The Role of Women in Leadership,
Family, and Culture in South Africa
Introduction
and Topic Justification
The modern society has increased created
space for women to act in leadership and influential roles. Among the things
that have brought many women in the limelight is the affirmative action. It has
seen women empowered through education in technical subjects such as sciences.
In today’s workplace, women play equal leadership roles as their male
counterparts. The impact has been a transformation in the lives of people
including family structures as well as the political landscape with more women
finding opportunities in politics where they can influence the policies
affecting women. Education for women in South
Africa is a crucial tool in the development of the society. The modern
political, social, and economic developments witnessed in the country are a
result of effective and women friendly education system that encourages an
increasing role of women.
The government of South
Africa promotes education among women with recognition that the cultural
practice that made education a boy-child phenomenon while neglecting women was
detrimental to the development of the nation. However, this has not been
achieved in certain parts of the country. This has seen people in such areas
remaining oppressed and under the chains of barbaric and medieval traditional practices.
Women also play an important role in the development of a country socially,
politically, and economically. This is why this paper discusses the role of
women in South Africa in respect to such areas as leadership, family, and
culture.
Historical Overview of the Research on the Role of Women in
Leadership, Family, and Culture
The empowerment of women in any society
is the panacea for sustainable development. Many societies across the world
have for a long time given priority to the males while ignoring the plight of
women. Important issues related to feminism and women empowerment have
occasionally been swept under the carpet. The social and cultural practices
including law, patriarchy, and matriarchy practices have helped perpetuate the
dominance of male in societies around the world to the point that this is
almost accepted as the normal aspect of society. Women empowerment across
different societies has seen the number of women in the formal workplace
increase. Ultimately, this has come with changes in the cultural roles of a
woman as it were in early years. Women alongside their male counterparts are
now able to take up leadership roles in different sectors include politics
while still expected to act as homemakers as it is defined in the traditional
roles (Gibbons, 1998).
Vast empirical evidence exists to prove
that social, economic, and political inequalities exist in the South Africa
between men and women. This is typical of many societies around the world,
where men are given more priority by the society’s patriarchal systems.
Researches done on the status of women in South Africa have revealed a strong
connection between socio-economic activities and the existence of inequalities
within the country (Santovec, 2006). In particular,
sexuality represents a major cause of health inequalities even in societies
where educational levels and occupational activities seem to have stabilized.
With the dynamic role of a woman in the
society, some of the cultural practices and traditions are being questioned.
For instance, traditionally, women are supposed to do house chores while their
husbands provide for the family. In many home setups women are now taking
leadership roles in their homes while a good number are emerging as
breadwinners in their families. However, men are not picking up the reverse
roles of homemakers at the same rate at which women are picking roles
traditionally preserved for men. In effect, there is an emerging conflict of
interest between the roles of men and women in the society. However, women are
on many fronts proving to be able leaders given the kind of work they are
doing. Despite the continued widening of space for women to compete fairly with
men in South Africa, cultural practices are still presenting great obstacles to
the total entry of women in active and proactive leadership (Campbell, 2010).
Brief Summary
Women in South Africa
have been historically marginalized in the leadership positions partly because
of the traditional practices that favor men and partly because of the political
system that does not support women leaders. However, through empowerment and
education, women are now coming up in leadership positions and are actively
participating in the leadership of the country at all levels. Though the
challenges that women face in rising to leadership positions still abound,
women have made great steps towards achieving equality in leadership positions.
Supporting Research
According to a study by
Morrell, Jewkes, & Lindegger (2012), women in South
Africa have had to endure a society that is deeply entrenched in the cultural
practices and apartheid systems that discriminated against blacks and women. As
such, the achievements that have been attained in democracy and sustainable
development among women in the country come as a result of enduring double
obstacles of apartheid and a traditional society that discriminates against
women. A UN conference in 2001 observed that “in the world as
a whole, women comprise 51 percent of the population, do 66 percent of the
work, receive 10 percent of income and own less than one percent of the
property”.
In their study, Spark & Harris (2013) note that the UN conference recommended that in
order to bring women at par with the necessary standards of living, there was
an urgent need to invest in and expand secondary education to women. This would
help ensure that women empowerment receives substantial development. In the mid
of rapid development at the dawn of the 21st century after apartheid,
South African women faced a number of challenges. Among the challenges was high
fertility rate that saw women giving birth to too many children in an
environment rife with HHIV/AIDS. The high fertility rate was a major deterrent
to sustainable economic development and therefore an urgent need to invest in
education for girl child (Spark
& Harris, 2013).
On this ground, the realization that
women and girl child education was the basis for a developed contemporary
society and a foundation for democracy, health, and peace prompted the South
African government to act. It put in place structures and systems that
emphasized education to women. Thus it brought many women into the limelight as
champions of women rights. As a result, the provision of education to South
African women helped them to “conceptualize, articulate and question various
elements of inequality, even those perpetrated by cultural practice and
tradition” (Spark & Harris, 2013). To this end, the women in the South Africa
emerged not only as educated leaders but also as champions of women rights.
This was through the creation of policies that reduced the intensity of
retrogressive traditional and cultural practices such as expecting women to be
homemakers while men provide for them.
Since the introduction of
women empowerment in South Africa, the number of educated women immensely
increased with the government incentives of supporting girls in colleges. An
increasing number of women, both in the country and outside the country, have
been able to obtain scholarships and other financial support from the
government. According to a study by Alesina, Giuliano & Nunn (2013), there are more women in the universities in South Africa than there are
men. Unfortunately, this number is not reflected in the available employment in
government institutions. Only less than 20 percent of the entire workforce is
composed of women. This means that more women who are educated in the South
Africa cannot access employment opportunities.
The reason for this disparity
in the job opportunities is mainly the traditional, cultural, and religious
practices that have established discrimination and segregation against women.
The practice has been perpetuated by the heavily conservative society where men
consider giving opportunities to women as a form of indecency. The existing
inequality in the leadership and decision making of the country is promoted by the
practices and values that prohibit women from making any progress in terms of
development. Evidently, the number of women who can engage in the development
of the country is high but their engagement in the development of the country
has stagnated. It is because the conservative society is not willing to give
opportunities for women to offer their contributions in the development of the
country (Alesina, Giuliano
& Nunn, 2013).
According to United Nations
report (2010), there are programs that
are supported by several international organizations including the UNDP to
empower women. They aim at bringing the society to the recognition that the South
African woman has much to offer to her society and nation in terms of providing
human resources and expertise in the various fields of development. Women
can also effectively engage in business activities instead of having specific
reserved jobs which deprive them of their opportunity to participate in the
important political decisions that the country takes. For instance, through
funds, women are now able to access micro-credit finances to start their own
businesses after going through business incubators where they are taught on how
to start and run their own businesses. Women are also encouraged to be
entrepreneurs in different areas so that they can empower other women
economically through employing them in their businesses. These collective
approaches are being implemented through the government and the international
organizations that are supporting, both materially and financially, every
activity that is aimed at achieving equality between men and women in South Africa (Alesina, Giuliano
& Nunn, 2013).
Most literatures that discuss
the structural inequality in South Africa have focused on the empowerment of
women in the face of a traditionally conservative women nation that has a long
history of discrimination and isolation against women. Cultural and traditional practices in South
African have for a long time barred women from participating in some specified
roles. Such practices have also barred them from the social mobility. Though
the requirement for women to have a male companion, irrespective of how old
they are, was repealed in 2005, the effects of the requirement are evident in
the financial and social lives of many women in the South African society.
Despite them being the
majority of the population in the country, consisting 51 percent of the
population, women continue to lag behind in the development and enjoyment of human
rights in the country. However, the country’s political leadership is steadily
embarking on programs that will enable equality to be realized in the country.
Initially, many employment opportunities had been going to foreigners because
women were not allowed to participate in work places. The business community
thus employed people from outside to work in their factories. Surprisingly and
interestingly, they employers have had no problem employing foreign women.
According
to a study done by Spark & Harris (2013), education is useful in many ways including putting emphasis
on the importance of integrating and promoting relationship among humans.
Education enables individuals from varying societies to gain a more
understanding on and appreciate other societies’ culture as well as practices. This
way, they find it possible to appreciate the beliefs, actions, and solutions
fronted by other groups. Equally, globalization has increased the need for a
unified form of education since chances of a person interacting with other
people from different parts of the world has continued to increase at the
backdrop of advancing technology and reducing personal space (Spark & Harris, 2013). Thus, education immensely contributes to diversity. It has also
encouraged similar outcomes in terms of the way in which it addresses people’s
challenges. Alesina, Giuliano
& Nunn (2013) have affirmed that the
overriding importance of education in societies is to bring understanding among
different cultural groups as “cultural understanding and cross-cultural
comparisons are a necessary component of education".
According to a study done by Dei (2006), women leadership in South Africa
has a distinct characteristic in that there are too few women leaders at the
regional and national levels while the majority is concentrated at family
levels. This is typical of other African countries with statistics showing that
only 19.7% of parliamentarians in these countries are women. The low
representation of women leaders at higher levels of politics is also represented
in other sectors of society. It undermines equity, democratic principles, and
standards of fairness between male and female leaders. Interesting women
leadership in South Africa is among the highest in the country alongside other
countries like Mozambique and Rwanda. However, the representation is not near
to the equity that is needed in women leadership in the country. Women who are
in top leadership positions in the country have apparently met with the kind of
culture that diminishes the role of women in development of the country. Many
top women leaders do not applaud the valuable contribution that women at medium
and lower levels have. Thus, it has undermined the significant progress that
women empowerment has had in the country.
Just like many other African countries, women in South Africa are
generally limited by various factors to aspire to positions of leadership both
in public and at family levels. According to Dei (2006), women in the country face the constraints of a patriarchal system that
confines all powers to make decisions in the hands of males. This is in line
with the African context where cultural attitudes and traditional beliefs in
relation to the social role and status of women are prevalent. Many women in
South Africa are part of the patriarchal system. This makes it difficult for
them to disengage from this culture for fear of being ostracized even with
those women who are comparatively educated. As such, the role of a woman in the
South African society has remained that of a homemaker in spite of the level of
education that a particular woman may have achieved. On the other hand, the man
is always considered as the breadwinner and leader of the household with a
right to public life whether they are educated or not. This way, women’s
identity is confined to that of the domestic sphere. This notion presents a
barrier to their entry in influential political positions. Incidental cultural
practices in South Africa remain hostile to women leadership and ultimate
involvement in politics (Dei, 2006).
Evidently, some women in the country have been able to transcend the
barriers presented through cultural practices and arisen to leadership positions
in various sectors of development including business, academic, and politics.
Nevertheless, this required them to juggle between cultural expectations of a
woman and their leadership roles. In many occasions, women leadership is faced
with a challenge of cultural practices that require a woman to observe her role
as a homemaker while at the same time practicing the leadership role that she
might have assumed. In essence, women who want to rise to leadership positions
in South Africa have had to deal with the dilemma of attending to two distinct
roles. Thus, they face a situation whereby they are always “at
an ethnic and national political crossroads” and their survival as leaders
depend on the successful balancing of the two important interests (De la Rey, 2005).
Despite the widespread inequality between men and women in the country,
the government has put in place certain strategies to ensure equitable
representation in leadership. While women have put efforts both individually
and collectively to fight for inclusion and recognitions in all structures of
governance in South Africa, it is notable that achieving equity in leadership
and culture can be difficult without intervention from the government of South
Africa (Wanasika, 2011). This can be true even
with provisions anchored in the constitution and other regulations about the
rights of women to have equal opportunities both socially and politically as
men. Achievements for women have been noted in the areas of politics with the
number of female parliamentarians increasing partly because of party
regulations and electoral laws which are specifically aimed at supporting women’s
participation in politics. This is in relation to the observations that “women’s
increased participation in decision-making seldom happens by some evolutionary
miracle” (Schwalbe,
2012).
In South Africa, active policies are
applied to bring women in various structures both at the family level and also
nationally. Among the policies applied include; affirmative action programs, positive
discrimination strategies, and rhetorical strategies. All these policies have
been instrumental in getting women on board in leadership positions despite the
retrogressive cultural practices that characterize most of the communities in
the country. Affirmative action in instilling equal gender representation in the
public sector is a phenomenon which is common in many countries around the
world. Affirmative action includes programs that aim to introduce fairness in
recruitment of employees by eliminating the barriers that women face. There are
numerous programs in the country that anchor affirmative action from governmental
and nongovernmental organizations. They include financial assistance to women,
advisory group goals, training, and measuring of the outcome for women entry in
public and private sectors (Moutlana, 2001).
The larger view in South Africa is
that cultural and traditional practices can be used as instruments of change in
regard to the role of women in the society
(Nowell, 2012).Women are encouraged in many forums to spearhead the
necessary change. While it is agreeable that there is a general consensus that
some elements of culture try to silent women and present them as subordinate or
second-class citizens, majority of cultural practices and traditional beliefs
uphold the dignity of a woman in the society. With this view in mind, women
human right activists have always used the empowering element of culture as a
catalyst for positive change in empowering, legitimizing, and advancing the woman’s
role in leadership in African perspective. Thus, there are concerted efforts
from different organizations in the country to shape culture in a way that is
liberating to women in the country (Santovec, 2006).
Summary
Research on the role of women in
leadership has been done by various researchers and organizations. Among the
outstanding findings is that women are cowed by oppressive cultural and
traditional practices that inhibit their entry in leadership. Family
obligations like having to look after children at home also contribute to the
inequality between men and women in leadership. Many researchers also found
that women can be as good leaders as men if they are empowered through
education as well as abandoning retrogressive cultural practices.
Interview with a woman
leader in South Africa
- Where do you see women leadership
in this country at the moment?
Women leadership has grown tremendously
in the last two decades. The government has been very supportive of policies
and programs that are aimed at bringing more women into leadership of this
country. However, much still needs to be done if we are going to talk about
equality in gender representation of this country.
2. South
Africa society is entrenched in cultural practices that prioritize the role of
men in the society. Do you think these practices have been an impediment to the
progress of women in this country?
Definitely, the implication of cultural
practices on the progress of women in leadership cannot be ruled out. Part of
the reason and which is not so obvious, is that women themselves are the
greatest crusaders of these retrogressive cultural practices. More women are
still in homes playing their traditional roles of being mothers and wives.
3. What
is the role of education in reducing the gap between men and women in the
country’s leadership?
Education is an essential requirement
when it comes to emancipating an oppressed group. For a long time, women did
not have education and that is why it was easy for the society to look down
upon them as being unable to provide leadership in homes and at work place.
Nevertheless, with more women accessing education, the trend is changing as
women now begin to hold important and influential positions in our country
4. Do
you think that empowerment of women in South Africa is done at the detriment of
the men folk?
This
cannot be the case. Unfortunately, it is the popular notion not only in South
Africa but around the world. Some men are feeling threatened with the ongoing empowerment
of women. But the truth is that developing a woman is akin to developing the
whole society. Therefore, men have nothing to fear about the empowerment of
women. If anything, the programs are only meant at bringing women to the level
where men already are. We encourage men to support these programs.
- What does diversity mean to you? Do you consider
yourself to be diverse?
Diversity involves integration of all cultures, traditions,
and opinions from people of different races and all gender. It can be
appreciated when no one’s culture and gender is considered as a cause of
inferiority to the other. As a woman, I have strived towards diversity although
I am not at the level where I would want us as a society to be.
- How
would you describe your ethnicity and cultural heritage?
Ethnicity is a collection of cultural practices and belief
systems practiced by a large number of people. Contrary to the popular believe
that ethnic groups have blood relations, I believe that women belong to the
same ethnicity by virtue of their needs. Cultural heritage is the inheritance
that we get from our forefathers in terms of belief systems and practices.
Cultural heritage defines us as a people tied with the same destiny
- What are some aspects of your identity that you most value?
How does diversity or culture impact your identity?
I value humility and determination. As a woman I believe
that we have got to be determined and humbled in our quest to a just society. I
believe that when we integrate our virtues, we are able to see the bigger
picture where the society is just and fair to each one of us irrespective of
our gender. Diversity impact my identity in the sense that I appreciate people
from all cultural backgrounds and strive to provide support to them all
irrespective of their cultural heritage as women
8. Some
of the women in leadership employee young girls as home care when they become
leaders. The implication is that women are neglecting their role as mothers and
homemakers and instead delegating it to their fellow uneducated women. Do you
see this as a challenge?
The traditional role of woman is not
mutually exclusive of women leadership. Men who understand this have been very
supportive of their women and therefore accept the roles that were initially seen
as preserves for their wives. In such cases, the woman leader does not need to
employee a house girl to take care of her home. Where this occurs, it means the
husband is not supportive of his wife. However, it is still a challenge to
women leadership and maybe this will only change when the society also accepts
men as homemakers.
9. Do
you have any other recommendation on the issue of the role of women in
leadership, family and culture?
Let more women be given an opportunity
to lead through education and empowerment. Indeed, educating a woman is
educating the whole nation.
Preparing
for the Interview
The individual for the
interview was selected on her efforts to fight for women rights in South
Africa. She is a person who has achieved a lot as a woman besides fighting for the
rights of women in the country. Preparation involved looking at literature and
the trend of women roles in the society in areas of business, politics, sports
and governance. The research sources included literature from numerous
conferences held in South Africa and other countries about the role of women in
leadership and home making as well as interviewing women leaders in the
country. While approaching the interview, I felt a bit uneasy as I did not know
the particular responses that I was expecting from my interviewee. Again, it
was not easy to get the right person for the interview because of the busy
schedule.
Overview
of the Interview
The interview was about
the roles of women in a fast- moving society where culture can be impinging on
the progress of women in development. It focused on the achievements that women
in South Africa have had and the challenges they are still facing in taking up
leadership roles in governance as well as homemakers. Some of the interesting
facts that came out during the interview was that unlike men, women in South
Africa have had to overcome two obstacles to be where they are today; that of
apartheid and retrogressive cultural practices. The information derived from
the interview echoed much of the ones in the literature about women leadership,
that women empowerment is gaining prominence over cultural practices and
traditional beliefs that hinder women leadership. Through this experience, I
learnt that I have a role to play in instituting a just society where both men and
women have equal opportunities in leadership. I have also learnt that through
grassroots interview, one is able to get the clear picture on the ground. That
is, most of the literatures available about women leadership tend to exaggerate
so much when it comes to number of women in leadership. The fact remains that
women have made great strides towards an equal society. Through this experience
I have also come to change my view about women empowerment as not emasculation
of men but rather, an empowerment of the whole society and indeed the whole
world
Comparison between Research Findings
and Gathered Information
Both the findings from research and the gathered information
point to the fact that the South Africa society is ready for women leadership.
The realization of the power of women to influence the development in a
positive manner is reflected in the numerous programs and policies that the
government is putting in place to support women. Women in the country have also
come up strongly to take this opportunity. However, the representation of women
in political positions is still low. Women are mostly seen in corporate and
business world than in politics. Yet, political positions influence the
creation of policies that will support the notion of having more women in
leadership positions.
There is also an indication that cultural practices are slowly
being lined up in a manner that will enable them to support the role of women
in society rather than acting as obstacles to their development. As witnessed during the interview, South
African Women are now confident that they can catch up with their male
counterparts in terms of education and development. This is happening despite
the fact that it is only recently that they started having supportive programs.
Importantly, there is a need to also emphasis the role of education to all
women. This should be done irrespective of their social class. This way the
realization of an equitable society will be a reality in South Africa.
Conclusion
The economic and social developments in South Africa that
are experienced today are a result of the increasing presence of women in
leadership. Given the kind of political landscape that the country emerged from
together with cultural practices that gave more priority to a boy child at the
expense of the girl child, the steps that South African women have attained in
trying to emancipate themselves cannot be overstated. However, the South
African society still limits the indication of the readiness of women to lead
to the proof that they are proud of their performance at an individual level.
This is rifer in politics in which men are still dominating with few women
showing their interest to take up challenging political positions. Influential
positions are left to a few educated women who are willing to take alongside
their male counterparts to compete for leadership positions in elective
positions.
Arguably, the lack of backing of women by their
women counterparts ensures that it is only men who get into influential
positions. It denies the women opportunity to change the general situation
concerning the plight and the welfare of women in the country. Those who refuse
to vote are ultimately supporters of the status quo. By refusing to vote, they
give the conservative voters an opportunity to elect men who will not champion
their affairs. The lack of voting by eligible women and the refusal to back
other women is also a contribution to the slowing down of the efforts that aims
at ensuring that the country’s leadership realize the importance of formulating
policies that can contribute to the general success of the women in the
country. The lack of voting also means that the government will be the one
coming up with imposed plans on women as there are no women in the leadership
positions to champion their interests.
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