South Africa

Gender activists are planning to march against the ANC Women's League's nomination for Jacob Zuma as the next party president.
To read the full article, please visit IOL's Website.

Government should channel finances towards gender equality and women's empowerment programmes, says Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi. The minister emphasised that gender responsive budgets were not separate budgets for women, but are general budgets that are planned, approved, executed, monitored and audited in a gender sensitive way.
For more information, please visit the All Africa's Website.

The National Gender Machinery launched its 50/50 national campaign, which aims to increase equal representation of women in decision-making positions, on Thursday. The Minister in the Presidency Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, launching the campaign, said: "We are beginning a really big movement of 50-50 representation in decision-making positions."
To read more, please visit the All Africa's Website.

Government is considering a law that will force companies and the state to implement 50/50 gender equity, according to the Minister in the Presidency Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. She told reporters on Thursday it was no use to preach but not practise gender equality, adding that introducing a law would ensure that all sectors of society adhere to this policy.
To read the full article, please visit IOL's Website.

South Africa has soared to third place, behind Rwanda and Sweden, in global rankings on women representation in Parliament after last week's elections, a report released by Gender Links on Tuesday has revealed. Before the elections the country was sitting at number 17 on the global rankings and this is set to improve dramatically with the anticipated increase in women representation in the new Parliament.
To read the full article, please visit IOL's Website.

South Africa's newly elected president Jacob Zuma has appointed 14 women ministers with 12 as deputies. According to media reports in the country, Zuma made sweeping changes to the cabinet making almost half of the ministers he announced on Sunday.
To read the full article, please visit African News' Website.

Women are still strikingly underrepresented in the world’s parliaments: their share of representatives is less than a fifth. However, the situation shows signs of progress in developing countries. Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi, former member of the South African liberation movement, encourages women to put up as candidates.

Chief electoral officer Pansy Tlakula called on Friday for a quota system to improve women's representation in the public and private sector. She said the Independent Electoral Commission was not happy with the number of women candidates in local government elections to be held on May 18. Out of 53,000 candidates only 37 percent are women.

For more information, please visit: TimesLive

Since the first democratic elections in 1994, women representation in Parliament has soared, owing partly to the ruling party's 50/50 principle at national and provincial spheres of government. After the 2009 elections, women’s representation in cabinet increased from 34 percent to 43 percent, a nine percent increase, and the country saw the accession of five women to the positions of premier in the country's nine provinces.