{"id":142894,"date":"2019-08-06T10:47:37","date_gmt":"2019-08-06T08:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/little-is-left-of-the-feminist-agenda-that-swept-south-africa-25-years-ago-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2019-08-06T10:47:37","modified_gmt":"2019-08-06T08:47:37","slug":"little-is-left-of-the-feminist-agenda-that-swept-south-africa-25-years-ago-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/little-is-left-of-the-feminist-agenda-that-swept-south-africa-25-years-ago-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Little is left of the feminist agenda that swept South Africa 25 years ago | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Little is left of the feminist agenda that swept South Africa 25 years ago<\/a>: <\/p>\n

African National Congress women\u2019s league members marching to the home of the late Winnie Madikizela-Mandela in 2018. <\/span> EPA-EFE\/Stringer<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Twenty five years ago, on the eve of democratic transition, South African women were optimistic. They were confident of being included in democratic processes that would ensure greater representation for women and more spaces in the state to promote gender equality. <\/p>\n

Before the first democratic elections in 1994 the Women\u2019s National Coalition \u2013 a groundswell women\u2019s movement that mobilised across race and party lines \u2013 consulted over 1 million women at grassroots level all over the country, to produce a Charter of Women\u2019s Rights (a Bill of Rights for women). By the time the election rolled around the African National Congress\u2019s (ANC) Women\u2019s League had negotiated a 30% party quota for women in Parliament. This was no small feat.<\/p>\n

More was to follow. The coalition \u2013 together with feminist activists and feminist academics \u2013 designed the architecture of structures in the state which they called the National Gender Machinery. It consisted of the Office of the Status of Women, the Women\u2019s Empowerment Unit, the Joint Monitoring Committee on the Quality of Life and the Status of Women, a multi-party gender caucus, gender desks in all state departments, and Commission for Gender Equality. <\/p>\n

Feminist activists resisted the idea of a Women\u2019s Ministry. They strongly believed that it would lead to women\u2019s issues being ghettoised and not being taken seriously.<\/p>\n

The creation of these structures was seen as a deliberate attempt to build institutions that would develop routines and practices to enforce gender equality. South Africa had one of the most comprehensive sets of structures on the continent, and in the world. Australia used to have a comprehensive set of structures, while the US has policy agencies for women.<\/p>\n

The initiatives in South Africa put the country at the forefront of creating state institutions that represented the interests of women in the legislature, the executive and the state. To aid women\u2019s presence, the Commission for Gender Equality was set up as a watchdog of government on gender equality.<\/p>\n

That early optimism has evaporated. While vestiges of those early initiatives remain in place \u2013 such as a 50% quota (that was negotiated in 2007 after President Jacob Zuma came to power) plus a raft of new laws to protect women \u2013 it would be fair to say that the quota combined with the state structures did not lead to substantive representation for women. That\u2019s to say that women\u2019s presence in government has not lead to women\u2019s issues being prioritised on the political agenda. <\/p>\n

The good years<\/h2>\n

During the first parliament feminists made legislation that would change the face of gender inequality in South Africa for the better and create substantive representation. Laws that were passed included:<\/p>\n