Zuma Must Commit to Gender Equality

A women's rights watchdog on Tuesday called on president-elect Jacob Zuma to apply gender parity to his Cabinet. Gender Links also called on Zuma to appoint an equal number of men and women when appointing premiers in the eight provinces where the African National Congress obtained the majority of the votes. This would show his commitment to gender equality, it said in a statement.

"Predictions for the new Cabinet that Jacob Zuma will announce after his inauguration on 9 May suggest that women will constitute only 11 out of 30 or 36 percent of the new cabinet compared to 42 percent under former president Thabo Mbeki.

"It seems doubtful whether South Africa will continue to have a woman deputy president (at best this position is likely to be shared with a man)," Gender Links said. Zuma should further "create a conducive climate for his rape accuser, who lives in exile as a result of the threats on her life" to return to South Africa.

"Gender Links calls on president-elect Jacob Zuma to show his commitment to the principles of gender equality enshrined in the Constitution by.... encouraging debates that promote women's rights, including the debate that started during this election on whether or not polygamy has a place in a constitutional state with gender equality as a cornerstone of its democracy," it said.

Zuma should also address the "dysfunctionality" of the Commission on Gender Equality.

The incoming administration should ensure that South Africa led the struggle to meet all 28 targets set by the SA Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development.

"These include halving gender violence by 2015; ensuring women's equal participation in all areas of economic life; recognising and remunerating the work of care givers.

"Gender Links congratulates the ANC and Cope [Congress of the People] for being the only parties in SADC to date to have heeded the targets set by the region.

"We hope that this will set a precedent for other parties and other elections, notably those soon to take place in Botswana, Namibia and Mozambique," Gender Links said as both political parties had applied gender parity when nominating candidates for Parliament.

The organisation, however, added that there were still many challenges regarding gender equality.

"Of the 26 parties that registered to vote, only four had women leaders.

"The DA, Cope and other parties did not field many women at the top of the national and provincial lists.

"Indeed even the ANC national fielded two men as number one and two on the national list," it said.

It said despite Zuma being acquitted of rape, he expressed "highly worrisome views on women's rights in his rape trial.

"He is a polygamist; a practice that, although not outlawed, is self evidently patriarchal, unfair and in all likelihood unconstitutional." It also took issue with comments made by ANC Youth League president Julius Malema that women who were raped did not ask for taxi money in the morning, saying these statements diminished the ANC's standing on women's rights.