Gender and local government in the transition
OUR EXPERIENCES OF THE STATE IN SOUTH Africa under apartheid have been almost a caricature of the general [feminist] findings on the masculinity of the state writes Jenny Robinson. Men dominated the state, in terms of those elected by whites to parliament, or by other race groups to unpopular state structures at local or national level. They also dominated the state bureaucracy, which was Structured according to hierarchies placing women employees at the bottom of the pile. Those state institutions which interacted with African people - from local native administration departments to the national Native, or Bantu Administration Department - were overwhelmingly male. They were dominated by a masculine culture drawing on the traditions of policing, mine and farm labour control, and on paternalistic (and punitive) images of the father'. They also sought to exercise control over those living in urban townships by promoting "family life" and male dominance in the household. "Our yardstick should be the extent to which changes in local government, both now and in the future, improve the daily lives of the most disadvantaged sectors: black communities, women, the poor, the rural areas. Moses Mayekiso This masculine state apparatus perceived its objects of administration to be male heads of households, keeping control over women, who otherwise were thought to be "loose and disorderly" 2 As we well know, single women were not allowed to rent or own houses in townships, but had to rely on men for access to these state resources. The alliance which some writers have suggested was forged, historically, for a variety of reasons, between the masculine white state and the traditional authority of black men is even now potentially a stumbling block to efforts to transform the state, especially at the local level and in rural areas, where traditional leadership is still strong. These are all issues which we need to thing about as we consider gender and the new local government dispensation in South Africa. From the election of representatives on the new councils to the ways in which bureaucracies will be transformed and the types of policies which they will implement, women's organisations should be thinking about ways in which their interests can be advanced or will be hindered in this transitional period. This paper is a preliminary effort to sketch out the terrain: much more work remains to be done! NEGOTIATIONS In 1993-94 the Local Government Negotiating Forum (LGNF) brought together representatives of local, central and provincial local government organisations, and national organisations (including a delegation of extra-parliamentary groups. Negotiations for this level of government were set up very differently from those for national government. Whereas the African National Congress (ANC) strategy of a two-sided table had failed at the constitutional negotiations, the delegates to the LGNF agreed to divide into statutory and non-statutory delegations.
interpretation stakeholders in local politics was also embodied in the national legislation governing the creation of local level negotiating forums and interim local government structures, prior to the staging of the first non-racial elections for local The non-statutory alliance in the G was led by the South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO), an umbrella body of civic organisations formed in 1992 to replace the disbanded United Democratic Front. SANCO had initiated the payments boycott which had brought the authorities to the negotiating table in many different localities. During the course of the LGNF, though, SANCO consulted with, and was joined in its delegation by members of the ANC and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), principally the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU). GENDER SENSITIVE EFFORTS From the beginning of the negotiations the alliance organisations were sensitive to the issue of gender, stating in public platforms that any new local government
South Africa * structure had to be democratic, non-racial and non-sexist. An effort was made by the non-statutory side to ensure that there were sufficient women representatives at the negotiations. This effort failed however, as few women were appointed to the LGN, and those who were and who attended never managed to make a concerted impact on the proceedings.4 The LGNF itself was constituted in a way which left out a number of important groupings interested in local government. The definition of membership formalised by the (already constituted) forum was that an organisation wishing to join the LGNF had to be nationally constituted, be a stakeholder in local government (or motivate its particular interest in local government) and be a part of either the statutory or non-statutory delegations. Political parties were not permitted to join on the grounds representation at the Multi-Party Negotiating Forum, where constitutional discussions about local government would also take place.5 Political parties, women's organisations business groups and regionally based organisations were therefore excluded from the negotiations. While this meant that the ANC alliance had more control over the negotiations that otherwise might have been the case, it also meant that a variety of groupings with interests in local government could not make a contribution to the technical details and the compromises which were negotiated. This included minor political parties, such as the Democratic Party (DP) and the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) which has since emerged as a major disruptive force in the implementation of the Local Government Transitional Act (LGTA) in KwaZulu-Natal. Unlike the constitutional negotiations, where each political party had been pressured into including women on their negotiation teams at all times, the LGNF did not incorporate women into the negotiations in any structured way. And there were very few women including in the negotiating or advisory teams or working groups. Gender issues were also not addressed in any detail at all. Passing comments from key (male) spokespeople during the plenary sessions, or during
International Viewpoint n°275 11
* Women and political organisations representatives, and event he inclusion of caucus discussions to select the desire for a "non-sexist" local government system in the mission statement of the LGNF, seem to have had no impact whatsoever n either the deliberations of the LGNF or the final recommendations and legislation produced. 6 The Women's Lobby failed to meet the LGNF admission criteria. In their application, the group wrote: "We are deeply concerned that there may not be sufficient numbers of women involved in this planning. We fear that issues which women are even more familiar with and knowledgeable about than men may be overlooked. Local development must have the input of women interacting with men to achieve fundamental changes and improvement." 7 It is possible that a concern for the gender implications of the legislation might have made stronger legislative provision for representative structures to oversee the implementation of the Act, or might have picked up the gender bias inherent in the partially ward-based system of representation finally agreed to. Some provision for gender selectivity in the decision-making of transitional local government structures might have been made, and it might even have been possible to agree on gender-based monitoring of the new councils' activities. WOMEN'S ISSUES SIDELINED Individual party agreements regarding women's representation on party lists especially the ANC, where a hard-fought campaign from the ANC Women's League has guaranteed one-third representation for women) may ensure that a reasonable number of women do serve in local government structures. However, experience with the Transitional Local Councils (TLCs) has not been encouraging. A system of partial wardbased representation, together with the persistent failure by all parties to seriously address gender issues and not just women's participation) will probably mean that women's issues are sidelined from local councils and bureaucracies, unless women's organisations challenge this. Ward-based structures are likely to produce mostly male representatives at this stage, where local political organisations are strongly dominated by men, and where it could be argued that "politics" is still seen as predominately a 12 International Viewpoint March 1996 male occupation. SANCO, the leading organisation in the local government negotiations, has been strongly criticised for the predominantly male character of both local and national structures. While senior leadership in the organisation is taking these criticisms very seriously, from the podium unfortunately, not be enough to challenge GOVERNMENT OF LOCAL UNITY The nature of the compromise reached at the LGNF is important for understanding why women's position in terms of representation on councils is not likely to be improved during this phase of transition. The strategies for powersharing at the local level are complex. The compromises embodied in the bill used the apartheid structure of the cities to councils in which white representation disproportionately high. Together with the extremely high ceilings set for agreement on key development issues (finance and planning) in these councils, the white population in most cities would have a large and potentially disabling veto on many key decisions in the new local
Undemocratic demands for a property or business vote were deflected by means of the "government of local unity" formulation
(although the government tried to insert these requirements until the final stages of drafting the bill). But the demand for local options, to appease the recalcitrant conservative party negotiators in the LGNF and the government representatives, meant that the preinterim period was to see potentially very little change in those areas unwilling to oversee their own demise. And the agreement on the interim phase (a long five years, during which the Government of National Unity is to negotiate a final
Constitution for the country) embodies a strong compromise on the question of racial representation in local government.
Given the absence of sensitivity to gender issues by most white parties, this racial compromise is also a significant compromise in terms of women's representation and the possibility of putting in place strong gender-aware local development policies. Whereas in the past there were more omen involved in white local councils than in national politics, the reduced opportunities for participation by previously white parties in the regional and national parliaments may mean that these women are squeezed out of local government in favour of more prominent men. The combination of ward and proportional representation was widely seen as a usetul way of accommodating both the black majority interest in most cities and the wealthier and more geographically dispersed white ratepayers. The final compromise, however, was premised upon exactly the apartheid geography which the local government negotiations were designed to transform. [...] COMPLEX JUGGLING ACT In Port Elizabeth, local structures of the alliance voted half of the representatives to the TLC. This mirrors the ward-based voting expected when the elections for interim councils are held. Out of this process, only two women were elected. Five more women nominated amongst the other half of the alliance representatives. These city-wide representative were meant to enable the alliance leadership to ensure some balance on the council according to race, gender and skills, and to allow different sections of the "alliance plus one" to contribute members to the council. However, this complicated strategy resulted in there being a total of only seven women out of a nonstatutory component of fifty. This falls far short of the ANC's stated commitment to one-third representation of women on party lists.
Combined with the overwhelming predominance of men on the statutory side of the TLC, this has meant a preinterim council that is not good news for women in terms of formal representation.
TAKING UP GENDER ISSUES
However, the Port Elizabeth case is also interesting in that it offers an example of how, despite the poor representation for women on these councils, gender issues can still be taken up in an effective way. TLC Councillor Sureshni Moodliar and other women have been motivating for gender issues to be taken seriously in the planning of development in the city.8
In a party with a stated support for nonsexism, it is difficult for representatives to refuse initiatives which insist on interrogating council policies in gender terms. And although Port Elizabeth is unusual compared with most larger cities in that the ANC has (for the moment) an absolute majority on the council, there are some useful lessons for other cities. Like the need for some mechanism to support and co-ordinate women's initiatives at the local government level. As Moodliar argues, *there is a need to co-ordinate... as part of a national framework... because you have the sense of being very isolated and
Women and political organisations * very lonely in a way."g A Gender Commission has been set up as part of the Port Elizabeth TLC to consider ways in which council polices can be made more gender sensitive. An Affirmative Action committee will deal with the question of women's place in the councils employment structure. Despite initial resistance from men on the council, it seems that critical thinking about gender and council policy is spreading beyond the group of activist women. Moodliar "... if you raise a gender concern, there's no argument around it, there's no debate, there's almost no interest in it. There's always a laugh afterwards, and its always OK, go for it!'. Its because they're not informed anyway. Apart from their own prejudices, they're just not informed. They'd rather not try to understand it. 1 think that its going to he a slow process of consciousness-raising for people within the council. But the more often you do it, the more it starts to have some impact. Some men are starting to question gender representation whenever we elect a small committee or an ad-hoc working group. Men are saying this, which is interesting." OPENING COMMUNICATION CHANNELS One important aspect of the thinking of this group of women is that channels for continuous communication between the council and women in the community need to be set up. It is envisaged that these could enable women to be informed as to the services and facilities which are at their disposal, and also to ensure that their voices are heard on local government and development issues. This is an important initiative as it offers a critique of 'needs' or 'interest' based planning by representatives who presume they know the concerns of local women. Given the complexity and heterogeneity of the category 'women', this kind of process could be very important in helping the ongoing transformation of policies to ensure their sensitivity to the position of different women in particular localities. It also reflects some initiatives in other countries, such as the Philippines and some Latin American countries, which have attempted to maintain a connection between women's organisations, NGOs and women's desks within the state. But one of the bid obstacles to establishing these kind of state-civil society links in South Africa is the relative weakness and fragmentation of women's organisations. In the absence of a substantial women's movement, other sorts of channels will need to be experimented with here. INTERROGATING LOCAL LEGISLATION Women representatives on the councils are also interrogating local legislation and policies for any gender biases. These kinds of tasks are very time-consuming and demanding of specific technical and legal skills. So far, there seems to be no national initiative to take up substantive gender concerns at the local level. Pressure should be put on support services to research and advise on these Issues, and especially to explore ways in which certain changes to legislation and policy can be legislatively enforced at a national level, rather than being left to the initiative of individuals in particular localities. Also, any local government training programmes for new councillors should actively incorporate training on gender issues. WOMEN NEED TO MOBILISE There is a significant strategic advantage to be gained from the presence of even a few committed women representatives on the new councils. This is largely because of the legitimacy accorded to gender sensitivity both by ANC policy and by current development discourse, especially as embodied in the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) which is very gender sensitive and which can be used in a very practical way by women on councils to promote gender issues. Local women's organisations need to mobilise in order to ensure that this is achieved [...] Much faith is currently being placed in local authorities to implement the RDP There are many reasons for being worried about this! The level of compromise embodied in the Local Government Transition Act is one. Local authorities have significant power to shape local development through land use planning, budgetary decisions and management. It is precisely these areas that are most resistant to change. The first two because any changes are subject to a special two-thirds majority (under the LGTA); the third because of the long history of dominance by white men of the local authority bureaucracies. There has also been a great deal of concern about the problem of turning around a system of local government oriented to 'control' to one that deals with 'development'. Certainly, the old Black Local Authorities bear the marks of a completely inadequate apparatus, with little or no capacity to deliver anything Historically, these structures were central to the state's efforts to politically and socially control African people. Ironically, many of the mechanisms which were seen as essential for 'proper control" - housing, organised and serviced townships, education, efficient state apparatuses (for the implementation of influx control, for example are also important for the current aims of development. Where state capacity has not been undermined, local authorities, especially in former white areas, do have technical experience and capacity to deliver these services. The crucial issue,
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though, in terms of a reorientation to 'development' is the absence of skills related to the process associated with delivery, especially within a participatory approach to development, and an awareness of the political implications of development. In terms of gender, these last issues are crucial. The services governments are charged with delivering on an equitable basis across the city in terms of the new Act cover a range of concerns central to women's roles in reproduction, and also as breadwinner in many, if no most, homes. The local state must, among other things, be responsible for the delivery of water, electricity, sewerage, for the planning of land use, zoning, transportation, health services, and the promotion of economic development. For women who bear the burden of meeting their household's reproductive needs, the provision of services such as water and electricity substantially affect their daily lives. Exactly how, where and under what conditions these services are delivered are important questions for most women, and the gender-specific nature of these facilities needs to be taken into account by planners and service providers. Women's dual role in most households, where they are both key breadwinner and have primary responsibility for meeting reproductive needs, means that other issues such as transport and broader
International Viewpoint n° 275 13
* Women and political organisations economic policies also need to be considered from a gender perspective. L..] A council which is sensitive to gender issues would have to ensure that planning at the budgetary level provides for meeting the needs of the community in a way which does not subordinate women's particular needs and demands and which enables women's participation in determining council priorities.
Organisations in civil society which are called upon to participate with the state in planning would need to have proper representation from women to ensure that planning can take place without male bias. GENDERED EMPLOYMENT PATTERNS The local authority workforce is stratified on gender lines. A recent study of Durban
City Council10 shows that women are concentrated in the clerical staff, which also has a higher preponderance of Indians and coloureds than most other levels. Women labourers and clerical staff also predominate in the divisions of culture and recreation (museums and libraries) and health. With the large clerical establishment of sections such as city services and waste management, women dominate in clerical positions in these divisions. Labourers are overwhelmingly African and Indian men, with some women working in community services and culture and recreation. Some sections have 20-40% women in positions of middle management, but senior management IS overwhelmingly comprised of white men, except for culture and recreation and community services, where some Indian and African people are employed in such positions. A sizeable proportion of African men are concentrate on training and promotion within the organisation, rather than relying on hiring already-qualified people from outside. This usually just reinforce the socially ascribed positions which resulted in the stratified internal labour market in the first place. However, the poor representation of women, and especially black women, outside of traditionally female jobs which do not include a career path towards management outside of these traditional domains, means that even this strategy would be ineffective in discrimination, as opposed to racial LESS PAY FOR EQUAL WORK A 1993 study ot Jonannesburg. Bedfordview and Cape Town city councils found that women were being paid less for doing the same job as men.11 Johannesburg City Council employed 17,318 men, and only 3,362 women. Once again, men dominated the senior and middle management positions, with women congregated in administrative and clerical grades, and in gender-specific jobs. A 'hidden' grade of casual and temporary labourers — mainly black newly find themselves in senior bureaucratic posts may find this culture daunting. SAMWU is taking up some issues which will help address the position of women in municipalities, such as an affirmative action policy and a parental rights campaign. MAINSTREAMING GENDER More significantly, the masculinity of the local state bureaucracy can make initiatives to promote women's position in relation to council policies and services much more difficult, as the British and other examples show. Observers note tat some measure of change has been possible, but both the the masculine, rational and competitive structures of the bureaucracy and the lack of support for women's issues from a male-dominated institution has meant that women's initiatives have struggled to transform local state institutions. 12 There are numerous debates concerning appropriate institutional forms to reinforce women's initiatives at the local level, such as women's desks or gender positions within each division of the local employed in middle and senior management positions in the transport service unit.
Alenda In other words, the employment structure is strongly stratified by race and class, with women predominating in traditionally female jobs, and opportunities for promotion outside these roles being severely circumscribed. An important approach to changing this profile, the study suggests, would be to 14 International Viewpoint March 1996 women - was also noted. This reintorces the generalised finding that women in local government, when they are employed at all, inferior positions to men. For black women, this is even worse, except where traditional jobs open up opportunities for advancement. All this means is that, except for libraries, clinics and community health, the services which most affect women are being delivered and designed primarily by men. The work culture which is created is overwhelmingly male... Women who bureaucracy, or a more thorough 'mainstreaming' of women's concerns. 13 Feminists have hotly debated whether female bureaucrats, or femocrats, make a difference to the advancement of gender-specific administration. Evidence concerning the success of these strategies is also ambivalent14. Franzway S, Court D and Connell RW, Staking a Claim (1989), Sydney, Allen and Unwin. ENSURING REPRESENTATION These strategic dilemmas certainly deserve more attention and scrutiny within the South African context. But I would suggest that the more pressing political issue at this time is for women's
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organisations to attempt to ensure that there are at least some representatives on the new councils who can take up these issues and ensure that this debate about the specific form which women's initiatives could take in local government is able to take place. The alternative is that gender issues fall off the agenda of local government, and that they will have to be raised at a later stage, when political circumstances may not be so favourable. At the interface between the local state and the communities it represents, the ways in which civil society is organised and participates in local government planning can also be influential for the success or otherwise of gender issues. In community organisations have played a central role in national political struggles against apartheid, women have been largely excluded from positions representing imposed roles in production which require the attention of local planners. The enormous gains which could be made in terms of welfare and development if women's access to better paid and more secure jobs could be promoted, also needs to be realised. HARD TIMES AHEAD The current position is not encouraging. Poor levels of representation, inadequate investigation into the ways in which gender issues can be addressed at the local level, and an overwhelmingly male local bureaucracy do not augur well for gender-sensitive local government in the transitional period. On the positive side, the strategic terrain is favourable, in that gender issues are firmly on the national policy agenda, though (as yet) poorly implemented. The current development discourse also provides a lot of leverage in pursuing gender issues at the local level, where the priority of local authorities is now development. Women in different localities need to mobilise in order to ensure that at least some minimal level of representation is secured though party lists or ward-based candidates. The ANC, for example, should be strongly reminded of its commitment to 30% representation of women on all structures. From this basis, demands can be raised at the local and national level for women's concerns to be more properly incorporated into local level governance and development, and for the masculinity and male bias of the local
What alternative for communities in negotiations with local governments about planning and development issues. Participation of
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women and the representation of their needs and interests in these processes is therefore strongly compromised. Without
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a local state which insists on promoting consultation with their women, contribution to the character of development in the localities will remain marginal. While there are numerous ways in which development is affected by organisations, forums and processes which are not part of the local state as such, there should be some responsibility on the part of the local state to ensure that its intentions promote the democratic participation of all people in the area,
There are numerous aspects of local development initiatives which require a gender-sensitive perspective and input from women or from gender-sensitive
• The 1995 São Paulo Forum
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International Viewpoint n°275 15
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