South Africa: Women and local government: By the numbers (continued)
Summary
The December 2000 elections mark a dramatic improvement in the representation of women in local government across all council types.
The consistently higher representation of women in the party list component of South Africa's local government elections indicates the strength of the PR electoral system to achieve electoral results that reflect the desire to ensure that women are more equitably represented in elected bodies.
By contrast, women's performance in the ward elections did not match the same share of seats achieved in the party lists. Any future changes to South Africa's local electoral system should take this fact into consideration.
Both the party list quota of 50% encouraged by the Municipal Structures Act, and the ANC's internal party quota provide possible models for the future improvement of women's representation in local government. Further reflection by South Africa's other political parties on their internal processes for candidate selection may provide additional opportunities on this front.
For the moment, South Africa's achievement of nearly 30% women local councillors places the country on a firm footing for additional steps towards building a more equitable record of gender representation in its spheres of government.
Table 10 summarises the data from the preceding tables according to municipal category.
Table 10: Women councillors in South Africa
| Province | Category A: Metropolitan councils | Category B: Local councils | Category C: District councils[c] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eastern Cape | 29 | 292 | 40 |
| Free State | - | 156 | 22 |
| Gauteng | 172 | 104 | 16 |
| KwaZulu-Natal | 50 | 305 | 35 |
| Mpumalanga | - | 224 | 26 |
| North West | - | 206 | 25 |
| Northern Cape | - | 111 | 12 |
| Northern Province | - | 222 | 30 |
| Western Cape | 61 | 91 | 9 |
| Total (2 272)[d] | 312 (29.7%) | 1 745 (27.4%) | 215 (29.4%) |
Notes to Table 10
[c] Includes DMA councillors.
[d] Note slight variation from prior calculation of 2 271.
Table 10 reveals that women have achieved a relative parity of their share of seats among the three municipal types. The fact that the electoral system for local government must result in proportional representation, coupled with the increasing commitment to gender equity in terms of women's representation, has enabled local government in South Africa to better reflect the gender composition of society. While not yet characterised by gender parity, women's representation in local government has nearly reached the 30% mark along with national and provincial assemblies. The consolidation of this achievement will mark the next steps towards further improvement in the representation of women. As long as the ward component remains an aspect of local elections greater efforts will have to be undertaken to compensate for the typically lower numbers of women as constituency representatives.