Women and citizenship struggles: A case of the Western Cape, South Africa 1980-2004.
This thesis examines grassroots women's political activism in the Western Cape, South Africa (SA) during the 1980-1994 phase and their struggles to achieve citizenship. Through tracing the history of women's political agency and the social and political forces that shaped women's resistance, this dissertation asserts that women profoundly contributed to the New SA. Motherhood was the legitimate space granted to them by the liberation movement but women transformed it into an empowering public role, affirming their demands for citizenship. The shifting nature of women's resistance, the dominant discourses that mobilised them, what forms they took and how they changed over time are explored. The thesis asserts that despite the obstacles of a patriarchal culture relegating women's issues as secondary and a repressive state, women's focussed struggles succeeded in uniting diverse women to make effective intervention. This culminated in participating in negotiations for a new SA. A secondary focus examines the transition from apartheid to a 'women-friendly' SA. This study argues that private carework of women should be inscribed as citizenship responsibilities. Presently the SA State strategy promoting women's citizenship is through welfare. For women's effective citizenship it is imperative that there is a balance between women as workers and welfare beneficiaries, and that women participate as decision-makers at all levels. By comparing the demands of The Women's Charter for Effective Equality (1994) with the 1994-2004 reality of women and by analysing what women themselves state, I assess women's citizenship. This thesis concludes that the achievement thus far of the feminist citizenship project is uneven. The impressive constitution contributes to the improvement of many women's lives. However, the sporadic implementation of gender-sensitive policies, failure to address poverty, high levels of violence against women and the negative impact of culture and religion are some of the obstacles to women's comprehensive citizenship.
Rhetoric or real rights: Gender equality in Africa (1987–2007)
I wish to explore to what extent African women’s human rights and quest for citizenship has been achieved over the past 20 years (1987-2007), with the main focus on South Africa. Much has happened: in 1987, South Africa had a minority, white government and a state of emergency with thousands imprisoned. Twenty years later, there is a progressive constitution, and the number of women in political office has progressively increased. Up until 1997, there were no women in the top African leadership, and currently Liberia has its first woman president, Mozambique has a woman prime minister, and both South Africa and Zimbabwe have women deputy presidents. The Women’s Protocol to the African Charter for People’s and Human Rights with far-reaching rights for women has been signed by African heads of states in July 2003, and many African countries have ratified it. Many, too, have ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) and, in the case of Southern Africa, the South African Development Community Declaration on Gender and Development (SADC SDGD). Elections have taken place in many countries that experienced wars or military coups and, according to many political analysts, democracy and women’s rights are on the march. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were adopted and signed by most African governments during the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000. The MDGs synthesise crucial developmental commitments formulated during the 1990s at various international conferences and summits. The above instruments and re-drafted constitutions of countries, like Rwanda and Namibia, ensure equality and human and legal rights for all. Hence, citizenship for women, especially poor and rural women, is guaranteed by these instruments. But is this really the case? Are laws and regulations being implemented and monitored? The target date of 2005 for 30% women’s representation at all levels in political and decision-making structures and ‘ensuring equal representation of women and men in decisionsmaking of member states and SADC structures at all levels’ (Lowe Morna, 2005:60), according to SADC SDGD (Provision H ii), has come and gone. Only South Africa and Mozambique have achieved 30%, and Tanzania has a constitutional quota of 30% of women’s representation. Although women’s presence in government is on the increase, many injustices against women prevail. Violence against women in South Africa and many
Conditions of Accountability for Gender Policy: The Organizational, Political and Cognitive Contexts
Summary Gender policy cannot be designed and implemented without an analysis of institutions within which it is practised. Whether institutions are responsive to gender issues or not determines the success of gender policy. This article discusses the responsiveness of institutions (multilateral and bilateral development agencies, NGOs, and state institutions) in terms of the organizational contexts (goals, procedures, incentive systems and staffing), political contexts (political commitment of stakeholders, democratic accountability and state‐civil society relations) and the discursive context (differing gender discourses) as they affect the design and implementation of development projects and programmes. It ends by offering some strategies for improved accountability. RESUME Les conditions qui determinent la responsabilite pour la politique du genre: les contextes organisationnels, politiques et cognitifs La politique du genre ne peut etre concue ni mise en vigueur sans que ne soit pratiquee une analyse des institutions ou elle doit etre instauree. Le succes de la politique du genre est determinee par le degre de reponse ou de non‐reponse aux questions du genre. L'auteur de cet article discute le degre de reponse des institutions (agences de developpement multilateral ou bilateral, ONG, et institutions etatiques) en termes des contextes organisationnels (objectifs, procedures, moyens d'encouragement, personnel), des contextes politiques (engagement politique des depositaires, responsabilite democratique, et rapports etat‐societe civile) ainsi que le contexte discursif (differences dans les discours du genre) relativement a leurs effets sur l'elaboration et la mise en execution des projets et programmes de developpement. A la fin de l'article l'auteur propose certaines strategies pour augmenter la responsabilisation. RESUMEN Condiciones de responsabilidad para politicas de genero: los contextos organizativos, politicos y cognitivos Las politicas de genero no pueden ser disenadas ni implementadas sin un analisis de las instituciones dentro de las cuales son practicadas. El exito de las politicas de genero depende del grado de sensibilidad de las instituciones a las cuestiones de genero. El presente articulo examina ese grado de sensibilidaden instituciones como agencias de desarrollo bilaterales y multilaterales, NGOs, e instituciones estatales, en sus contextos organizativos (objetivos, procedimientos, sistemas de incentivos y personal), contextos politicos (responsabilidad politica y democratica y relaciones entre el Estado y la sociedad civil), y el contexto discursivo (disertaciones diversas sobre genero) segun afectan al diseno e implementacion de programas y proyectos de desarrollo. Finalmente se ofrecen algunas estrategias para el aumento de la responsabilidad.