Report on Delivery to Women
The Constitution of South Africa was finalized in February 1996. South Africa's Constitution is one of the most progressive worldwide, entrenching a number of different rights that are very significant for women.
| Section 9: | Freedom from unfair discrimination on the basis of sex and gender, and the right to equality |
| Section 12: | Freedom and security of the person, which includes the right to be free from all forms of violence, either from public or private sources, and the right to bodily and psychological integrity, which includes the right to make decisions concerning reproduction |
| Section 15: | Freedom of religion, belief and opinion, which recognizes that certain religious or customary practices may be recognized, but these must be consistent with the Constitution |
| Section 16: | Freedom of expression does not extend to advocacy of hatred that is based on gender |
| Section 25: | The right to property |
| Section 26: | The right to adequate housing |
| Section 27: | The right to access to health care services, including reproductive health care, sufficient food and water, and social security |
| Section 29: | The right to a basic education, including adult basic education |
| Section 30: | The right to a language and culture of choice, as long as they are consistent with the Bill of Rights |
| Section 31: | The right of cultural, religious and linguistic communities to enjoy their culture, use their language and practise their religion, and to form, join and maintain associations, as long as they are consistent with the Bill of Rights |
| Section 34: | The right of access to courts |
One of the most significant features of the Constitution is that the right to equality has been held to be the cornerstone of the Constitution. All other rights must be interpreted to give effect to equality. The Constitutional Court has also determined that the right to equality must be substantively, rather than formally interpreted.
Linkages between the Constitution and The Promotion Of Equality And Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act
The Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act is due to come into operation soon, after minor amendments relating to the designation of Judges and Magistrates to preside in the Equality Courts have been made. The Act emanated from section 9 of the Constitution, which deals with the right to equality, and is intended to give full effect to the right as contemplated in the Constitution.
This Act, which is going to deal with prevention and prohibition of unfair discrimination as well as the promotion of equality, provides for mandatory training for Equality Court Presiding Officers, Clerks of Court and Registrars. This is necessary because Equality Courts were not part of the South African society and legal system before 1994. The strength of this legislation lies, amongst other things, in the reversal of the onus in cases where discrimination is alleged. This gives impetus to the empowerment of women, and increases access to justice. It means that women do not have to prove their cases alleging discrimination. Instead the onus will be on the accused to prove his/her innocence.
The Equality Legislation Education and Training Unit (ELETU) has already trained a core group of Magistrates and Judges as well as Clerks and Registrars as trainers under the Equality Legislation Education and Training Programme of the Judicial Service Commission and Magistrates Commission. These Magistrates and Judges are, with the help of academics and other civil society experts, engaged in decentralized training on the Act in their provinces. In the Gauteng area approximately 400 magistrates and 40 judges were trained. About 1000 persons have been trained on the Act to date. This covers about 90% of the 199 Judges, over a third of the 1600 Magistrates, 83 Clerks of Court and Registrars of the High Court and various other functionaries including members of the Equality Review Committee, a Statutory Body created to monitor the implementation of the Act, the South African Human Rights Commission and the Commission on Gender Equality, the State Law Advisers and other government officials. In addition the Justice College has been instrumental in the training of gender commissioners for the Commission for Gender Equality. The Act will also go a long way towards raising awareness around violence against women. The Act prioritises the elimination of gender discrimination and the promotion of Gender Equality. |
In addition:
The Constitution guarantees the equality of women and allows for affirmative action to address gender and race inequality. To ensure the realisation of this right by women, the ANC government has;
These initiatives have thus far had far-reaching consequences. A report entitled 'Country Gender Profile: South Africa', established that women's participation has meant some changes for Parliament. For instance, the working hours have changed to make it easier for parliamentarians to combine their jobs with their child-care and domestic responsibilities.
There is now a crèche for the children of parliamentarians and parliamentary workers. There are more toilet facilities for women. The language used in debate legislation must not be non-sexist.
Women across the spectrum of the South African society actively participate, individually or through their respective organizations, in Parliamentary hearings and they are able to make submissions and therefore influence legislative processes on an ongoing basis.
The goal of increasing women's representation in parliaments is a long-standing one, and was agreed upon at numerous international conferences. The target of 30% representation in key decision making positions was endorsed by the UN Economic and Social Council, was reiterated in the 1995 Beijing Platform for Action and is part of the Millennium Development Goals.
In 1997, just under a quarter (102) of the 425 members of the nine provincial legislatures were women. The speaker of the Northern Cape, and the deputy speakers of Gauteng, Northern Province and the Western Cape were all women.
The first democratic local government elections were held in 1995. Just less than one-fifth of all councillors elected were women. Women also held 14% of all executive committee positions. Unortunately this is way below the 50% target set. Local governments are elected through a combination of proportional representation and a ward system. In the 1995 elections, women won 29% of the proportional seats, but only 11% of the ward ones.
In 2003 the position in the legislature, national and provincial government has changed:
SummaryWomen constitute 30% of lawmakers both at national and provincial level. Women constitute 30% of Ministers and Deputy Ministers |
Promotion of Human Rights, in compliance with the Vienna Declaration (1993). This plan was lodged with the UN in December 1998.
" SA hosted the SADC regional conference on violence against women in 1998. This resulted in a declaration on priority areas for intervention and an accountability framework to facilitate the process of monitoring delivery and holding government departments accountable.
In support of the African Union's efforts to promote peace and stability in the continent in general, and in the Great Lakes region and the DRC in particular, the Forum sought to:
A Declaration and Plan of Action outlining women's proposals and vision for a new DRC has been prepared. It calls for the restoration of democracy and a government of national unity, where the rights of all citizens and the human rights of women are ensured. It appeals for stronger collaboration with South African women in all areas of nation building and calls upon the international community, and institutions like UNIFEM, to support the outcomes and recommendations of the Forum.
Recently South African women actively participated in NEPAD gender forum. The NEPAD secretariat, in collaboration with NEPAD Gabon Coordination Bureau, held its first ever gender forum on the 27th -30th April 2003, in Libreville, Gabon. The Forum made several recommendations based on the deliberations, regarding:
The judiciary has been considerably transformed since 1994.
Number of female judges Court of Appeal High Court The High Court: 21 out of 169 judges are women (i.e., 12%). Of these
judges only 1 (0,5%) woman is a Deputy Judge President. Magistrates Magistracy: 467 out of 1 779 are women magistrates (i.e., 26%) |
* Refer to appendix A for re: The National Machinery for the advancement of gender Equality and Equity for women. The language used in debate and legislation must now be non-sexist. Civil society