Hannah E. Britton

Organising against Gender Violence in South Africa

South Africa continues to top international rankings of incidence of reported rape and sexual violence. Rooted in the patriarchies of oppression found in colonialism, apartheid and the Cold War, these deeply ingrained patterns of sexual violence did not end with the transition to democracy. Many fear the level of gender-based violence may be increasing because of a backlash against the constitutionally-enforced gender equality of South African women. In response, one of the most viable parts of the womens movement in South Africa is the movement to end violence against women. Organisations in this sector have become the primary contract agents for the government, yet many womens groups remain thwarted by the complexities of their new bureaucratic relationship with the government institutions they used to oppose during apartheid. This article examines how organisations concerned with violence against women are redefining their mission, securing effective leadership and utilising new methods of activism. Organisations are fighting to maintain their autonomy rather than become ‘technocratic handmaidens’ for the new government; they are attempting to engage masculinities within ‘feminist’ frameworks, and they are witnessing the growing institutionalisation and NGO-isation of the South African womens movement.

The Incomplete Revolution

South Africas negotiated transition promised significant gains for gender equality, as women acquired one-third of the seats in the national parliament, secured constitutional protection, and began a process of legislative and institutional reform. Once apartheid was dismantled, the programs of racial and gender empowerment theoretically should have proceeded at the same rates, given the rhetorical commitments of the liberation parties. Life for the majority of South African women, however, continues to be marked by socio-economic hardships, patriarchal domination, and gender violence. This article asserts that the roots of womens continued inequality are found within the western reform models utilized by the anti-apartheid movement that reproduced public/private, male/female dichotomies in state institutions, thereby entrenching male discourse and power. The data suggest that in order to disrupt the power of the patriarchy women need to challenge male domination within the domestic sphere as well as challenging gender discrimination in public political spaces.

Challenging Traditional Thinking on Electoral Systems

In many ways, South Africa is an ideal case for examining the impact of electoral systems on the advancement of women into national office. Following decades of the antiapartheid struggle, women’s organizations and women leaders worked in concert to ensure a lasting place for women’s voice in decision making. These leaders benefited from the timing of this national transition to democracy. They used lessons from the international women’s movement and drew from the experiences of women in other postconflict contexts to prioritize a national gender agenda. Because of their efforts, in 2007, South Africa has 32.8 percent women in the National Assembly (NA), the lower house of parliament, bringing the country to the rank of fourteenth in the world in terms of women in national office (Inter-Parliamentary Union: www.ipu.org; April 2007). The choice of electoral system was one important aspect of this success, but that was only one piece of the country’s strategy.

“If Good Food is Cooked in One Country, We Will All Eat from It”: Women and Civil Society in Africa

Women across Africa have engaged civil society as a site of collective action to mobilize for advancements in social status, economic opportunities, and political representation. Although the methods used have varied across time and space, women across the continent have harnessed the power of civil society, both directly and covertly, to organize for their progress. This chapter examines the many ways in which women have used the civil sphere to carve out a space for themselves in other sectors of society. It also examines the emerging pattern of feminist mobilization across national boundaries and the attendant development of regional networks for cross-national policy diffusion, which pressure national governments to implement reforms in legislation.

Trading Places: Juxtaposing South Africa and the United States

Inaively thought that I could enjoy several months in South Africa, simply knowing that I was on a separate continent from George Bush. And then he arrived in Pretoria, only a few blocks away from the office where I was working.