An evaluation of South Africa’s gender norms on governance and leadership within the context of Aspiration 6 of Agenda 2063

abstract

At both national and international levels, various efforts have been geared towards ensuring gender equality and increasing the participation of women in political and developmental goals. The African Union (AU) adopted Agenda 2063 in 2015. The Agenda sets a blueprint for the holistic development of Africa’s people, with its Aspiration 6 specifically directed at uplifting women and youth. In terms of Aspiration 6, the goal is to achieve holistic empowerment of women within the next 50 years. As a first step in realising this goal, it mandates AU member states to obtain a 50/50 gender representation in decision-making capacity at governance and leadership levels by 2023. This profile aims to evaluate the feasibility of this goal in the South African context. It argues that its realisation in South Africa will require deliberate normative and institutional interventions that enhance both quantitative and qualitative representation of women in critical decision-making capacities.

keywords:

• African Union Agenda 2063
• South Africa
• gender equality
• governance
• leadership

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nicholene Nxumalo

NICHOLENE NXUMALO (LLM UKZN, Masters in Constitutional Litigation) is a lecturer in the Public Law department at Nelson Mandela University. Her research areas include African Customary Law, Constitutional Law, governance, and human rights. She has a background in African Feminist Studies and African Thought Leadership which she acquired from Thabo Mbeki Leadership institute. As an emerging scholar, her professional experience to date has largely been in the academy. Email: [email protected]

Babatunde Fagbayibo

BABATUNDE FAGBAYIBO is currently a professor in law at the University of South Africa. He graduated with a doctoral degree in Public Law, with specialisation in regional integration law, from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He has written extensively on issues of African integration, democracy and good governance, and development in Africa. His writings have been published in a number of academic journals, as chapters in books, and other online platforms. He currently serves as the deputy editor of the Southern African Public Law journal and is also serves as a member of the editorial boards of the African Journal of Democracy and Governance (RADG) and the Nigerian Yearbook of International Law. Email: [email protected]