and recommendations of Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee on the review of chapter
nine and associated institutions
23 August 2007
The Commission on Gender Equality notes and accepts the report of the
Parliamentary ad hoc committee on chapter nine institutions. We welcome the
opportunity for reflection and strengthening our institution, and will take the
recommendations very seriously. We are in the process of studying in great
detail the particular recommendations relating to the CGE, and will respond on
these shortly.
We note with concern however, that the chapter nine institutions were only
provided with a copy of the findings and recommendations at the press
conference, and that Chairpersons were not granted the opportunity to engage
with the committee prior to this. In assessing the effectiveness of the CGE, we
must reflect on what comparative analysis and models for gender equality work
have been used to inform the approach, questions and findings of the review
process.
Measured against international indicators, South Africa is making great
progress towards gender equality. The notion of effectiveness needs to be more
broadly interrogated in this regard. We acknowledge that there are instances
where we have failed to make full use of our powers and have picked up on
similar issues that have emanated from earlier reviews of the CGE. We have
synthesised and analysed these, and developed several interventions to address
these progressively and systematically, and are confident that we are on track
to redress institutional weaknesses, many of which are reiterated in the ad hoc
committee's report.
With regard to the ad hoc committee's recommendation to create one umbrella
human rights and equality commission, we note with concern that gender inequity
forms part of the South African landscape, as a result of the very gendered
nature of apartheid. We are concerned that unless we have a focused institution
such as the CGE, this will not be adequately addressed and issues of gender
will be subsumed and not acknowledged in their own right. Not only do we feel
that the consolidation of commissions is premature for this very reason, but
that the rationale behind the creation of individual chapter nine institutions
needs to be recalled.
Commission on Gender Equality
It is by no accident that South Africa's chapter nine institutions were
created, as this speaks directly to our history. Against this backdrop, it is
important to understand why we have a stand-alone Commission on Gender
Equality. International experience shows that when there are "one-stop"
commissions catering for all human rights issues, gender inequality acquires a
lower status. In the early 1990s when these issues were being debated in South
Africa, stakeholders specifically opted to create separate constitutional
bodies to safeguard these human rights components, because they were adamant
that issues of gender should not become second-class issues. Questions of
efficiency and cost-effectiveness should not be conflated.
The creation of an umbrella human rights body is taking us back to a notion
that was already considered and deemed not suitable for South Africa. Having
said this, the CGE commits itself to engaging proactively with the proposed
task team on this recommendation, to ensure that gender receives adequate
attention. In this regard, we would welcome public dialogue on this review
process and recommendation, and call upon the National Assembly to take the
lead in this regard. The creation of the CGE came about as a result of input
from a broad range of stakeholders within South Africa and it is important that
these stakeholders are given the opportunity to deliberate on this
development.
Enquiries:
Yvonne Mogadime
CGE Communications
Tel: 011 403 7182
Fax: 011 403 7188
Cell: 082 807 1767
Issued by: Commission on Gender Equality
23 August 2007
Source: Commission on Gender Equality (http://www.cge.org.za)
