Elections resources
Media Monitoring Africa is providing truly independent monitoring of the 2009 South African elections, providing daily reports on media coverage of election news, weekly reports as well as MMA’s Election Media Ratings.
The Constitution of South Africa (1996) lays down in Article 1 the fundamental values on which the republic is founded and includes among these non-sexism. The equality clause of the constitution includes a provisor that is aimed at ensuring substantive rather than merely formal equality: "Equality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms. To promote the achievement of equality, legislative and other measures designed to protect or advance persons, or categories of persons, disadvantaged by unfair discrimination may be taken." (1996, Article 9.2.). Though the Constitution does not specify those who have been disadvantaged by unfair discrimination the South African courts have interpreted it to include women.
This report shows that realising women’s rights and achieving the Millennium Development Goals depends on strengthening accountability for commitments to women and gender equality. The examples highlighted throughout the Report suggest that for women’s rights to translate into substantive improvements in their lives, and for gender equality to be realized in practice, women must be able to fully participate in public decision-making at all levels and hold those responsible to account when their rights are infringed or their needs ignored.