have no right to inherit from him. The government has recognised this as discrimination and wants to change the law. There are still debates about how other parts of customary law discriminate against women.

Some people see the practice of lobola (brideprice) as creating a bond between the families of the bride and groom. Others say that it treats women as property, to be "bought" by their husbands. There are also different views as to whether a man should be allowed to have more than one wife.

During 1998 and after, there will be fierce debates around the power of traditional leaders over land and within local government. Many women see the power of traditional chiefs as working against gender equality. Others say, as with religion, that a new way of understanding customary practices can go hand in hand with gender equality.

The Constitution says that when customary law and the equality clause conflict, equality must have prioritiy.

Changing the laws

During 1993, just before the elections, the apartheid government passed some laws to address aspects of gender inequality:

• The Prevention of Family Violence Act said that a man can be convicted of the rape of his wife. It also allowed women to obtain an interdict preventing their partners from abusing them physically, emotionally, or financially.
• The Guardianship Act said that the mother and the father of a child share guardianship equally.
• The General Law Fourth Amendment Act changed discriminatory clauses in a number of laws including those around citizenship and work.

There are still some laws that may discriminate against women. Usually government departments are responsible for introducing laws in their sector. The Parliamentary Committee on the Quality of Life and Status of Women, the CGE and the Law Commission are also reviewing all laws to ensure they do not discriminate.

The post apartheid government has already introduced some new laws and changed others in ways which make them more gender-sensitive.

The Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1996 allows women to have an abortion without the consent of their parents or partners. Doctors and nurses do not have to perform abortions if this is against their conscience. They must, however, tell women about their rights under the Act.

The Public Service Act of 1994 removes discriminatory practices such as different pension and housing benefits for married and unmarried women and men. The 1996 White Paper on the Transformation of the Public Service says that all national and provincial departments must have Transformation Units to ensure that there are sufficient women and black people at all levels.

The Labour Relations Act of 1995 protects workers against unfair discrimination on the basis of sex, race or other grounds. Since 1995 the Act also covers domestic and farm workers. The Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) has covered farm workers since 1993 and domestic workers since 1994. In 1997 the BCEA was amended to prevent dismissal of women who are pregnant or breastfeeding and to provide for better maternity and family leave.

The Employment Equity Bill says that companies employing 50 or more people, or with turnover more than a specified amount, must have an employment equity plan and report regularly to government on race, gender and disability.

The Maintenance Act says that fathers and mothers must each pay their fair share towards their children’s upbringing. There are many problems in the law, as well as the way in which it is implemented by police and Justice officials. The Department of Justice has introduced a bill which addresses some of the problems. It has asked the Law Commission to look at bigger changes to the law.

The Sexual Offences Act of 1957 makes prostitution and brothels illegal in South Africa. The law says that the sex worker (who is usually a woman) is the criminal and places no responsibility on the client (usually a man). In 1996 the Gauteng Ministry of Safety and Security wrote a draft policy on "sex work". The policy said that adult sex work should be legal but that there must still be protection for children.

Judicial institutions

Two out of the ten Constitutional Court judges are women. One of the women is black. The Labour Court has two women judges and the Land Claims Court one. Of the total of 186 judges, 156 are white men, 20 are black men, seven are white women and three black women. At lower levels, only 5% of magistrates are women. NGOs are working with the Department of Justice to train women and men judges and magistrates about gender and human rights.

In 1993, the Attorney General in the Western Cape set up the Wynberg Sexual Offences Court. The Court is now a pilot project of the country’s National Crime Prevention Strategy. A lack of resources has held back the work of the court. Faced with too many cases, it has mainly dealt with cases involving children rather than those involving adult women.

Crime and violence against women

South Africa has very high levels of most crimes. Levels of violent crimes against women are particularly high, and seem to be increasing. Fear of violence prevents many women from taking advantage of social and economic opportunities.

Gender violence affects and unites women across class, race and other divides. Both NGOs and sections of the national machinery see gender violence as a priority. The National Crime Prevention Strategy, too, has prioritised gender violence. NGOs and government have come together in the National Network Against Violence Against Women.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission

The post-apartheid South African government established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to bring into the open the full story about past injustices. The government hoped that by exposing the truth, people would learn to forgive, if not to forget, the terrible past of the country. Television and radio have helped to bring the stories told at the TRC to a wide public.

After pressure by women’s groups, the TRC organised three special women’s hearings. Most women who gave evidence before the TRC spoke about their loss and pain when family members were detained, tortured and/or died. Few spoke about their own experiences, although women suffered in particular ways, such as from sexual abuse, when detained and during torture.

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Inequality and poverty

South Africa is a wealthy country, but the wealth is very unevenly distributed. In 1994, African per capita income was 13% of white per capita income, coloured was 27% of white, and Indian 40%. There are also big differences between women and men, and between people living in rural and urban areas. For many people, the disadvantages of race, gender and place overlap.

Women and men experienced poverty and dispossession differently during apartheid. For example, the pass laws made it difficult for African women to move to the towns and cities, while shortage of land and jobs in rural areas forced men to the towns and mines. Most women had to rely on the little they managed to get from the land, informal earnings, remittances from husbands and sons on the mines and in towns, and state pensions. Women depended on chiefs and on their relationship to husbands, fathers and sons for access to land. The pass laws were abolished in 1986. But the legacy of past restrictions still remains for many women.

Poverty can be measured in many ways. The most common way is by measuring income. In South Africa, income poverty goes together with a level of inequality which is among the worst in the world. The richest 20% of South African households have 65% of all income. The poorest 20% have only 3%. Poverty is worst in Kwazulu Natal, Eastern Cape and Northern Province – particularly in the previous homeland areas within these provinces.

Having a job is one way people can get out of poverty. The South African economy is not creating jobs. Job loss is worst in some areas which traditionally employed many poor rural people, such as agriculture and mining. Often male unemployment means not only greater poverty, but also more abuse and violence against women and children.

Gender and poverty

Gender poverty is often measured by comparing households headed by women with those headed by men. People understand the term "woman-headed household" in different ways. Sometimes it means there is no adult man in the household. Sometimes it means that there is a man, but he is absent for much of the time. Sometimes it means a woman is the main income-earner, or has the most power. There are also big differences among woman-headed households. For example, an older white woman living alone and dependent on her deceased husband’s pension from work, is very different from a younger black single mother living with her three young children.

Overall, however, a household headed by a woman is more likely to be poor than one headed by a man. In 1995 almost half (49%) of woman-headed households were among the poorest 40% ("poor"), and just over a quarter (26%) among the poorest 20% ("ultra-poor"). By contrast, 31% of male headed households were poor, and only 13% ultra-poor.

The graph shows that overall African rural households headed by women are the poorest, and white urban male-headed households the wealthiest. Nevertheless, there are far more households headed by men than women. So overall, there are more poor people – women and men – living in households headed by men than living in woman-headed households.

In judging whether a woman or man is poor, it is not enough to look at the household’s income. Family members do not always share household income equally. Usually those who earn income have more control over what is done with the money. Because men are more likely than women to earn money, and more likely to earn higher amounts, unequal sharing usually disadvantages women.

Unequal sharing also has other results. Many South African women suffer violence at the hands of their partners and other male relatives. Many are dependant on male earnings so they stay with these men despite the abuse. Many women say that their partners will not tell them what they earn. They also say that men waste a lot of the money on their own needs for alcohol, tobacco and other women. Sometimes when a woman earns, this gives her more power in the household. At other times women who earn feel forced to hand over all their earnings to male relatives.

Other ways to measure poverty

In addition to measuring poverty by income, it can be measured by people’s educational and health status, and their access to basic services. These affect people’s quality of life, as well as their ability to earn income and enjoy what it can buy.

Education
People with more education can generally find jobs more easily than uneducated people, and also earn more.

The educational profile of adult South Africans shows the race and gender legacy of apartheid. Firstly, there were few educational opportunities for African people. Secondly, in the past the government and some parents thought it was less important to educate girls than boys. Today, however, there are slightly more girls than boys at school. Overall, there are also much higher enrolment rates for both African girls and boys than before.

But schooling does not always achieve what it is meant to. In 1997 56% of matric candicates were girls, but only 44% of the girls passed, compared to 51% of the boys. Some of the problems faced by girls are sexual harassment and abuse, inability to go to libraries and classrooms at night to study because of fear of violence, the burden of household tasks and early pregnancy and childbearing. In a 1995 survey 31% of African women who had not studied as far as they wanted, said they had dropped out because of pregnancy.

Health
A person’s health depends on access to sufficient clean water and sanitation, housing, food, as well as health services. In South Africa poor people, black people and those living in rural areas often don’t have access to these necessities.

South Africa has high rates of diseases, like TB, which are poverty-related and can be prevented. Poor women are affected not only by their own ill-health, but also care for other household members when they are ill. Women rely on health services more often than men, because they have needs related to childbearing in addition to health problems affecting both women and men.

Approximately 58 of every 100 000 African women in South African die while giving birth, compared to three in every 100 000 white women. Approximately 54 in every 1 000 African babies die at birth, compared to seven in every 1 000 white babies. Women in all race groups usually live longer than men in the same group, but white men live longer on average than African women.

South Africa has one of the highest rates of increase in HIV/AIDS infection in the world. This will lead to further poverty as the epidemic usually falls hardest on working age people.

Sixteen in every hundred women visiting antenatal clinics in South Africa during 1997 were HIV positive. Women are more likely to be HIV positive than men. Poverty increases the danger of HIV infection, as women may feel forced to have sex to earn money. Migrant partners increase the risks because they often have partners in the town as well as the city. A recent study in rural areas and informal settlements found that only about a third of the women say they can insist that their partner use a condom.

Services
Many women and young children spend time each day collecting water and firewood. Poor women must often work longer and harder than others on households tasks because of a lack of facilities. Collecting water and fuel takes time. It affects the health of those who fetch and carry as well as of those who use unclean water and dangerous fuels. Since 1994 a large number of households have been provided with water and electricity for the first time.

South Africa has a poor, and often dangerous, system of public transport. More than 60% of employed people in the poorest households walk to work, while over a quarter use public transport. Women are more likely than men to rely on public transport. Women also need public transport when they take themselves or others to health services and schools, and when they shop for the family.

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