The Gender Pact and Democratic Consolidation: Institutionalizing Gender Equality in the South African State

Feminist Studies

Volumn 29, Issue 3, 2003, Pages

  Hassim, Shireen ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND   (South Africa)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 1542398690     PISSN: 00463663     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Conference Paper

References (77)

1. See Catherine Albertyn, "National Machinery for Ensuring Gender Equality," and Baleka Kgositsile, "National Machinery for Promoting the Status of Women," in The Constitution of South Africa from a Gender Perspective, ed. Sandra Liebenberg (Cape Town: David Philip, 1995), 5-22, 23-27.
2. See Catherine Albertyn, "National Machinery for Ensuring Gender Equality," and Baleka Kgositsile, "National Machinery for Promoting the Status of Women," in The Constitution of South Africa from a Gender Perspective, ed. Sandra Liebenberg (Cape Town: David Philip, 1995), 5-22, 23-27.
3. For a fuller discussion of how women organized during the transition, see Shireen Hassim, "'A Conspiracy of Women': The Women's Movement in South Africa's Transition to Democracy," Social Research 69 (Fall 2002): 693-732.
4. Sandra Liebenberg, "Social Security and Human Rights: Current Issues," in Economic and Social Rights in South Africa Review 1 (March 1998): 2.
5. This term is part of United Nations jargon. Despite its clumsiness and its technocratic connotations, I retain it here because it is the common phrase used in South Africa.
6. Julie Ballington, "Women's Parliamentary Representation: The Effects of List PR," Politikon 25 (December 1998): 72-93; Glenda Fick, Sheila Meintjes, and Mary Simons, eds., One Woman, One Vote: The Gender Politics of South African Elections (Johannesburg: Electoral Institute of South Africa, 2002).
7. Julie Ballington, "Women's Parliamentary Representation: The Effects of List PR," Politikon 25 (December 1998): 72-93; Glenda Fick, Sheila Meintjes, and Mary Simons, eds., One Woman, One Vote: The Gender Politics of South African Elections (Johannesburg: Electoral Institute of South Africa, 2002).
8. For further details, see http://www.womensnet.org.za.
9. Sally Baden, Shireen Hassim, and Sheila Meintjes, South Africa: Country Gender Profile (Sussex: BRIDGE/IDS, 1998), 39, 40, 41. These figures are not disaggregated by race.
10. African National Congress, The Reconstruction and Development Programme (Johannesburg: Umanyano Publications, 1995), 17-18; Baden, Hassim, and Meintjes, 45.
11. Anne Marie Goetz and Shireen Hassim, "In and against the Party: Women's Representation and Constituency Building in Uganda and South Africa," in Gender Justice, Development, and Rights, ed. Maxine Molyneux and Shahra Razavi (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 306-46.
12. Hein Marais, South Africa: Limits to Change: The Political Economy of Transition (Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press, 2001), 160.
13. For a more extensive discussion about the debate on national machinery in South Africa, see Albertyn, "National Machinery for Ensuring Gender Equality," 5-22; Amina Mama, "Women's Studies and Studies of Women in Africa during the 1990s" (working paper ser. 5, CODESRIA, Dakar, 1996). Sonia Alvarez, Engendering Democracy in Brazil: Women's Movements in Transition Politics (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), 21. Anne Marie Goetz, introduction to Getting Institutions Right for Women in Development, ed. Anne Marie Goetz (London: Zed Press, 1998), 1-28.
14. For a more extensive discussion about the debate on national machinery in South Africa, see Albertyn, "National Machinery for Ensuring Gender Equality," 5-22; Amina Mama, "Women's Studies and Studies of Women in Africa during the 1990s" (working paper ser. 5, CODESRIA, Dakar, 1996). Sonia Alvarez, Engendering Democracy in Brazil: Women's Movements in Transition Politics (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), 21. Anne Marie Goetz, introduction to Getting Institutions Right for Women in Development, ed. Anne Marie Goetz (London: Zed Press, 1998), 1-28.
15. For a more extensive discussion about the debate on national machinery in South Africa, see Albertyn, "National Machinery for Ensuring Gender Equality," 5-22; Amina Mama, "Women's Studies and Studies of Women in Africa during the 1990s" (working paper ser. 5, CODESRIA, Dakar, 1996). Sonia Alvarez, Engendering Democracy in Brazil: Women's Movements in Transition Politics (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), 21. Anne Marie Goetz, introduction to Getting Institutions Right for Women in Development, ed. Anne Marie Goetz (London: Zed Press, 1998), 1-28.
16. For a more extensive discussion about the debate on national machinery in South Africa, see Albertyn, "National Machinery for Ensuring Gender Equality," 5-22; Amina Mama, "Women's Studies and Studies of Women in Africa during the 1990s" (working paper ser. 5, CODESRIA, Dakar, 1996). Sonia Alvarez, Engendering Democracy in Brazil: Women's Movements in Transition Politics (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990), 21. Anne Marie Goetz, introduction to Getting Institutions Right for Women in Development, ed. Anne Marie Goetz (London: Zed Press, 1998), 1-28.
17. Aili Mari Tripp, Women and Politics in Uganda (Kampala: Fountain Publishers, 2000). Hope Chigudu and Wilfred Tichagwa, "Participation of Women in Party Politics" (discussion paper 9, Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Network, 1995); Goetz and Hassim, "In and against the Party."
18. Aili Mari Tripp, Women and Politics in Uganda (Kampala: Fountain Publishers, 2000). Hope Chigudu and Wilfred Tichagwa, "Participation of Women in Party Politics" (discussion paper 9, Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Network, 1995); Goetz and Hassim, "In and against the Party."
19. Aili Mari Tripp, Women and Politics in Uganda (Kampala: Fountain Publishers, 2000). Hope Chigudu and Wilfred Tichagwa, "Participation of Women in Party Politics" (discussion paper 9, Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Network, 1995); Goetz and Hassim, "In and against the Party."
20. Albertyn, "National Machinery for Ensuring Gender Equality."
21. Commission on Gender Equality, Annual Report of the Commission on Gender Equality (Braamfontein: CGE, 1997), 53-54.
22. It was anticipated from the beginning that the weakest sector was likely to be that within the bureaucracy.
23. Kathleen Jones, "Citizenship in a Women-Friendly Polity," Signs 15 (Summer 1990): 221-47.
24. Anne Marie Goetz, "Gender and Administration," IDS Bulletin 23 (1992): 6.
25. "Women in Power," Speak, no. 62 (1994): 4; Shamim Meer, "The Demobilisation of Civil Society: Struggling with New Questions," Development Update 3 (1998): 13-21; Tumika Daima, "The Forward March of the Women's National Coalition," Towards Democracy 6 (1997): 5-7.
26. "Women in Power," Speak, no. 62 (1994): 4; Shamim Meer, "The Demobilisation of Civil Society: Struggling with New Questions," Development Update 3 (1998): 13-21; Tumika Daima, "The Forward March of the Women's National Coalition," Towards Democracy 6 (1997): 5-7.
27. "Women in Power," Speak, no. 62 (1994): 4; Shamim Meer, "The Demobilisation of Civil Society: Struggling with New Questions," Development Update 3 (1998): 13-21; Tumika Daima, "The Forward March of the Women's National Coalition," Towards Democracy 6 (1997): 5-7.
28. Marian Sawer, "Femocrats and Ecorats: Women's Policy Machinery in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand" (occasional paper 6, United Nations Research Institute for Social Development, Geneva, 1996), 24.
29. Matlakala Mathews, interview by author, OSW North West Province, 30 July 1997. Z. Nchita head of the OSW Eastern Cape, interview by Marrit Claasens, 2 May 1997.
30. Loretta Jacobus (member of the Gauteng legislature), interview by Santha Naiker, 16 July 1997.
31. Julie van Wyk (gender focal point, Department of Education, North West provincial government), interview by Ordelia Nkoenyane, 29 July 1997.
32. Ellen Kornegay (head of the OSW, 1997-2000), interview by author, 6 Oct. 1998.
33. Celia Dawson (chairperson, Steering Committee for Gender Equality, KwaZulu Natal provincial government), interview by Santha Naiker, 18 June 1997.
34. Government of South Africa, CEDAW Country Report (Pretoria: Government Printers, 1997). Barbara Klugman, "Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Health Policy," in Translating Commitment into Policy and Practice: Three Case Studies (Durban: Agenda Monograph, 1999), 48-70; Shamim Meer, "Constraints to Land Reform and Gender Equity Goals" (Durban: Agenda Monograph, 1999), 71-88.
35. Government of South Africa, CEDAW Country Report (Pretoria: Government Printers, 1997). Barbara Klugman, "Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Health Policy," in Translating Commitment into Policy and Practice: Three Case Studies (Durban: Agenda Monograph, 1999), 48-70; Shamim Meer, "Constraints to Land Reform and Gender Equity Goals" (Durban: Agenda Monograph, 1999), 71-88.
36. Government of South Africa, CEDAW Country Report (Pretoria: Government Printers, 1997). Barbara Klugman, "Mainstreaming Gender Equality in Health Policy," in Translating Commitment into Policy and Practice: Three Case Studies (Durban: Agenda Monograph, 1999), 48-70; Shamim Meer, "Constraints to Land Reform and Gender Equity Goals" (Durban: Agenda Monograph, 1999), 71-88.
37. Maxine Molyneux, "Mobilization without Emancipation: Women's Interests, the State, and Revolution in Nicaragua," Feminist Studies 11 (Summer 1985): 227-54; Catherine Albertyn, ed., Engendering the Political Agenda: A South African Case Study (Johannesburg: Center for Applied Legal Studies, 1999); Opposition parties allowed their MPs to vote on the Termination of Pregnancy Bill according to their individual conscience. The ANC by contrast instructed its MPs to vote for the legislation on the basis of a decision taken by the party caucus. Elsewhere I have argued that this was a double-edged sword for feminists, as such centralized decision making can also be used to undercut politically unpopular decisions. See Shireen Hassim, "Representation, Participation, and Democratic Effectiveness: Feminist Challenges to Representative Democracy in South Africa," in No Shortcuts to Power: African Women in Politics and Policy-making, ed. Anne Marie Goetz and Shireen Hassim (London: Zed Press, 2003), 81-109.
38. Maxine Molyneux, "Mobilization without Emancipation: Women's Interests, the State, and Revolution in Nicaragua," Feminist Studies 11 (Summer 1985): 227-54; Catherine Albertyn, ed., Engendering the Political Agenda: A South African Case Study (Johannesburg: Center for Applied Legal Studies, 1999); Opposition parties allowed their MPs to vote on the Termination of Pregnancy Bill according to their individual conscience. The ANC by contrast instructed its MPs to vote for the legislation on the basis of a decision taken by the party caucus. Elsewhere I have argued that this was a double-edged sword for feminists, as such centralized decision making can also be used to undercut politically unpopular decisions. See Shireen Hassim, "Representation, Participation, and Democratic Effectiveness: Feminist Challenges to Representative Democracy in South Africa," in No Shortcuts to Power: African Women in Politics and Policy-making, ed. Anne Marie Goetz and Shireen Hassim (London: Zed Press, 2003), 81-109.
39. Maxine Molyneux, "Mobilization without Emancipation: Women's Interests, the State, and Revolution in Nicaragua," Feminist Studies 11 (Summer 1985): 227-54; Catherine Albertyn, ed., Engendering the Political Agenda: A South African Case Study (Johannesburg: Center for Applied Legal Studies, 1999); Opposition parties allowed their MPs to vote on the Termination of Pregnancy Bill according to their individual conscience. The ANC by contrast instructed its MPs to vote for the legislation on the basis of a decision taken by the party caucus. Elsewhere I have argued that this was a double-edged sword for feminists, as such centralized decision making can also be used to undercut politically unpopular decisions. See Shireen Hassim, "Representation, Participation, and Democratic Effectiveness: Feminist Challenges to Representative Democracy in South Africa," in No Shortcuts to Power: African Women in Politics and Policy-making, ed. Anne Marie Goetz and Shireen Hassim (London: Zed Press, 2003), 81-109.
40. Anne Summers, "Mandarins or Missionaries: Women in the Federal Bureaucracy," in Australian Women: New Feminist Perspectives, ed. Norma Grieve and Ailsa Burns (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1986), 59-67; Hester Eisenstein, "Femocrats, Official Feminism, and the Uses of Power," in Playing the State, ed. Sophie Watson (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1990), 87-103.
41. Anne Summers, "Mandarins or Missionaries: Women in the Federal Bureaucracy," in Australian Women: New Feminist Perspectives, ed. Norma Grieve and Ailsa Burns (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1986), 59-67; Hester Eisenstein, "Femocrats, Official Feminism, and the Uses of Power," in Playing the State, ed. Sophie Watson (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1990), 87-103.
42. Lisa Vetten, "'The Budget Appears to Be Less than Required': Four Government Departments' Expenditure on Activities Addressing Violence against Women" (draft report, Center for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, Johannesburg, 2003), 1-43.
43. The RDP's six basic principles were: an integrated and sustainable program, a people-driven process, peace and security for all, nation building, linking reconstruction and development, and democratization of South Africa. Reconstruction and Development Program (Johannesburg: Umanyano Publications, 1994), 4-6.
44. MP Pregs Govender pointed out that ANC women MPs were given no role in developing the RDP White Paper until the "eleventh hour" when they were asked to "gender edit" the document. "To be asked to edit any white paper from merely a gender perspective is highly inappropriate-any analysis pertaining to women should be done from a race, class and gender perspective so as to ensure that the concerns of poor, black and rural women are not isolated from the women's struggle," quoted in Fayeeza Kathree, "Where Have All the Women Gone?" Agenda, no. 24 (1995): 25.
45. Agenda Collective, "Gender Flaws in the RDP," Agenda, no. 24 (1995): 40-44.
46. Viviene Taylor, "Economic Gender Injustice: The Macro Picture, " Agenda, no. 33 (1997): 9-25.
47. Hein Marais, "All GEAR-ed Up," African Communist, 145 (1996): 30-31; Taylor, 9.
48. Stephen Gelb, "The Politics of Macroeconomic Policy Reforms in South Africa" (paper presented to the History Workshop, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 1999), 16-17; Imraan Valodia, "Finance, State Expenditure, SA Revenue Service, and Central Statistical Service," in The Third Women's Budget, ed. Debbie Budlender (Cape Town: IDASA, 1998), 93.
49. Stephen Gelb, "The Politics of Macroeconomic Policy Reforms in South Africa" (paper presented to the History Workshop, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 1999), 16-17; Imraan Valodia, "Finance, State Expenditure, SA Revenue Service, and Central Statistical Service," in The Third Women's Budget, ed. Debbie Budlender (Cape Town: IDASA, 1998), 93.
50. Nor, to be fair, did the more powerful Congress of South African Trade Unions or the South African Communist Party, both in formal alliance with the ANC. Their opposition, like that of women ministers, was silenced by the dictates of party loyalty and discipline.
51. Valodia, 93; Marais, "All GEAR-ed Up," 34.
52. Valodia, 93; Marais, "All GEAR-ed Up," 34.
53. Kathree, 21-26.
54. Nancy Fraser, Unruly Practices: Power, Discourse, and Gender in Contemporary Social Theory (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1989), 162.
55. It is noteworthy that the apartheid state has a system of social assistance in place, albeit one that was racially discriminatory. As Jeremy Seekings has noted, this was unusual in Africa. It provided an important basis for retaining and expanding the system to include "new citizens." See Jeremy Seekings, "The Broader Importance of Welfare Reform in South Africa," Social Dynamics 28 (2002): 2-25.
56. Government of South Africa, Report of the Lund Committee on Child and Family Support (Pretoria: Department of Welfare, 1996), 2.
57. Ibid., 24.
58. Mail and Guardian, 9 May 1997.
59. Frances Lund, Libby Ardington, and Mary Harber, "Welfare," in The Women's Budget, ed. Debbie Budlender (Cape Town: IDASA, 1996), 97-120.
60. It is estimated that there are currently 14.3 million children under the age of fourteen living with caregivers who earn less than R800 per month. Other recommendations of the committee included payment of the grant to the caregiver rather than the parent, the application of a means test, the registration of children's births, and regular health care for children.
61. Mail and Guardian, 16 Feb. 1997; The Citizen, 24 Jan. 1998.
62. Mail and Guardian, 16 Feb. 1997; The Citizen, 24 Jan. 1998.
63. Lund, Ardington, and Harber; Alison Tilley, "Is Parliamentary Advocacy All It's Cracked Up to Be?" in Black Sash National Newsletter, August 1997.
64. Rita Edwards, "New Women's Movement: Pap and Bread Are Not Enough," Agenda, no. 33 (1997): 35. Ruby Marks, interview by author, 8 Nov. 1998.
65. Rita Edwards, "New Women's Movement: Pap and Bread Are Not Enough," Agenda, no. 33 (1997): 35. Ruby Marks, interview by author, 8 Nov. 1998.
66. Edwards, 33.
67. Marie Naidoo and Vivienne Bozalek, "Maintenance Grant Parity: Women Pay the Price," in Agenda, no. 33 (1997): 30, 31; Edwards, 35.
68. Marie Naidoo and Vivienne Bozalek, "Maintenance Grant Parity: Women Pay the Price," in Agenda, no. 33 (1997): 30, 31; Edwards, 35.
69. The emphasis on the "primary caregiver" rather than the mother or even guardian was a small but important shift. As Diane Sainsbury and others have shown, the basis of welfare entitlements is a crucial aspect of welfare states. Entitlements that privilege the head of household tend to undermine women's independent access to benefits. On the other hand, emphasis on motherhood can equally narrow women's access to benefits by imposing moral regulation on women. In the South African case, the emphasis on the primary caregiver recognizes the work of childcare regardless of who performs it-an important factor in a context where caregiving takes place by aunts and grandparents. See Diane Sainsbury, Gender Equality and Welfare States (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996); see also Nancy Fraser and Linda Gordon, "A Genealogy of Dependency: Tracing a Keyword of the U.S. Welfare State," Signs 19 (Winter 1994): 309-36.
70. The emphasis on the "primary caregiver" rather than the mother or even guardian was a small but important shift. As Diane Sainsbury and others have shown, the basis of welfare entitlements is a crucial aspect of welfare states. Entitlements that privilege the head of household tend to undermine women's independent access to benefits. On the other hand, emphasis on motherhood can equally narrow women's access to benefits by imposing moral regulation on women. In the South African case, the emphasis on the primary caregiver recognizes the work of childcare regardless of who performs it-an important factor in a context where caregiving takes place by aunts and grandparents. See Diane Sainsbury, Gender Equality and Welfare States (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996); see also Nancy Fraser and Linda Gordon, "A Genealogy of Dependency: Tracing a Keyword of the U.S. Welfare State," Signs 19 (Winter 1994): 309-36.
71. Liebenberg, 11.
72. Government of South Africa, 99; Community Agency for Social Enquiry (CASE), "A Social Impact Study on the Phasing-In of the Child Support Grant" (Johannesburg: CASE, 2000), 120.
73. Teresa Guthrie, "Family and Social Security Benefits in South Africa," Social Dynamics 28 (Winter 2002): 122-45; CASE, 120.
74. Rosemary Pringle and Sophie Watson, "Women's Interests and the Poststructuralist State," in Destabilizing Theory: Contemporary Feminist Debates, ed. Michele Barrett and Anne Phillips (Cambridge: Polity Press, 1992), 63.
75. Phillipe C. Schmitter, "The Consolidation of Democracy and Representation of Social Groups," American Behavioral Scientist 35 (1992): 430.
76. Chile provides a useful lesson for South African feminists. There, feminists working within the state have increasingly represented middle-class, professional women's concerns while popular women's organizations have argued that their interests were not being represented. See Georgina Waylen, "Women and Democratization: Conceptualizing Gender Relations in Transition Politics," World Politics 43 (April 1994): 327-54.
77. Pringle and Watson, 52-69.