A feminist forecast to South Africa 2024 elections: ANC women in leadership

Abstract

The first democratic elections in South Africa were held in 1994 after a long period of oppression under the Apartheid government. The elections were the first in which citizens of all races and gender were allowed to vote and were therefore also the first elections held with universal suffrage. The 1994 general elections inflorescence with Nelson Mandela as the first black President until 1999. Mandela was successfully succeeded by former President Thabo Mbeki who during his presidency, South Africa witnessed its first female Deputy President, Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. During Mbeki’s tenure, women’s representation in Parliament rose to 33%, with half of the Cabinet comprised of women. The change in leadership from Mbeki to Jacob Zuma in 2009, raised a lot of questions regarding Zuma’s attitude towards the development of women in political leadership since he is a self-polygamist who faced rape charges in 2005. Zuma’s leadership qualities triggered negating opinions on his stance on gender and women leadership. Applying a feminist theoretical framework from various approaches to feminism, the paper draws attention on the evaluation of women in leadership position. South Africa is anticipating hosting its general elections in 2024, albeit the under-presentation, marginalisation and overlooking of women in political leadership positions. Against this backdrop, the study intends to examine the role played by females and their impact in the South Africa’s general elections. Although there is vast existing literature focusing on the election’s outcome and women’s representation in high positions. Little scholarly attention has been awarded towards the involvement and influence of females in South Africa’s general elections. The qualitative study utilized secondary sources to illustrate the involvement women in South Africa’s national general elections using the radical feminism perspective. The study significantly contributes to the on-going debates on the role of women in the upcoming 2024 general elections