At the Coalface – Gender and Local Government in Southern Africa
Date: March 2, 2012
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The first in-depth study on gender and local government in Southern Africa explores why some countries have succeeded in dramatically increasing women’s participation at the local level and the difference this makes where it matters most – on the ground.
With a growing number of Southern African countries from different political and electoral backgrounds showing that gender parity can be achieved in local government, there is no longer any excuse for any country in the region not to achieve this goal. However, if women are to make a difference in this sphere of decision-making – the “coalfaceÀ of service delivery – far more needs to be done to strengthen local government and to integrate gender considerations into its work.
These are the key findings of a ground breaking new study on gender and local government in Southern Africa to be released on 22 March by Gender Links, a Southern African NGO that specialises in gender, governance and the media.
Over a year in the making, the study included interviews with 478 councilors in four Southern African countries:
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Lesotho which, with 58 percent women, has the highest level of women in local government in the region, thanks to a legislated 30 percent quota in the country’s first elected local government in 2005.
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Namibia, which has had over 40 percent women in local government for several years, thanks to a PR system and legislated quota, as well as the “zebraÀ system adopted by the ruling Swapo party of one woman, one man on its electoral lists.
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South Africa, where the ruling African National Congress (ANC) fielded a substantially higher proportion of women in both the ward and PR seats in the country’s mixed electoral system in the 2006 elections, boosting the proportion of women from 29 to 40 percent.
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Mauritius which, with 6.4 percent women in local government, represents the many countries in the region that have a constituency electoral system and also an extremely low level of women in all areas of decision-making.
Highlighting the range in women’s representation in local government from 1.2 percent in Angola to 58 percent in Lesotho, the study notes that where governments have been willing to take special measures to increase women’s representation this is more likely to be so at local than at national level. For example Lesotho introduced a quota for local but not national elections held in February 2007.
What is unfortunate, the study says, is that measures to increase women’s participation at local level appear to result from a calculation that local government is not as serious a sphere of politics than the national level, rather than because of a commitment to deepening democracy through decentralisation and the equal participation of women.
However, examples like Lesotho, South Africa and Namibia (representing the constituency, PR and mixed electoral systems) show that the SADC target of 50 percent women in decision-making can be achieved in pretty much any situation, provided that there is the necessary political will. Case studies such as the normality that has returned to the constituency in Lesotho in which a male candidate took up a high court challenge against the quota show that despite resistance to quotas, rapid change is possible and does not lead to the backlash that is often predicted.
In instances where governments have been reluctant to force the pace of change, women’s representation is lower at local than at national level because the forces of culture, tradition and religion tend to be more concentrated at this level than at national level. Through numerous personal accounts and case studies as well as quantitative data gathered through questionnaires, the study explores the many barriers to women’s effective participation at local level. These are reflected in the 41 council meetings observed, where researchers found that there was not a single instance in which women participated in meetings in proportion to their strengths in such meetings.
However, the observation of meetings showed that there is a greater participation of women when they comprise half or more of the participants; a strong argument for raising the target for women in decision-making from 30 to 50 percent. The findings also show that on average women participated more in meetings led by women, underscoring the importance of women occupying leadership positions such as mayors, chairpersons, deputy mayors and speakers.
While the study found that there are still men in local government who openly oppose gender equality (especially in countries that have a low level of women’s representation) it cites several examples of men who have become champions of women’s empowerment and gender equality as an important yardstick of change.
The study acknowledges that not all women are the same and that not all believe it is their duty to raise the concerns of other women. But the overwhelming majority of those interviewed spoke of the obligation they feel towards other women. In the 92 focus group meetings conducted with civil society, women and male constituents many spoke about how women councilors are more accessible, hard working and honest.
The study cites numerous examples of ways in which women are making a difference at a practical level in local government (which suffers from many structural weaknesses in all countries) by helping to cut through red tape and providing access to housing, electricity and basic needs. These practical interventions raise strategic questions: such as in Lesotho where councils are responsible for allocating land and women are beginning to ask about access to title for land.
But a key conclusion of the report is that unless gender is systematically mainstreamed into the work of local government, increased representation of women at local level may become a case of “jobs for the girlsÀ rather than gender equality for the region.
The study highlights the absence of such strategies at local level, with the result that efforts to ensure that women and men benefit equally are piecemeal and often driven by a few individuals rather than by institutions and systems. Drawing from the work of GL with the City of Johannesburg that has developed a Women Development Strategy including a plan for mainstreaming gender into Soccer 2010, the study recommends that all countries and councils in the region begin to look at how local government can become a motor for achieving gender equality where it matters most: on the ground.
ISBN: 978-0-620-38248-9
Publisher: Gender Links
Year of Publication: 2007
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