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The fuzzy maths of SADC
Mavis Makuni
January 13, 2005

http://www.fingaz.co.zw/fingaz/2005/January/January13/7492.shtml

It's fuzzy maths. That is the only way to describe the Southern African Development Commu-nity (SADC) Gender and Development Dec-laration quota system.

The gender policy, which was adopted in 1997, requires national governments to reserve 30 percent out of the total number of decision-making and public service posts for women.
Governments were given a deadline to meet these targets by the end of this year, but events on the ground make it very doubtful that any SADC country will pass the test.

The 30 percent quota system has generated considerable interest in Zimbabwe because of the ascendancy of former freedom fighter Joyce Mujuru to the position of Vice-President.
The ruling ZANU PF late last year invoked the SADC declaration to instruct its 10 provinces to nominate a woman candidate to fill the vacancy created by the death of Vice-President Simon Muzenda in 2003.

In his enigmatic "I have a dream" remark, President Robert Mugabe gave a very clear hint that Mujuru could be his anointed successor as the country's next President.
Mujuru's appointment was, however, not welcomed by everyone in the ruling party. As the Tsholotsho indaba, which was allegedly organised to derail the historic appointment, has demonstrated, there was outright opposition to her candidacy.

Mujuru’s rise to the top has, in fact, been unique in a controversial way in that it has claimed an unprecedented number of political causalties. Most of those linked to the Tsholotsho meeting have been punished in one way or another.

In addition, speculation has been rife that the ruling party presidium’s decision to elevate Mujuru was not exactly underpinned by a commitment to gender balance.

Rather, critics say, it came in handy as a way to thwart the political ambitions of Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa. Whether this is true or not is another matter.
The policy has also been invoked to bar certain individuals from contesting party primary elections. The male aspirants were simply told the constituency was being reserved for women.

The question that still needs to be asked, however, is whether the SADC policy planners who crafted this quota system mean business.

It has never been explained how they arrived at the figure of 30 percent when it is an established fact that women constitute the majority in the populations of all the relevant SADC countries.

In Zimbabwe, for example, women constitute 52 percent of the population. As this is the trend in the rest of the SADC countries, the effect of this half-hearted approach will be the same across the entire region.

Affirmative action programmes have been undertaken in countries such as the United States to redress discrimination against women and minorities. These have shown that a much more aggressive approach is needed to enforce the relevant laws.

The US Equal Employment Oppor-tunity Commission (EEOC), for example, is backed up by various enforcement agencies with powers to take legal action or institute other punitive measures against non-compliers.

As an example, discrimination in employment — hiring, salaries, fringe benefits, etc — on the basis of colour, race, sex, religion or national origin is prohibited under an executive order.

A federal enforcement agency, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance, is responsible for making sure that affected organisations comply with the stipulated conditions.

The enforcement agency is empowered to bar flouters of the anti-discrimination regulations from getting federal contracts and grants. Culprits also stand to lose any federal funding they have already received.

However, despite this vigilance, the EEOC has still struggled with huge backlogs of discrimination charges, which needed to be investigated and resolved.

The SADC Gender and Development Declaration glaringly lacks an enforcement mechanism and a regime of sanctions for non-compliance. It depends solely on governments to voluntarily honour their obligations.

It is safe to say it is too much to expect some of the governments, which have no qualms about flouting principles pertaining to democratic governance, the rule of law or human rights, to lose any sleep over gender balance. They are bound to do everything possible to find loopholes or resort to other tactics to delay or avoid having to implement the policy.

On their part, the SADC policy formulators have demonstrated a lack of political will and commitment through their preparedness to promote an unfair quota system. By what mathematical formula did these bureaucrats calculate that groups of people who represent the majority in most SADC countries are entitled to only a third of the national political cake?

The purpose of quota systems and affirmative action programmes is to enable previously disadvantaged segments of the population such as minorities and women to catch up in different spheres of human endeavour. The SADC Gender and Development Declaration quota, which set the 30 percent benchmark, could prove counter-productive in the long run. It can have the effect of actually institutionalising the gender imbalances it is purportedly seeking to eradicate.

Most governments will not meet the 30 percent quota. The few that will comply will pat themselves on the back for a half-baked achievement. The affected segment of the population will, however, have no cause to celebrate until the SADC policy planners get their maths right.

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