Commentary

In Cape Town, sex workers interrogated three of the main political parties on their position on decriminalising sex work. This took place at an event organized by the African Gender Institute of the University of Cape Town, The International Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG) and the Gender Equity Unit of the University of the Western Cape. The focus of this event was to have an interactive discussion with different political parties on women's rights, gender justice and their political manifestos. In preparing for this event sex workers met and agreed that they really would like political parties to be clear on their position on decriminalising sex work. Sex workers asked SWEAT to table their question at the event.

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.

When Jacob Zuma is sworn in as president on May 9, he will not only inherit power and prestige, he will also inherit a country crippled by HIV and Aids. While opposition parties are anxiously waiting for the final results, some facts and figures remain unchanged. About six million South Africans are HIV-positive and 60 percent of those who desperately need ARV treatment still have no access to the drugs that could save their lives.

Gender activists are calling on the new South African government to improve the country’s gender legislation. Current gender policies focus on women, ignoring the rights, roles and responsibility of men and boys, they say. "Not a single political party has made gender equality part of their manifesto, let alone focused on how they might involve men and boys in achieving this," said Bafana Khumalo, co-director of the Sonke Gender Justice Network, an NGO working with boys and men. "This has to change with utmost urgency."

Women’sNet interviewed the new kid on the block, Women Forward (WF). The party Spokesperson, Sizile Ndlazi told us that the reason this political party was formed was because it had become very obvious that women’s issues were not being addressed. That since the President of Women Forward Ms Nana Ngobese-Nxumalo worked within government, it was evident that as much as there all these great policies in place for women empowerment the resources were not going where they should go and women were still being marginalized. Is Women Forward feminist? We asked and were told that the answer is a glaring no. A follow up to this question was: Is South Africa ready for a woman president, to which WF said this country has been through many things most of which a lot of people thought we were not ready for, so a woman for president is not a major thing, I mean we will not change the national flag to be pink, the only difference is that we will bring peace and harmony along. 

Political parties in South Africa lack concrete strategies to address violence against women, a problem facing a huge number of their constituents and a significant challenge to the country's development. This was the message to political party representatives at a debate organised by Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre, Women'sNet and the Political Studies Department of Wits University earlier this month in Johannesburg. While each party representative flourished much of the right rhetoric, the insubstantial and largely simplistic nature of their parties' positions was apparent once the floor opened for questions. Asked how they would address the economic and material deprivation that pushes some women into sex work, the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) proposed the introduction of sewing groups.

Women are disproportionately the targets of sexual offences and domestic violence in
South Africa. The incidence of such crimes in South Africa is both inordinately and
particularly high in comparison to many other parts of the world. Any political party
claiming to represent all of South Africa’s citizens must address such violence – unless
they wish to overlook half of the population. Responses to violence against women also
cannot be subsumed under responses to crime generally. Violence against women has
unique aspects which, if not recognised and dealt with appropriately, will merely
perpetuate the problem. Our review of the manifestoes therefore examines how parties
understand and frame the problem of violence against women and what they then
conceive of as being appropriate solutions to the problem.

When he became president Nelson Mandela famously spoke of his vision of a ‘rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.’ This was not only a call for equality between races, but between all people of South Africa, regardless of gender, culture or religion. While this statement was met with rapturous hope, over the last decade the challenges of nurturing such diversity have become apparent, not least the necessity of a South African government to strike a balance between the country’s ancient heritage and its current drive towards social reform. Jacob Zuma’s recent polygamous marriage to a thirty-three year old woman from Durban has once again ignited dialogue concerning this often-strained relationship, and the suitability of Mr. Zuma to lead South Africa into the future.

Four small political parties; Women Forward (WF), Movement Democratic Party (MDP), KISS and Al Jam-ah. It is unlikely that any of these parties will get a seat in parliament, so why do they bother to stand for the elections?