THE COMMISSION’S ROLE TO ADVANCE GENDER EQUALITY IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR Mbuyiselo Botha Commissioner at the Commission for Gender Equality

Mandate of the CGE Section 187 of the Constitution and CGE Act No. 39 of 1996 as amended require the CGE to promote respect for, and the protection, development and attainment of gender equality. The CGE vision is a society free from gender oppression and all forms of inequality The CGE mandate is to monitor and evaluate legislation, policies and practices of the state, statutory bodies and private businesses, as well as indigenous and customary laws and practices; research and make recommendations to Parliament;

Mandate And to receive and investigate complaints of gender discrimination; and conduct public awareness and education on gender equality. CGE has powers of subpoena and litigation

The framework for transformation in the workplace The South African Constitution promotes equality in the workplace and since the early 1990s the country has worked at international levels to eliminate discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sex, sexual orientation, age and disability. South Africa ratified the following conventions : International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention No. 111, concerning equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value (ratified by South Africa in 2000)

Continuation ILO Convention No.100 (ratified by South Africa in 1997) which requires member states to pursue policies that promote equal opportunity, equal treatment in employment and access to opportunities including vocational training (with a view to eliminating discrimination in employment). Equality in the workplace is also embedded in South Africa’s national legislative framework including:

Continuation • Labour Relations Act of 1995 • Basic Conditions of Employment Act of 1997 • Employment Equity Act (EEA) of 1998 • Skills Development Act of 1998 • Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act (PEPUDA) of 2000 • Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) Act of 2003.

Continuation Employers are bound by these Acts to equalise employment opportunities for women and those with disabilities and to remove barriers to their entry, advancement, development, remuneration and retention. They are also bound by the same Acts to do this in ways that are evaluative and innovative, reviewing old policies and practices and testing new ones.

Continuation The EEA is the foundation for a range of policies, commissions and activities to achieve equitable representation in the workplace. It: • Promotes skills development for the disadvantaged • Establishes the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) to ensure that employers promote equal opportunity and eliminate discriminatory hiring practices • Makes employers responsible for training and developing women in the workplace

Continuation • Removes obstacles to promoting women in the workplace • Obliges employers to narrow wage gaps between employees of different sexes who perform similar work • Promotes flexible working hours, time off during pregnancy and the improvement of maternity and childcare facilities.

Transformation hearings The CGE commenced with the transformation hearings in 2013 wherein public entities were invited to give an account of their activities within the gender arena in order for the Commission to conduct a thorough investigation into gender transformation in the respective workplaces. Transformation hearings were conducted throughout all the nine provinces.

Continuation The transformation hearings were intended to : Assess the impact of the Employment Equity Act on women in both the public and private sectors, and address institutional and systematic barriers to their economic progress Hold public and private sector directors accountable for non-compliance with the Act Raise awareness of relevant international commitments and the importance of compliance Assess what measures have been put in place in the workplace to bring about transformation in terms of gender and disability

Continuation Share experiences and identify challenges faced by CEOs and Director-Generals in the implementation of the Act Strengthen the working relationship between constitutional bodies and civil society in raising awareness about South Africa’s compliance with international instruments, and about support and capacity interventions provided in this regard

The legal consequences Through a Notice to appear, the accounting officers are invited before the Commission to present evidence on transformation in their respective workplaces The hearings had a legal consequences and as a result the accounting officers were requested to take an oath before providing the evidence to the Commission on transformation. Through a panel of Commissioners , the CGE would engage with the accounting officers based on the evidence and oral presentation made before the Commission.

Continuation Any accounting officer who fails and/or neglects to appear before the Commission prompts the Commission apply for a warrant of arrest of the concerned Accounting Officer.

Findings of the Commission The CGE’s findings reveal a more progressive picture in the public sector than in the private one. Nonetheless there are challenges with both. The positive changes are: • An increasing number of women are participating at executive level of businesses • Certain efforts to develop the skills of women are on the increase (bursaries, coaching and leadership development).

Continuation • Certain government departments are providing executive training for women, developing EE targets, assigning responsibility for this at a senior level and integrating EE into strategic plans, with monitoring interventions in place. • Certain departments have included gender transformation targets in their performance appraisals of managers. • Several government departments have initiated gender equality awareness within the workplace.

Continuation • The negatives are: • The pace of gender transformation in the workplace has been slow. • The gender wage gap persists. • Few women are in the very top management positions of business and some sources suggest that the number of women company directors, chairpersons and chief executive officers (CEOs) declined in 2010-2011 . •

Continuation Black women make up only 3.4% of top management in business and 3.8% of senior management. White women make 10.2% and 16.9% respectively. • Representation of people with disabilities has fallen from 1% to 0.5% in both the public and private sectors. • The public sector has failed to meet the State’s 50% target for women’s representation at senior management levels and its 2% target on PWD

Follow-up Hearings In order to ensure that the entities have implemented the recommendations of the CGE and to track progress the CGE convened follow-up hearings with the same entities in all provinces in 2014. During the follow-up hearings the Commission found that majority of the entities have made great strides in implementing the CGE recommendations. For example entities that did not have employment equity plans had initiated the plans and sexual harassment policies etc have been implemented.

Continuation However there remains a challenge in attaining the 50-50 gender representation at the workplaces The attainment of 2% for people with disability in the workplace remains a challenge. There remains a challenge of women occupying senior executive positions both in the public and the private sector.

A case in Point The CGE is investigating a case of a female lecturer in Limpopo who is denied to breastfeed her four month old baby by the institution’s management as per the necessary employment legislations. This case shows how patriarchy affects women in the workplace despite the necessary legislations that prohibit unfair discrimination.

Outreach, Advocacy and Legal Clinics The Commission conducts outreach programmes and legal clinics in communities and in the workplace. The rationale of these programmes is to raise awareness of gender inequality issues in South Africa and how the CGE can assist in such issues.

Conclusions There is a need to demystify gender oppression, participate in delivering South Africa from the chains of patriarchy and give those on the periphery an opportunity to taste the fruits of democracy. An institution like the CGE specifically on many of the problems ranging from discrimination in the workplace and traditional to attitudinal- can continue to address these issues.

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