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Patricia de Lille
The representation of women in the seventh Parliament is 43%, which is a drop of 3% compared to the figures of the previous administration.
22 of the 52 portfolio committees in the two Houses of Parliament are chaired by women. Most committees are chaired by men.
Portfolio committees in Parliament, chaired by women, include Social Development, the Constitutional Review Committee, the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, and the Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade.
The presiding officers of Parliament, led by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Thoko Didiza, and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane, are also outnumbered by men.
Of the 12 presiding officers from both Houses, five are women.
Patricia de Lille is the only female party leader in Parliament.
Since 1994, women have never made up more than 50 percent of Parliament, yet the South African Parliament is not doing too badly on a global scale.
Of its G20 partners, it’s ranked second, after Mexico.
In 2021, the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Gender Gap Report scored South Africa 14th in the world in terms of political empowerment, and in the same year, the Inter-Parliamentary Union ranked South Africa 11th in the world for female representation at a parliamentary level, the second highest in Africa.
Dr Ntsikelelo Breakfast from the Nelson Mandela University’s Centre for Security, Peace and Conflict Resolution, says there is still space for improvement,
“Women still bear the brunt of oppression. When you look at women in the private sector where they hold strategic positions, they are still on the back foot. The same is true in government, but at least strides have been made.
A lot of women in the GNU occupy strategic positions, in particular at the level of committees. For instance, Thoko Didiza, a woman, is the Speaker. The Deputy Speaker from the DA, Dr Annelie Lotriet, is also a woman.”
Political analyst, Asanda Ngoasheng says the numbers are looking good, but more substance is needed,
“We do quite well in terms of numbers, but in terms of influence, we don’t do as well. South Africa has never had a woman president. We’ve had a woman as deputy president, unlike other countries on the continent. Sierra Leone had a female president, Dr Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The current Namibian president, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, is a woman.
South Africa is being left behind in terms of how far women can go in the political sphere and the levels of influence they can have.
