Issued by: GCIS
Preliminary results of a study on Gender and the Private sector, by the Commission on Gender Equality, indicate that the South African business community shows scant interest in promoting gender equality. This is despite the country's constitution and statutory requirements obligating the private sector to address issues of inequality between men and women.
According to the forthcoming report forty seven percent of companies interviewed indicate that they do not have a gender policy. A significant number of companies indicated that they are not interested in this issue or that they are interested in business and employ people who can do the work (Gender and the Private Sector, CGE 1999). This lack of understanding manifests in the resistance toward the formulation and implementation of a gender policy or gender sensitive policies within the corporate environment.
OTHER FINDINGS
Fifty nine percent of women in the sample (one hundred and three companies) are located in apprentice and trainee level jobs compared to forty one percent of men. Men were almost twice as numerous (77%) as women (23%) at manageable level in 1998/9. Only seventy two percent of the South African companies sampled are complying with the LRA regulations in terms of maternity leave. Seventeen percent of respondents indicated that they provide unpaid maternity leave for periods ranging from one to three months. Fifty one percent provide paid maternity leave for three months and twenty one percent for six months. An alarming forty one percent of responding companies indicated that they do not have a sexual harassment policy. Fifty five percent indicated that they did have a policy on sexual harassment and four percent indicated that they were currently formulating one.
There is a glimmer of hope with thirteen percent of companies having indicated that gender policies are in the process of formulating. This initiative is comforting, although these policies still need to b engaged with to ensure that Constitutional provisions and Statutory requirements are complied with.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PRIVATE SECTOR IN GENDER EQUALITY.
The private sector has an important contribution to make towards the achievement of gender equality. While new employment opportunities have been created for women as a result of globalisation of the economy, there have been trends that have exacerbated inequalities between men and women. In the mainstreaming of gender issues, some of the government commitments require the private sector to: observe national labour, environment, consumer and health and safety laws, particularly those that affect women; adopt policies and establish mechanisms to grant contracts on a non-discriminatory basis; and recruit women for leadership, decision-making and management, as well as provide training programmes on an equal basis with men. While government and NGO initiatives have been relatively well documented and publicised the situation in the private sector remains obscure.
The CGE plans to launch a major lobbying and advocacy campaign around gender and the private sector in 1999, including a national convention on this issue later this year. Among proposals, which will be tabled, are annual reporting mechanisms by companies to show what progress they are making towards the achievement of gender equality.
Transformation is not just the job of government. The purview of the CGE extends to all society. With the launch of major research projects on Gender and the Private Sector, Equal Pay for Equal work and Work of Equal Value as well as the gender audit of the Maputo Corridor the CGE ushers in this year an important new focus on the private sector. The combination of carrot and stick which will be required to break into this relatively new area of work will pose a major challenge to the Commission, as well as to its new partners in this field. We hope that the private sector will recognise that gender equality is a benefit, rather than a cost to society.
SELECTED QUOTES, PRELIMINARY FINDINGS: GENDER AND PRIVATE SECTOR STUDY, CGE 1999
For more information contact Kubeshni Govender on 083 273 8428 or Mihloti Mathye on (011) 403 7182
21 April 1999