Factors Affecting Number of Women Ward Councillors in South Africa

Brian Kwazi Majola

doi:10.6000/1929-7092.2020.09.35

Abstract

Factors Affecting Number of Women Ward Councillors in South Africa

Highlights

Worldwide, there has been some improvement in terms of women’s political participation in the past few decades
The objective of this paper is to investigate factors affecting the number of women elected as ward councillors in South Africa
Political party leaders argued that there is a shortage of willing and trained women candidates with the requisite confidence and experience to stand for election (Markhams 2013; Nsana and Kabubi 2017)

Summary

Introduction

There has been some improvement in terms of women’s political participation in the past few decades. Women can play a variety of roles as voters, political party members, candidates and office holders and members of civil society (Markhams 2013). This progress has been slow in relation to the election of women ward councillors at the local level even after the 1995 United Nations (UN) Beijing Conference. Most countries ensure that women numbers are met at the national level of government, ignoring the local level where the government is closer to the people It is at this level where women are struggling to be elected into positions women constitute the majority of the population and are the most affected when the government does not deliver. Despite legislation that appears to enable gender equality and equal representation in local structures, the number of women ward councillors has been fluctuating since the reformation of local

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion