Presentation to PC on Women in the Presidency – Parliament 24 October 2017

1. Twenty-Year review of the Commission for Gender EqualityFinal Report2017 Presentation to PC on Women in the Presidency – Parliament 24 October 2017

2. Outline of the presentation • Commissioning of the review • Methodology • Conceptual framework • Variables for measurement • Challenges and limitations • Structure of the report • Impact of the CGE’s work • Constraints to CGE effectiveness • Recommendations

3. The CGE journey: Assessment of achievements • Impact of the CGE’s work • Constraints to CGE effectiveness • Recommendations

4. Commissioning of the review • In 2016 the CGE commissioned a project “to review and assess the CGE’s work, impact and achievements as well as the challenges it continues to face as it carries out its constitutional mandate to promote gender equality in South Africa” • The Democracy, Governance & Service Delivery (DGSD) Research Programme of the HSRC was awarded the project.

5. Methodology Theory Based Approach – core of assessment being three elements A Theory of Change (ToC), which spells out the pathways through which change is envisaged A clear specification of the unit of analysis and the levels at which impact will be assessed; and An outline of the types of impact that are to be assessed.

6. Methodology (2) Mixed-methods approach Qualitative: Key Informant interviews, theory of change workshop, and feedback from CGE management Quantitative: administrative data review Review of relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature as well as an analysis of CGE documentation; and Triangulation of findings from these three methods

7. Conceptual framework Stetson and Mazru’s (1995) conceptualisation of the ways in which gender machineries worldwide contribute to gender equality through two dimensions: State capacity:to what extent do women’s machineries influence policy making from a gender perspective? State society: to what extent do women’s policy machineries develop opportunities for society-based actors – feminist and women’s advocacy organisations – to access the policy process?

8. Variables for measurement The pattern of politics in which the women’s machinery is established The extent to which certain organisational forms increase the likelihood that policy machineries will further feminist goals The extent to which the state has the capacityto contribute to social change and gender machinery can draw on the state for resources; and The extent to which there is a coherent women’s movement, or small divergent women’s groups, or a combination of these two supporting women’s liberation

9. Challenges & limitations Methodological issue that confronts an evaluative assessment is that of attribution or causality Establish whether the CGE intervention was responsible for any change in the circumstances of participants (gender equality) when the sector is open to interventions by various sector role players Absence of baseline data Methodology designed to reduce limitations

10. Structure of the report Executive summary Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Overview of the CGE Mandate Composition Organisational structure International and regional law Chapter 3: Conceptual framework Conceptions of gender equality in law CGE Theory of Change and implications for review

11. Structure of the report (2) Chapter 4: Methodology (outlined earlier) Chapter 5: Background and context National Gender Machinery (NGM) Gender equality post-1994 Previous reviews of the CGE, and CGE responses Chapter 6: The CGE journey 1996-2000: First steps 2001-2005: The challenging years 2006-2010: Consolidation 2011-2015: From vision to action

12. Structure of the report (3) Chapter 7: Impact of the CGE CE impact in relation to its core mandate CGE impact and Theory of Change Chapter 8: Constraints and challenges to CGE effectiveness Challenges in each five-year period General challenges over the 20 years Reasons for constraints and challenges

13. Structure of the report (4) • Chapter 9: Recommendations • Funding • Relationship with the state • Strategic focus • Use of powers • Reach

14. The CGE Journey: Assessment of achievements • Presentation of achievements in each five-year period, by: • Introduction • Discusses organisational matters and outlines the strategic focus of the CGE for that five-year period • Legislation, customs and practices • Considers submissions made to legislative processes and documents CGE involvement in court cases • Information and education programmes • Reviews all outreach and advocacy campaigns conducted by the CGE

15. The CGE Journey: Assessment of achievements (2) • Gender-related initiatives and complaints • Considers gender equality initiatives instituted by the CGE as well as gender-related complaints received from the public • Liaison with institutions with similar objectives • Details how the CGE has collaborated with sister Chapter 9 institutions and with civil society organisations in promoting gender equality • Compliance with international conventions and protocols • Looks at the CGE’s engagement with international law and policy on gender equality

16. The CGE Journey: Assessment of Achievements (3) • Research, and preparation and submission of reports to Parliament • Focuses on all the research-related activities of the Commission – from conducting surveys to analysing data to writing and submitting reports to monitoring and evaluating activities, campaigns and elections • Media profile • References reports in the Times MediaGroup newspapers (the Sunday Times, The Times, Business Day, the Daily Dispatch, TheHerald, the Sowetan) on CGE activities and statements between 1996 and 2016

17. The CGE Journey: Assessment of achievements (4) • Report devotes 76 pages to presenting the achievements of the CGE over the 20-year period • This presentation cannot do justice to them. But the CGE has made significant contributions in each of the areas. Three highlights are presented under each: • Legislation, customs and practices • Acted as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in key Constitutional Court cases setting precedents for subsequent behaviour and litigation

18. The CGE Journey: Assessment of achievements (5) • Legislation, customs and practices (cont.) • Influenced public and legal opinion on cultural practices (ukuthwala; bursaries for virgins) • Contributed to legislation, policy and policy revision on gender-related issues • Information and education programmes • Conducted education campaigns on gender equality, domestic violence, and other gender-related topics across the length and breadth of South Africa and especially in rural communities

19. The CGE Journey: Assessment of Achievements (6) • Information and education programmes (cont.) • Hosted National Gender Summits • Provided various kinds of gender empowerment support to communities • Gender-related initiatives and complaints • Established a Complaints unit to deal with complaints lodged by the public • Hosted employment equity hearings to oversee compliance within public and private sector institutions • Conducted gender transformation hearings in universities to promote their meeting of employment equity targets

20. The CGE journey: Assessment of Achievements (7) • Liaison with institutions with similar objectives • Liaised with the Office of the Public Protector to establish a referral system for complaints and investigations • Partnered with the Portfolio Committee for Women in the Presidency, Sonke Gender Justice, the KZN legislature, and various NGOs to resolve issues of gender equality, allegations of lack of equal opportunity for men, and the abuse of men • Compliance with international conventions and protocols • Formed part of the SA delegation which presented the country’s first report on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) to the UN in 1998

21. The CGE journey: Assessment of Achievements (8) • Compliance with international conventions and protocols (cont.) • Participated in the 51st session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women • Assessed South Africa’s level of compliance with international instruments (CEDAW and the MDGs) • Research, and preparation and submission of reports to Parliament • Conducted surveys amongst public and private sectors to ascertain adherence to gender equality

22. The CGE Journey: Assessment of Achievements (9) • Research, and preparation and submission of reports to Parliament (cont.) • Examined gender mainstreaming in Spatial Development Initiatives and in many other areas • Researched the effectiveness of the maintenance system • Media profile • Featured in many newspaper articles over the twenty-year period in relation to: legislation and landmark court cases; dissemination of research findings; participation in gender equality events; and topical issues of national interest

23. Impact of the CGE’s work: A snap shot • In terms of its core mandate, the impact of the CGE has been mixed • The CGE, has engaged in an impressively large number of activities over the twenty-year period in pursuance of its mandate • In the past twenty years the CGE has moved from finding its feet as a new Commission to developing a more comprehensive vision of its role as a C9 institution focusing on gender equality in South Africa

24. Impact of the CGE’s work (2) • Notwithstanding the CGE’s achievements and impacts identified, there have been challenges, including: • Adequate funding to enable it to meet its mandate more effectively • Clarifying its relationship with the state to enable more independent monitoring of state compliance with gender-related legislation and policy • Using the powers it has at its disposal to greater effect (holding those responsible) • Extending its reach to ensure that gender transformation is achieved among the largest possible sector of the population

25. Impact of the CGE’s work (3) • Core mandate: Educate the public on the promotion of gender equality • CGE information and education programmes have reached huge numbers of people, but these have not obviously translated into transformed power relations in society and into changed behaviour • A public awareness campaign on witchcraft violence was undertaken during road shows in the then Northern Province (Limpopo). Two million people were targeted through the road shows and through extensive media coverage

26. Impact of the CGE’s work (4) • Core mandate: Educate the public on the promotion of gender equality (cont.) • Little tangible evidence demonstrating how CGE contributions to such campaigns have directly contributed to changed behaviour • Action is not the same as impact. Have the right messages come across?

27. Impact of the CGE’s work (5) • Core mandate: Engage with legislation, making recommendations about gender equality and the status of women in existing law and recommending new legislation to promote gender equality and the status of women • Performance in the submissions on various policy and legislative matters has been extremely impressive: in some years submissions on over 12 different legislative issues have been covered • A number of these submissions have been backed by quality research and as such are evidence-based

28. Impact of the CGE’s work (6) • The CGE has become an important tool in challenging existing legislation: • Forming an alliance with those opposing a challenge to the Choice of Termination of Pregnancy Act 1 of 2008 • Hosting the first national Conference on Witchcraft Violence and involvement in a follow up National Action Plan on this issue • The CGE has been involved in landmark Constitutional Court cases that have changed the lives of many women: • The Bhe case (CC), which issued in women being able to look after themselves independently after the death of their spouses; and

29. Impact of the CGE’s work (7) • The Shilubane case (CC), which issued in traditional authorities being able to develop their (living) customary law under the Constitution and in women being able to be declared Hosi (Leader) • However, there is insufficient evidence that the CGE has been the initiator of new legislation • Strengthening the voice of affected women in policy-making is an area of weakness in the CGE • “The attitude should be to work with women, not for or on behalf of women” (interview with Key Informant)

30. Impact of the CGE’s work (8) • Core mandate: Promote gender equality • Event-oriented work (such as Women’s Day and 16 Days of Activism events) has less impact than strategic, multilateral sustainable programmes to enhance gender equality • Women are not abused and violated at certain times of the year, the month, or the day • Core mandate: Investigate gender-related issues either of its own accord or in response to complaints received • The amicus curiae role of the CGE provides strong evidence of the contribution of the CGE to addressing complaints and dealing with high profile gender-related matters

31. Impact of the CGE’s work (9) • CGE law clinics and awareness campaigns are encouraging more stakeholders to understand the role of the CGE and to use enabling legislation to protect and promote gender rights • A consistent trend observed during the 2006 to 2010 period was a considerable decline in the number of cases opened • This trend began to be reversed in 2011 as more cases were opened, more cases were resolved, and the backload was therefore reduced (see figure on next slide)

32. Complaints lodged with the CGE between 2007 and 2011

33. Impact of the CGE’s work (10) • The CGEs intervention in the bursaries-for-virgins case was acclaimed by one Key Informant, who noted that: • “the virginity testing case in KwaZulu-Natal, I think, was an excellent example … the Commission did exactly what the Commission was supposed to be doing and went in and questioned that and actually made a ruling to say that as far as they were concerned that was not constitutional” (interview with Key Informant)

34. Constraints to CGE effectiveness • Funding • Limited funding base, which hampers scale of CGE interventions – particularly at provincial level and in deep rural areas • Largely male-dominated leadership in government in general and in Cabinet and Treasury in particular does not understand importance of sufficiently resourcing programmes aimed at gender equality and women’s empowerment • Parliamentarians lack understanding of why there should be larger funding flows to CGE

35. Constraints to CGE effectiveness (2) • Strategic leadership in CGE • Lack of unified vision among CGE management and governance stakeholders • General consensus: strong institutional leadership coupled with enabling environment (common vision) for enhancing gender equity objectives are a prerequisite for positively impacting on CGE’s ability to deliver on its mandate • Limitations of the CGE mandate • CGE lacks “muscle” to ensure that its recommendations are enforceable

36. Constraints to CGE effectiveness (4) • Appointment of Commissioners • Disparity in appointment of full-time and part-time Commissioners leads to power struggles and unhappiness about part-time Commissioners contributing more • Period of appointment is too short, which creates uncertainty and pressure related to the appointment of new Commissioners by Parliament – often leading to gaps

37. Reasons for constraints • Insufficient funding • Ambivalent relationship to government departments by virtue of the dual mandate and composition of the CGE • Remit of the Commission in the context of the vast gender transformation challenges confronting a society steeped in patriarchy – evidenced inter alia by the unacceptably high levels of violence against women

38. Recommendations • Funding • Recommendation 1: The state should review the budget allocation to the CGE in the light of the Commission’s mandate and the enormous gender-related challenges confronting the people (and especially the women) of South Africa • Relationship with the state • Recommendation 2: The National Gender Machinery should establish and maintain a clear separation of powers between the CGE, as a statutory C9 institution independent of the state, and the South African government

39. Recommendations (2) • Strategic focus • Recommendation 3: The CGE should articulate a Theory of Change that involves setting long-term goals, devising strategies to enable their realisation, and focusing its activities on a limited set of SMART objectives aligned to the core functions of the Commission and the provisions of the Constitution • Use of powers • Recommendation 4: The CGE should see all interventions involving the courts, government departments, other arms of the public sector, the private sector, and communities through to completion, ensuring that all its stakeholders are and remain accountable on all matters concerning gender equality

40. Recommendations (3) • Reach • Recommendation 5: The CGE should align its strategic focus to the gender-related needs of the majority of the population, extending its reach to communities and individuals in a bid to bring about deep social transformation through challenging the assumptions behind the perpetuation of unequal power relations and patriarchy

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