Challenges in the Era of Globalization - iaabd

Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference © 2011 IAABD
to speed up gender and racial transformation, with penalties. For example, fines could be imposed on
companies that did not comply with set targets. This also came at a time when Ms. Kunyalala Maphisa,
President Elect of BWA, had warned that: “At present rates, South African women will only achieve 50%
- - - [representation] on boards in 2031 and executive managerial level in 2050” (Maphisa, 2010: 7: also
see BWA, 2010: 25). At the international level, this slow progress is of particular concern especially
when one considers that South Africa is ahead of Australia, Canada, the United States and the United
Kingdom in the proportion of company directors (BWA, 2010: 12, 21, 48; also see Asthana, 2010;
EHRC, 2010; Hausmann et al, 2009: 8, 167; 2010: 8, 27-73; Pagano, 2011; Ramesh, 2010). This means
that it may be difficult to meet the third Millennium Development Goal on gender equality (MDG 3) by
the target date of 2015, let alone mainstream gender equality into other spheres of the economy (Moser,
2007: 2, 32-35; Pagano, 2011; UN, 2000; 2001).
Addressing the Businesswomen’s Association’s (BWA) South Africa Women in Leadership Census 2010
Forum in Johannesburg on 30 March 2010, Ms. Noluthando Mayende-Sibiya, made reference to the
significant progress made in “areas such as access to basic education for girls” (Mayende-Sibiya, 2010:
1). She also observed that the Reserve Bank had appointed its first woman Governor, while there was
now a woman Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at South African Airways (SAA). She further pointed out
that: “On political representation, South Africa is amongst the top six countries in the world where
women hold more than 40% of parliamentary seats”. Subsequently, South Africa’s ranking in political
empowerment has fallen from fifth to ninth position, with the percentage of women ministers falling from
45% in 2009 to 34% in 2010 (Hausmann et al, 2009: 16, 167; 2010: 10, 28, 272-73). However, Mayenda-
Sibiya was concerned that not as much progress had taken place in the economic empowerment of women
particularly in the higher echelons of the economy. These sentiments are echoed elsewhere (Ndhlovu and
Spring, 2009: 45). For example, the number of women chairs of JSE (Johannesburg Securities Exchange)
boards has fallen from 4.6 per cent in 2009 to 4.1 per cent in 2010, while the absolute number of women
chairpersons stands at 20 (BWA, 2010: 11, 23, 25).
Our specific concern in this paper is to provide some context within which to analyse trends in South
Africa. We will begin by making some observations on the methodology that is employed by the BWA,
the largest and foremost professional women’s organisation from which the majority of data is drawn. We
use the Global Gender Gap Index to complement the BWA annual censuses data (Hausmann et al, 2009;
2010). What follows is a discussion of the limitations of the study, followed by presentation of some key
findings emanating largely from the BWA 2010 Census. It is on this basis that we briefly analyse equity
and (in)equality in the context of a political economy approach, and tease out some insights for women’s
empowerment in South Africa, before arriving at some tentative conclusions.
BWA’s Methodology and the Global Gender Gap Index
The BWA Annual Census, which has been sponsored by Nedbank from its inception in 2004, seeks to
provide an exhaustive quantitative analysis of women in South Africa’s boardrooms and senior
management, as well as promote awareness on corporate issues regarding transformation. In 2007,
Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP) became a co-sponsor, while InWEnt, through its CHANCE (the
Chamber and Advisory Network for Women Entrepreneurs), has recently been involved. The President of
BWA contacted all JSE-listed companies by post to solicit information on “the status of women in
leadership roles” (BWA, 2010: 10) and, where possible, companies were asked to verify the authenticity
of this information. In 2008, a section on women in government positions was included, and a section on
listed holding companies and their subsidiaries was integrated into the 2010 Census. The BWA Census is
now widely accepted as the most comprehensive quantitative study of women in leadership positions in
South Africa.
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