The high incidence of gender-based violence (GBV) in South Africa, as well
as its serious consequences, makes such violence a matter of central policy
concern to women. Local government programmes provide ample scope
for intervening in GBV. But to what extent do political parties recognise
this local-level role? To explore this question the authors analysed the
manifestos of seven political parties released prior to South Africa’s 2011
local government elections, finding that, overall, parties offered few concrete
and specific proposals for addressing GBV. The thinness of the manifestos,
it is argued, illustrates the fact that the mere presence of women in political
parties does not, in and of itself, automatically result in policies with gender
content. In this context, mandating quotas only ensures that large numbers
of female politicians are now championing gender-blind policies. Ultimately,
attention must be paid both to parties’ policies and to their quota of women
politicians if meaningful change to women’s lives is to be effected.