Women and Elections
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By Lebogang Marishane (Women'sNet)
Indeed, the challenges are at all levels, most of all at the economic level. The leader of the ANC youth league, Julius Malema has been saying we need a revolution. Perhaps he needs to revisit this, and look which sectors of our society need to be revolutionized. We need a revolution in pushing the gender agenda at all sphere. Young political leaders need to begin talking the language of the youth of South Africa, and that means being relevant and practical in their strategies to address issues faced by young people.
By Sheila Meintjes
Do we need a female president? I would only want a woman president whose party reflected the ideological commitments that would see a real transformation of society. She would have to be a feminist – someone who understood that society can never be free unless women are free from subordination and oppression in their homes and in their workplace and who promoted full gender equality. A woman would understand that No means No. Of course, if there was a man who really believed in this vision, I would support his leadership.
By Kubi Rama
In August last year, Southern African Development Community leaders signed the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, which, among other provisions, commits SADC states to 50percent representation of women at all levels of decision making by 2015. Given the very small increases made in that area (3percent between the past three elections), political parties must make substantial gains in the forthcoming election to meet this goal. Recognising the need to institute a revised quota as key to achieving gender parity in decision-making, the African National Congress raised its quota from 30percent to 50percent in the upcoming polls. This should result in some shifts.