Women's underrepresentation in politics causes worry
Pini Bothoko | Tuesday March 15, 2022 06:00
This came to light at the just-ended regional media training on Women’s Political Participation (WPP) training that was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, which had attracted journalists from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Eswatini. Addressing the media on WPP Africa barometer-SADC findings, Gender Links’ Gender and Governance Associate, Susan Tolmay called on the government of Botswana to take advantage of its constitutional review to include issues affecting women as women’s political participation in Botswana remains the lowest in SADC.
The representation of women in the Botswana Parliament remains the lowest in SADC with 11% after it only increased by just one percent, from 10% in 2014 to 11% in 2019. Tolmay called on the government of Botswana to make sure that the process is inclusive and delivers gender equality. She stated that the Botswana government could learn a lot from countries like South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Namibia and Zimbabwe that have made a milestone in WPP. “Women’s political representation at national level in Botswana remains the lowest in the SADC region. However, since Botswana is currently reviewing its Constitution, I call on them to take advantage of this move to address women's issues and include them in the decision-making process as gender equality remains pivotal to the development of the country,” she said.
Tolmay stated that only seven women made it to the Botswana Parliament following the general election that was held in 2019 with only three of them being elected from the 57 seats whilst the additional women were appointed as Specially Elected Members of Parliament. She, however, stated that at the local government level representation, the country has performed better than Zimbabwe and Namibia with 18% but still well below the SADC target of 50%.
Tolmay said rather than showing progress, Botswana has seen a drop in women’s representation since it peaked in 1999 at 18% for national and 23% for local government. “More women in politics lead to more inclusive decisions and can change people’s image of what a leader looks like, but women are still faced with barriers like unfavourable electoral systems, lack of finance and resources, culture to mention but a few,” she said.
She stated that the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system or constituency that Botswana is currently using is good on accountability but weak on inclusion and women are mostly excluded due to lack of funds and networks. Tolmay added that countries that have made a milestone in WPP are into proportional representation and mixed system while Botswana remains the lowest with the use of the FPTP system.
Moreover, Tolmay stated that Temporary Special Measures (TSM) are a big influencing factor in increasing women’s representation in political decision-making and at the national level only eight countries in SADC have some form of TSM. “The average representation of women in countries with some form of TSM is at 36% as compared to 17% in countries without. Botswana shows that FPTP system with no quota, women remain much under-represented in political decision-making,” Tolmay said.