Gender Bill To Put Women In The Driving Seat

THE government is moving ahead with its efforts to pass the Gender Equality Bill, which would see companies given strict targets to employ more women in positions of power.

The Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Lulu Xingwana, said yesterday that the bill could see non-complying firms being penalised. She was speaking at the Women Economic Empowerment Conference at Durban’s International Convention Centre. “The Gender Equality Bill that we are developing is to gain legislative authority to enforce this principle of 50-50 gender parity,” Lulu said.

She said the target was to have the bill put to the cabinet by March next year. Consultations were under way with stakeholders on the scope, enforcement measures and various elements that needed to be included in the bill. Lulu said she was appalled that only 21 percent of women occupied leadership positions in the private sector. This was against the 35 percent in the public sector. “Our target is to reach 50 percent by 2014,” she said.

While the minister said that some people saw the Gender Equality Bill as a pipe dream, she was confident that it was feasible. It had been achieved successfully in Norway. “In 2002, barely 6 percent of Norway’s corporate directors were female, and about 70 percent of the top companies in the country did not have a single woman on their executive boards... The Norwegian parliament passed a law in 2003 giving companies five years to have 40 percent women in their boards. The law affected about 460 listed companies and none of them have been penalised because they all complied,” she said.

Lulu said gender equality was an issue that countries across the world were grappling with because of a lack of understanding. “It does not make business sense as it limits the overall potential for economic growth,” she said. Lulu also warned women against being used as a front in male-dominated companies.