Topless swimming still a no-no in SA this summer

Authorities won’t look kindly on women tanning or swimming topless at public bathing facilities this summer. Gender equality has not stretched to all leisure activities, just yet.

This, despite the expected precedent that a Berlin municipal ruling during European summer this year was expected to set. A women took the council to court to assert her right to shed her top just like men can. She came out on tops, and restrictions on female swimming kit was lifted in the city.

In South Africa, it’s a no.

“Our bylaws make it clear that inappropriate swimwear is not acceptable in the public facilities,” said Ekurhuleni spokesperson Zweli Dhlamini.

He said that a softening of the rules was not on the horizon either.

“These are public facilities that attract all members of society and as a measure of respect and protecting each other, the behaviour must be appropriate at all times, that is why we have laws that are formulated in this regard,” he said.

Carla Botes, 27, is a gender activist. She disagrees with the city’s view and said that women should be allowed to swim topless if they want to.

“It’s the same principle as equality in the workplace or wherever. It should be a matter of choice, not by law enforcement,” she said.

Instead, she suggested that authorities should keep women safe and better protected in all environments, against violent crime.

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There are a handful of places where women can enjoy the same freedom as men. Sandy Bay in Cape Town, Mpenatji beach on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast, Secrets Beach in the Eastern Cape, and the Umhlanga Lagoon count amongst the nudist-oriented sites in the country. Most of them, unofficial. But there are no facilities that simply level the playing field when it comes to going for a swim, or a tan.

Another woman said that not everyone is a nudist willing to make a journey for a privilege, that should be a right. Instead, she said, that metros should consider allowing women equality poolside, as Berlin did.

Botes said that poolside equality could also contribute to body positivity. “Should someone feel confident enough to express their equality in a certain way, it should not be taken away from them, but instead, encouraged.”

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“It is not dissimilar to the message of the Free the Nipple movement, where wearing a bra was considered a symbol of oppression. Gender equality on all levels, from the workplace through to women being allowed to swim topless if they want to, is the desired outcome of true empowerment,” Botes added.

The Free the Nipple movement was spawned by a 2011 film of the same name. The campaign, supported by several celebrities and activists, argued that women should be allowed to bare their chests in public, as men can, without considering it sexually indecent. It said that such prejudice was unjust towards women.

While topless protests hit the streets at the time, many women continue to express the sentiment by going bra-less, a protest statement that has become a fashion standard.

The German ruling in February this year affirmed that women have the right to swim topless at public pools, just like men, and found that a policy of requiring women to wear tops was discriminatory and violated the German constitution’s guarantee of gender equality. A right that is enshrined in the South African constitution and its Bill of Rights, too.

“Only difference,” said Botes, “is that in Berlin women are safer.”

She said that the Berlin move was symbolic of gender equality, but that “sadly in South Africa a woman cannot even take a walk on the beach, safely, when fully dressed.”