South African Development Community (SADC) Strives for Gender Equity
By Sifelani Tsiko

July 4, 2005 – (The Herald) The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) region is making huge strides in female empowerment in decision-making judging by the number of high profile appointments made over the last two years.

In line with the 1997 Sadc Declaration on Gender and Development, the region now has two female Vice-Presidents, Joice Mujuru of Zimbabwe and Phumuzile Mlambo-Ngcuka of South Africa; as well as a female Prime Minister, Luisa Dias Diogo of Mozambique.

The latest to be appointed is former South African Mines Minister, Mlambo-Ngcuka; who was elevated to the position of Deputy President of South Africa last month.

Mlambo-Ngcuka replaces former Deputy President, Jacob Zuma, who was fired after he was implicated in the high profile corruption trial of his former financial advisor, Schabir Shaik.

President Mbeki said Mlambo-Ngcuka's appointment is aimed at strengthening the participation of women in the executive.

Mlambo-Ngcuka (49) joins the small, but growing group of women who have assumed powerful and influential positions within the Sadc region.
Mlambo-Ngcuka, who held the minerals and energy portfolio since 1999, has been hailed for promoting the empowerment of the black majority in the fuel sector, which is dominated by white South Africans.

Many feel that Mlambo-Ngcuka's appointment, will have positive spin-offs, not only for female advancement in South Africa, but also for black economic empowerment.

Other women who have scaled the same dizzy heights in male-dominated politics, include Mozambican Prime Minister Luisa Diogo; who was elevated by former Mozambican President Joachim Chissano in February last year.

She replaced Pascoal Mocumbi who resigned after serving as Prime Minister for a decade.

Diogo's appointment was viewed as the passing of the baton from the generation that fought for independence to the one that has been hardened by the challenges of the post-independence era.

Diogo was born in 1958 and holds a Masters degree in finance economics. Between 1989 and 1992 she was Mozambique's national budget director.

From 1993 to 1994, Diogo was the World Bank programme officer in Mozambique.

Vice President Mujuru of Zimbabwe was elevated to the Vice Presidency in December last year, setting another record in Zimbabwe, having been appointed cabinet minister at the tender age of 25 years in 1980.

But despite these achievements, the presence of women in politics is still far below the expectations of the Sadc Declaration on Gender and Development that seeks to ensure that at least 30 percent of women are in political decision making positions by 2005.

In Zimbabwe, 60 women participated in the last parliamentary poll.

Thirty-six of these were from the ruling Zanu-PF party and sixteen from the MDC, six from Zanu and two were independents.

After the results were announced, only 19 were successful: 13 from Zanu PF and 6 from MDC.

Various women pressure groups believe that Diogo, Mujuru and Mlambo-Ngcuka are not only strong-willed, but are also approachable, efficient administrators who can be rallying points of support for their respective parties.

It is important to note that these three women are drawn from liberation movements, which are considered conservative but where women have always provided an invaluable support base. Critics, however, claim that the appointment of these women was done more out of "political expediency" than any real desire to advance the status of women.

Others see the move by Presidents Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe) and Mbeki (South Africa) as political strategies to quash potential power struggles by male politicians within the rank and file of their parties.

Women activists do not agree with these assertions as they say that women's participation in politics is not an exercise that can produce results over night, but a process that requires time and patience.

However, no one denies that both these women have all the attributes for the job, such that the conspiracy theories may be attributed to envy from some patriarchs who believe women should forever be their footstools.

Whatever motivated the appointments, the liberation movements have shown that they are not only committed to political, economic and social independence but also to the liberation of women.

They have done better than the so-called post-independent democracy movements that advocate neo-liberalism.

Thus despite the initial rumblings from some quarters, the appointment of women to influential positions in Sadc member states is an important milestone that enhances gender equity in a region where only South Africa has met the Sadc protocol on gender.

South Africa has a 30 percent female representation in parliament and 38 percent at ministerial levels, putting it among the top 16 countries in the world where female representation in parliament exceeds 25 percent.

From: http://allafrica.com/stories/200507050799.html