Background  to  the      SALGA  Women’s  Commission:  

The  Journey  

 

Cllr  Sindiswa  Gomba    

SWC  NaAonal  Summit  :  17  May  2017    

IntroducAon  &  Background  

•  The establishment of the Women’s Commission - is part of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) initiative

•  Informed by gender related challenges facing local government in Africa: –  Limited progress towards gender equality –  Paucity of female leaders on the continent –  Social stereotyping of women

•  UCLG Women’s Commission was launched in July 2008, in Accra, Republic of Ghana.

IntroducAon  &  Background

Aims and Object ives of the Women’s Commission:

•  To mobilise women in local government and coordinate their gender struggles;

•  To spearhead the objectives, policies and programmes of the UCLG amongst women Councillors and officials;

•  To spearhead the emancipation of women within UCLG and its regions and at all levels of local government;

IntroducAon  &  Background

Aims and Object ives of the Women’s Commission: •  To capacitate and empower women to play

a proactive role in local government matters;

•  To promote women’s leadership and participation in both the political and administrative role in local government matters.

SALGA’s  Road-­‐Map 2009:  The Women in Local Government National Conference resolved that:

•  SALGA to embark on launching the formation of a structure to coordinate the programmes of the women in Provincial and Local Government level

•  The structure to also coordinate and implement the Summit or Conference Resolutions

•  The Commission was to be a political structure to promote, coordinate and advocate for gender issues in terna l ly ( in South Af r ica) and internationally (linking to the issues raised at the Women’s Platform of the UCLGA)

•  The decision endorsed by the SALGA National Members Assembly and National Executive Committee.

SALGA’s  Road-­‐Map  

•  2010: Terms of Reference (TOR) to guide the functions of the Women’s Commission for SALGA were developed. The TOR focused on how the Commission will operate, including the nomination processes at provincial and national level

•  2010: Launching of the SALGA Women’s

Commission at the Women in local government Summit

SALGA’s  Road-­‐Map  

•  2012: Nomination of National Commissioner & handover from caretaker Chairperson at the 2012 National Lekgotla

•  2012 / 2013: Provincial roadshows for the

establishment of the provincial chapters •  2013 / 2014: SWC Chapters established in all

Provinces as well as establishment (where not existing) and strengthening of the women’s caucus

SALGA’s  Road-­‐Map  

•  2014 / 15: Development of a Programme of Action (POA) to outline the scope of work of the SWC. The POA was adopted as a reporting and monitoring tool to inform the desired activities and expected outputs and outcomes of the SWC interventions

•  2015 / 2016: Ongoing implementation of the

SWC Programme of Action and compiling a status quo report outlining projects activities carried out, achievements, challenges, lessons learnt, recommendations and areas of improvement.

Achievements  

ü  Since the establishment - convened SWC Provincial Makgotla as a build-up to the National Lekgotla convened in Gauteng Province in 2012, and 2013.

ü Resolution of the 2013 Summit for the annual National Summit to be convened in different provinces. Process involved bidding by the provincial chapter and delegates voting on the winning province. The following provinces hosted: §  Mpumalanga in 2014 §  KwaZulu Natal in 2015 §  Gauteng in 2016

Achievements  

Include but not limited to the following: ü  Roadshows for the establishment and revival of

women structures i.e. women’s caucus as advocacy platforms

ü  Induction workshops to explain gender mainstreaming and role clarification of (focusing on composition, roles and functions, reporting lines) of women structures operating in Local Government; notably - the SWC, women’s caucus and special programmes

ü  Compiling annual audits to assess the status quo on the representation and participation of women in leadership positions in Local Government

 

Achievements  

Include but not limited to the following: ü  Participation in Inter-Governmental Relations (IGR)

platforms to present on the role of the SWC and gender mainstreaming projects and programmes in local government ie. representing local government at National Council of Provinces (NCOP) debates and at the Joint Sitting of Parliament

ü  Advocacy and Lobbying as part of commemorative

events and campaigns i.e. National Women’s Day, 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children, 50/50 campaign

ü  Forging collaboration and partnership with stakeholders for joint implementation of programmes

Challenges

•  The SWC operating as a sub-committee of the National and Provincial Working Group. This required submission of resolutions for endorsement / approval before implementation

•  Insufficient resources especially the budget to

implement the programme of action / gender programmes and projects result ing in non-achievement of planned interventions

•  Municipalities regarding the establishment of women

caucus (Section 79 portfolio committees) as an option (location of the women’s caucus remains a challenge in terms of implementation of programmes)

Challenges  

•  Non-adherence to equal gender representation (50/50) in leadership positions. The structures of local government do not yet adequately reflect the number of women in decision making structures.

•  Inadequate policies and mechanisms to create an enabling work environment for women

•  Lack of disaggregated data on how different projects and programmes accommodate and address gender mainstreaming

•  Insufficient reporting on the work of the SWC

RecommendaAons  

•  Lobbying and supporting processes for the review and amendment of legislation and policies pertinent to the gender equality debate, in particular, the Municipal Structures Act (1998) and the Local Government Municipal Electoral Act (2000), to be aligned to the 50/50 quota (in the long term)

•  SALGA together with relevant partner

institutions and organisations actively advocate and lobby for the movement from voluntary measures to mandatory measures on the 50/50 percent quota

RecommendaAons  

•  Acknowledging the functioning of the Women's Caucus as Section 79 Committees in Council to ensure gender mainstreaming in municipal programmes and budget processes (gender responsive budgeting)

•  Development of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms

•  Escalating partnerships with other stakeholders for collaboration with implementation of gender mainstreaming projects and programmes  

 Members  of  the  SWC      (NaAonal  Level)  

 Cllr  Sindiswa  Gomba   Na$onal  Commissioner  

Cllr  Lindelwa  Ntlonze   Provincial  Commissioner  EC  

Cllr  Disebo  Nakedi   Provincial  Commissioner  FS  

Cllr  Patricia  Kumalo   Provincial  Commissioner  GP  

Cllr  Hlengiwe  Mavimbela   Provincial  Commissioner  KZN  

Cllr  Maria  Lekganyane   Provincial  Commissioner  LP  

Cllr  Shelly  Nkadimeng   Provincial  Commissioner  MP  

Cllr  Eileen  Drage-­‐Maritz   Provincial  Commissioner  NC  

Cllr  Poppy  Seduku-­‐Maje   Provincial  Commissioner  NW  

Cllr  LuAsia  Daries   Provincial  Commisioner  WC  

   

Malibongwe!