CONTENTS

Acronyms and Abbreviations

Part I

Part II

Article 1:  Definition of Discrimination against women

Article 2:  Oblications to eliminate discrimination

Article 3:  Development and Advancement of women

Article 4:  Acceleration of equality between men and women

Article 5:  Sex roles and stereotyping

Article 6:  Suppression of exploitation of women

Article 7:  Polictical and public life

Article 8:  International representationa and paricipation

Article 9:  Nationality

Article 10: Education

Article 11: Employment

Article 12: Equality in access to health care

Article 13: Social and economic benefits

Article 14: Special help for rural women

Article 15: Equality before the law and civil matters

Article 16: Equality in marriage and family law

General Recommendation 12

General Recommendation 19

Conclusion

ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

 
ABET - Adult basic education and training
CASE - Community Agency for Social Enquiry
COSATU - Congress of South African Trade Unions
CRSS - Committee for the Restructuring of Social Services
CSS - Central Statistical Service
CSW - Commission on the Status of Women
ECD - Early childhood development
GEIS - General Export Incentive Scheme
GETT - Gender Equity Task Team
IAJ - Institute for the Advancement of Journalism
IDASA - Institute for Democracy in South Africa
ILO - International Labour Organisation
Instraw - UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advance of Women
LOGIC - Local Government Information Centre
METF - Medium Term Expenditure Framework
MPL - Member of the Provincial Legislature
NEDLAC - National Economic, Development and Labour Council
NGO - Non-governmental organisation
NLC - National Literacy Cooperation
OAU - Organisation of African Unity
OSW - Office on the Status of Women
PWG - Parliamentary Women’s Group
RTS - Rape Trauma Syndrome
SABC - South African Broadcasting Association
SADC - Southern African Development Community
SALC - SA Law Commission
SALGA - South African Local Government Association
SAMDI - South African Management and Development Institute
SASA - South African Schools Act
SMME - Small, medium and micro-enterprises
STD - Sexually transmitted disease
TB - Tuberculosis
TBVC - Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda and Ciskei
TEFSA - Tertiary Education Fund of South Africa
TLU - Thousand Learner Unit
UN - United Nations
UNHCR - United Nations High Commission on Refugees
WEU - Women’s Empowerment Unit

General Political Structure

The orginal inhabitants of South Africa were hunter-gatherers known as the San and Khoikhoi. About 1500 years ago Bantu-speaking groups migrated to present day South Africa from east Africa. European colonisers arrived after 1600; the first Dutch (later to be known as Afrikaners) in 1652, and the British after 1795.

The oppressive apartheid policies in South Africa were formalised in 1948 with the election of the National Party under Dr DF Malan, although apartheid-type laws and practices had been imposed much earlier. These policies segregated racial groups into Africans, Coloured, Indians and Whites and applied social, political, economic, residential and employment restrictions. The policies were further entrenched by a series of Acts during the 1950s.

The process of dismantling apartheid commenced in 1989 in response to the struggle waged by liberation movements; mounting internal and international pressure. During 1990 the bans on movements such as the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP) were lifted and Nelson Mandela was released from prison.

Multiparty negotiations between 1991 and 1993 culminated in the adoption of the interim constitution. The constitution took affect from April 1994 when the first democratic elections were held. Over the subsequent three years, the National Assembly and Senate, sitting as a Constitutional Assembly, negotiated a final constitution. This new Constitution came into effect in February 1997.

Structure of government

The Parliament has two houses - a National Assembly and a National Council of Provinces (which succeeded the senate under the new Constitution).

The National Assembly consists of 400 seats elected on the basis of proportional representation in proportion to the number of votes cast for the different parties. 200 seats are selected from provincial lists of fixed number (varying by province) and 200 are drawn from national lists to ensure proportionality with party votes. The National Council of Provinces consists of 54 permanent representatives and 36 special delegates to be nominated from time to time by the provincial legislatures.

The President must be a member of the National Assembly. He or she is elected by majority vote of the National Assembly and must then resign his or her seat.

There are two further tiers of government - at provincial and local level. The first provincial elections took place at the same time at the national election. Local government elections were held in most provinces in late 1995 and in other provinces in May 1996.

In the National Assembly the African National Congress holds the majority of seats having received 63% of the total vote. The National Party received 20% of the vote and the Inkatha Freedom Party received 11%. Smaller parties with seats include the Freedom Front, the Democratic Party, the Pan Africanist Congress and the African Christian Democratic Party.

Legal System

The South African legal system is based on Roman-Dutch law subject to the Constitution. Judicial authority is vested in the courts.

The Constitutional Court has jurisdiction over all matters relating to the interpretation, protection and enforcement of the Constitution and its decisions are binding upon all persons and upon all legislative, executive and judicial organs of State.

Land and People

Geography

South Africa is situated on the southern tip of Africa. It is bounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and the Indian Ocean to the east. Its northern borders are shared with Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique. The countries of Lesotho and Swaziland are within its boundaries. The total area of the country is approximately 1 219 080 square kilometres.

The interim constitution, which was adopted in December 1993, created nine provinces. These formed the basis of the first democratic elections in April 1994. They replaced the former four provinces, four nominally "independent" states or homelands and five "self-governing territories". The new provinces are the Eastern Cape, the Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, Northern Province, North West and Western Cape.

The geography and climate of South Africa vary quite widely. The provincial capital with the highest rainfall is Pietermaritburg in KwaZulu-Natal, which receives approximately 149mm per annum. The driest capital is Kimberley in the Northern Cape, which receives only 64mm of rainfall per annum. The terrain includes Savannah with mixed grasslands and trees, grasslands with trees, found mainly on hills and river beds, the dry Karoo and lush Fynbos areas.

Ethnic and demographic characteristics

In mid-1995 the population of South Africa was estimated to be 41 244 000. Women accounted for approximately 51% of the total population.

The table below provides the breakdown by population group. Current estimates are based on the census of 1991. Another census was taken in November 1996. Preliminary results were released in July 1997, and suggested that previous estimates had been too high. The table below reflects the earlier figures, while the new estimates suggest a total of around 37,9 million.

Population mid-1995

Approximately 48% of the population live in urban areas. The Northern Province is the province, with 91% rural inhabitants, has the highest proportion of non-urban dwellers. With 96% of its people living in urban areas,Gauteng has the highest urban population.

The pattern of official migration into and out of South Africa in 1995 is shown in the table below.

Immigration and emigration

There are also widely varying estimates of illegal immigrants into South Africa (mainly from Southern African countries) and many people seeking refugee status. These issues are discussed under Article 9.

Economy

Gross Domestic Product

South Africa has the largest economy in southern Africa. In 1994 South Africa accounted for 44% of the combined gross national product of all countries in the sub-Saharan African region.

In 1995 the primary sector accounted for 14% of South Africa’s GDP, the secondary sector for 33% and the tertiary sector for 54%. Mining and quarrying are major industries within the primary sector, together accounting for 9% of GDP. Manufacturing is the major component of the secondary sector, being 25% of GDP.

Rate of Inflation

The inflation rate in May 1997 was 9,5%.

External Debt

During the first half of the 1980s there was a dramatic increase in South Africa’s external debt from US $16.9 billion to US $24.3 billion. This was exacerbated by the decline in the external value of the rand over this period. Since 1986 there has been a series of Interim Debt Arrangements entered into and South Africa has substantially reduced its foreign debt. By the end of 1995 the amount of affected debt was US$3,0 bn (R10,8 bn) and non-affected debt was US$10,1 bn (R28,0 bn).

Income Distribution

South Africa is characterised by extremes of wealth. Although it is classified as a middle income developing country, the vast majority of the people are extremely poor. The gini coefficent is one of the highest in the world. 95% of the poor are African. 75% of the poor live in rural areas.

Household Composition

Some of the poorest households are those in rural areas headed by women. The Project for Statistics on Living Standards and Development of 1993 found that the mean total household income for female-headed households was R1 141 per month compared to a mean of R2 089 for all households. The mean monthly income per head in female headed households was R243 compared to R468 for all households.

Many of the households living in poverty contain three or four generations. The middle generation is often incomplete because men and women live elsewhere for employment reasons.

Unemployment

One of the most serious problems confronting South Africa is the chronic level of unemployment, particularly amongst the previously disadvantaged population groups.

In October 1995 14,4 million of the 26,4 million South Africans aged 15 or older were economically active. Of the 14,4 million economically active, 10,2 million were employed and 4,2 million - or 30% - unemployed.

Unemployment figures illustrate the legacy of apartheid with Africans the most badly affected. Among all population groups the female unemployment rate is markedly higher than that for men, as shown in the following table.

Unemployment rates

A significant proportion of those who are employed work in the informal sector.

Social Indicators

Literacy rate

Virtually all adult whites are literate, while close on a quarter of adult Africans are illiterate. Literacy estimates for 1991 were as follow:

Literacy rate

Religion

About 15 percent of South Africans are traditionalists; 80 percent Christians and the remainder are mostly Hindu, Muslim or Jewish.

Mother tongue

The new Constitution provides for eleven official languages, rather than the previous two. The two previous official languages, English and Afrikaans, are still used as the most common forms of official communication. However public institutions such as the South African Broadcasting Commission are endeavouring to incorporate many of the languages into their operations. Community radio stations using the language of the local area are a popular form of media.

The distribution of home languages according to the 1991 census is as follows:-

Home language

Life Expectancy

The table below shows the significant racial differences in life expectancy. Women of each population group have a longer life expectancy than men of the same group.

Average life expectancy 1995 (years)

Birth Rates and Infant Mortality

Birth rates per 1 000 of the population according to the October 1994 Household survey are as follows:

Birth rates

Infant mortality rates show a similar racial disparity partially reflecting the uneven provision of medical services and lack of adequate nutrition and general quality of living standards in some communities. In 1994 reported infant mortality rates were 54,7 deaths per 1 000 live births for African infants, 36,2 for coloured, 9,9 for Indian and 7,3 for white. The more rural areas had the highest infant mortality rates.

Maternal Mortality

Maternal mortality also differ markedly on racial lines. Estimates are unreliable due to poor reporting. Official figures for 1992 range from 2 per 100 000 live births for Indians to 58 per 100 000 for Africans. However, indirect demographic techniques put the estimate at around 250 in 1991 for African women.

Population by Age Group

South Africa has a young population. 15% of the total population is aged 5 years or younger. Another 21% of the population is aged 6-14 years.

Among adults there is a locational gender bias in that in the peak income earning years the number of men in urban areas exceeds that of women while women predominate in the non-urban areas.

Population by gender, age and location