Changing the electoral system can be detrimental to women representation: Dlamini-Zuma

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Minister in the Presidency for Women Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma has cautioned against changing the electoral system, as this might result in representation in Parliament dropping.

The minister made these remarks at a Women’s Dialogue on Gender Parity and Gender-Based Political Violence hosted by the Electoral Commission.

This comes as the Electoral Act is being challenged by independent candidates, citing that the act disadvantages them.

The impact of gender-based political violence on women’s participation and political representations, as well as the current state of gender parity in politics in South Africa, are just some of the conversations that were at the top of the agenda of a women’s dialogue held by the country’s Electoral Commission.

Minister Dlamini-Zuma acknowledges the fact that the participation of women in politics has progressed, but the picture has been far from ideal.

Female representation in Parliament is currently sitting at 48% but has warned that the current ConCourt challenge against the Amended Electoral Act may be detrimental to the plight of women.

Minister Dlamini says, “Some people in this country say we must change the electoral system. It may sound nice, but I can tell you that the representation of women will drop. Not sufficient women will be represented, and they will not have enough funds to campaign for themselves.

There was less women’s representation in the 2021 local government elections compared to those of 2016 and 2011.

Out of the 12.2 million voters that cast their ballots, over 7 million were women.

However, men took the lion’s share of the votes.

Some of the reasons are that female voters don’t find resonance with women leadership.

Naledi Selebano from the Commission of Gender Equality explains, “Descriptive participation is when women address issues that women face; we see a decline in voter turnout because citizens do not see their challenges being addressed. Party politics, or the party telling women to toe the line are women addressing our needs.”

While the Secretary-General of SANEF, Qaanitah Hunter, has made calls for the protection of female journalists when covering elections,

 “Women journalists are the first point of attack when it comes to political disputed spaces. The IEC must understand cyber-misogyny; female journalists must be protected when going to voting stations.”