Women’s struggle for highest office
IN 2005, Phumzile Mlambo-ngcuka was sworn in as South Africa’s first female deputy president post-1994 – a position she would hold until 2007 when the ANC, at its national elective conference in Polokwane elected new leaders.
A year later, former National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete served in the same position for several months under then-president Kgalema Motlanthe.
Former Free State premier and communications minister, the late Ivy Matsepe-casaburri, also had a temporary stint where she was announced as acting president in 2005 for a few months when then-president Thabo Mbeki was travelling abroad.
For South African female politicians, that era signalled new opportunities. It meant they could take up bigger and better roles to advance policies contained in the National Development Plan as well as to bring an end to systematic patriarchy in all sectors.
The government also later established the National Gender Policy Framework spearheaded by the
Ministry of Women in The Presidency.
This framework was to ensure that women participated in decisionmaking platforms in order to move them from the sidelines and have them working on development planning and allocating important resources to many communities.
Fast-forward to this year and almost 27 years since the dawn of democracy, a permanent role in one of the country’s highest offices still appears to be a far-fetched reality for many women leaders, this despite South Africa being commended for championing the cause of women and possessing progressive policies and legislation.
Ironically, it is other African countries who have taken the lead in promoting women to presidential positions.
¡ Liberia made history when it became the first African state to elect Ellen Johnson Sirleaf as its female president in 2006 after fierce presidential elections in the country. Sirleaf held office again in 2011.
¡ In 2009, Joyce Banda emerged as Malawi’s first female deputy president and was later elected as president following the death of president Bingu wa Mutharika.
¡ Ameenah Gurib-fakim became the president of Mauritius in 2015 until 2018 after replacing president Kailash Purryag who had resigned. ¡ The appointment of Sahle-work Zewde as Ethiopia’s first female president in 2018 and Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan last month cemented the firm belief that Africa is making strides in advancing gender equality.
The inauguration of Kamala Harris as the 49th vice-president of the United States and the first female vice-president and the highest-ranking female official in US history this year has been a much-celebrated feat overseas and also seen as a positive move for women who harbour ambitions of ascending to the office.
In South Africa, the ANC’S presidential race in 2017 saw Minister of Corporate Governance and Traditional Affairs Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma as well as Minister of Water and Sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu vying for the top role in the ANC.
Sisulu’s and Dlamini Zuma’s campaigns aimed to ensure that the ANC returned to its former glory and thrived without the corruption that many have described as a cancer eating the party. Neither of them made it to the post of ANC president.
In fact, in the ANC’S composition of its top six leaders, only Jessie Duarte made it the list as the deputy secretarygeneral – a clear example of the lack of diversity that the party still grapples with despite advocating for equality in its policy resolutions.
But the ANC is not the only party that still has a mountain to climb in ensuring that women have equal access to positions of power.
For instance, what will it take to see the IFP electing a female leader and dispelling the age-old notion and view that its structure is overtly maledominated?
Equally, will the DA ever pursue a different agenda and promote a woman of colour to its top structure and ultimately ensure that transformation and diversity takes place under her leadership?
Will the UDM level the playing field and promote the voices of female leaders who can stand in Parliament and be the face of the party?
The EFF can be commended for having taken the lead in the composition of its national executive structure and ensuring that women sit at the table when top decisions are made. The jury is still out on whether a female president will emerge from the party and if so, when?
In May 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his new 50/50 gender-balanced executive Cabinet to improve gender diversity. While many at the time welcomed this, others cautioned that it was not enough to simply balance the scales, these appointments had to be meaningful.
You see, the appointment of women such as Zingiswa Losi as Cosatu’s first female president should not be regarded as a windowdressing initiative to show the world that the country is advancing gender equality.
Also, women in corporate South Africa should be appointed to high office because of their excellent credentials and their ability to bring about much-needed transformation.
On Tuesday, as we mark 27 years of freedom, dare we ask: are women in South Africa free to be elected as president and change the political discourse or are we waiting for some kind of revolution to realise their worth?
We must decide.