The commission said the sharp drop in the number of women provincial premiers was “a step in the wrong direction”.
Of the eight ANC-governed provinces, seven provincial premier appointments were awarded to men.
Sylvia Lucas, Northern Cape premier was retained by the ANC, and the DA retained Helen Zille in the Western Cape which it governed.
“It is the Commission for Gender Equality’s considered view that this decision is a regressive move in terms of the challenge of promoting gender equality in South African politics, especially at the highest levels of decision making in government,” the commission said in a statement.
However, the ANC maintained that it was committed to gender equality.
ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte said the National Executive Committee was concerned about the number of men who were nominated, while noting that provinces were free to nominate any person.
“In recognising the need to have gender equity and in consistency with our policy decisions of women empowerment, the [National Executive Committee] agreed that provincial excos [executive committees] must comprise up to 60 percent of females as a way of further strengthening the role of women in government,” she said
This would ensure that women would be at a high level of decision making and policy implementation, she added.
She said the committee also agreed that in provinces where the premier was a man, the speaker of provincial legislature must be a woman.
However, the commission did not believe that the ANC’s move sufficiently addressed the issue of the lack of women in key positions.
“While the [Commission for Gender Equality] acknowledges the commitment of the ruling party to balance this reduction in the number of female premiers by appointing more female provincial legislature speakers, this is hardly an equivalent substitute or trade-off,” it said.
According to the commission, the post of legislature speaker did not bear the same constitutional, legislative and political authority as that of provincial premier.
