International Women’s Day: Women score historical victory in local elections

8 March: As South Africa joins the world in celebrating International Women?s Day, a preliminary analysis of the local government election results shows that the proportion of South African women is set to rise to 39 percent, up from 29 percent in 2000.

 8 March: As South Africa joins the world in celebrating International Women’s Day, a preliminary analysis of the local government election results shows that the proportion of South African women is set to rise to 39 percent, up from 29 percent in 2000.  

“This is a historic achievement, that owes its success in large measure to the African National Congress’ bold move to ensure an equal number of women and men candidates in both its ward and PR seats,” said GL Executive Director Colleen Lowe Morna. 

“As one of the first elections after heads of state of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) declared their commitment to the 50/50 principle in August last year, the ANC should be commended for blazing the trail,” she added.   

The ANC came close to delivering on its 50/50 promise. The party fielded 48% women candidates (compared to 29% in the case of the Democratic Alliance) and 46% won. In several commentaries the ANC attributed its increased overall majority (68%) to having more women candidates. “This sends out the strong positive message that far from being a turn off to voters, women candidates can help parties to boost their successes in elections,” Lowe Morna said.  

Although the final election report will only be released later this week, calculations carried out by Gender Links and corroborated by other researchers show that there will definitely be at least a ten percent increase in women’s representation. This will place women in local government ahead of the national assembly, in which there are 32.8 percent women. In the region, it will rank South Africa second after Namibia, which has 42 percent women in local government as a result of a PR system and legislated 30 percent quota, as well as a voluntary 50/50 quota at this level by the ruling South West African People’s Organisation (SWAPO).  

Salient features of the preliminary gender analysis of the 2006 local elections (see attached graphs) are that:
 

• There has been steady progress in women’s representation in local government from 19% in 1995 to 29% in 2000 to 39% in the current elections (figure one and two).  
• There has been a vast improvement in the balance between women in ward and PR seats in South Africa’s mixed system local elections: a key test for the acceptance of women in politics. Globally, women tend to do much better in the PR system where voters choose a party rather than a candidate. In 2000, women comprised 10.84 percent of ward councilors and 27 percent of PR councilors. This time around women comprise 42% of PR and 37 % of ward councilors (figure three). This is especially commendable in light of the backlash experienced by the ANC in a number of wards in implementing its 50/50 policy.  
• Across provinces, there has been an increase in women’s representation in all provinces (see figure four) with Northern Cape now leading the way (47%) and Kwa Zulu Natal lowest (29%).  
• The fact that there is a relatively even split between women in ward versus PR seats across provinces is also a positive sign. However, the gap between the two in Kwa Zulu Natal and Eastern Cape (see figure six) suggests that there is still resistance to women’s political participation in these provinces where forces of tradition also still have a strong grip, especially in rural areas.  

A key concern for the future is that the success of women in the local elections in South Africa has rested so heavily on the ANC, which accounts for 79% of all women councilors compared to 68% of the vote (figure seven).  
 

The ANC and other political parties have resisted adopting legislated quotas for women in politics of the kind that exists for local elections in Namibia. Activists argue that it should be the duty of all parties, not just of ruling parties, to advance gender equality.  
 

Another question that the ANC will have to confront is whether it is ready to apply the 50/50 principle to national elections in 2008. “Principles cannot apply in some instances and not in others,” Lowe Morna noted. “There needs to be consistency across the board.”  
 

For further information contact Colleen on 082 651 6995 or Susan on 083 519 8959

Download : Results press release