Full equality not in sight for women in political parties

Every now and again SA is reminded that things we thought had changed have really remained the same. The latest illusion to fall is the ANC’s commitment to sharing posts equally between men and women.

Following its December elective conference, at which five of the top six officials elected were men and the woman received the most junior post, two provincial conferences last weekend continued the trend.

In KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng the elected top five consisted of four men and a woman. In Gauteng, the woman occupies the lowliest position.

Does this mean the ANC is abandoning its commitment to dividing posts equally between men and women? Not really — you can’t abandon something you never had. The conferences continue a pattern that is firmly established in the ANC: if delegates are given a choice, they almost always choose men. This became clear when, after 2007, the ANC gave provinces a say in choosing their candidates for premier.

By 2014 the only province to choose a woman was Northern Cape, and then only because the preferred man was on trial for corruption. Some women became premiers only because the national leadership stepped in and appointed them.

This is also a pattern. Women usually occupy posts in the ANC and the government either because national leadership ignores delegates or does not ask them (when, for example, it appoints national or provincial ministers). Does this mean that national leaders recognise the need for equality between men and women?

Again, not really. They see a need to keep up appearances, but men in positions of authority usually use gender equality as a convenient tool to shore up their power.

Former president Thabo Mbeki appointed many women to positions, but the only time delegates bucked the trend and a woman topped a provincial poll, she was not appointed premier. Women were chosen when it was clear that they had a man to thank for their post and so would be politically loyal to their benefactor, but not if they had their own support.

The tradition continues. In 2017, men who wanted to continue the Zuma reign chose a woman as their presidential candidate because they thought they could push her around. When the premiers of Free State and Mpumalanga became national leaders, they chose women loyal to them to succeed them to ensure that they remain in control.

So the ANC’s commitment to equality has never been serious. It made no attempt to build a culture of equality in branches or to encourage women who could call the shots because they had their own support.

One obvious symptom is an ANC Women’s League that has been a tool of factions led by men, not a voice for women.

None of this is exclusive to the ANC. While the DA and National Freedom Party have been led by women, men still dominate both. Other parties don’t even pretend to take women’s leadership seriously.

This reflects the reality in the country. Middle-class women may have made progress in business and the professions, but full equality is not in sight.

Poverty among women is still much worse than among men, and women bear the brunt of domestic violence.

In this and many other areas, the Constitution’s values and statements by public figures do not reflect the power holders in society’s deep and widespread resistance to the basic democratic idea that all humans are entitled to equal treatment.

Only a serious attempt to change the biases that allow some to dominate others can change this.

It is fashionable to say the Constitution’s values have failed. The barriers that face women here show the reality is they have not yet been tried.

Friedman is research professor with the humanities faculty of the University of Johannesburg.