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The social sanctions for businesses which fail to address gender inequality are not strong enough to send a message, says Trudi Makhaya, the economic advisor to the president.
In many instances, she said, it was not just about the financial penalties but the stigma that should come with the businesses’ failure to address the issue.
“This thing of celebrating the first woman to do this or having one woman to be on the board has to stop because we have to acknowledge that actually that doesn’t mean much,” said Makhaya.
She said, rather, this should be a call for “constant vigilance” and added that, what was important was the effective enforcement of legislation and good policies.
“There’s poor enforcement of policies to encourage equality because [as much as] people see the good of it there’s still a lot of stereotypes that hold women back and I think that’s where the problems arise.”
She said when it came to gender-based violence, particularly, the legal system was failing.
Makhaya was speaking on Monday at the business leaders advancing women empowerment and gender equality panel discussion, hosted by Global Compact Network South Africa, UN Women South Africa and the Commission for Gender Equality.
“A lot of the work that’s being done to uproot corruption and bad governance, we need to be committed in ensuring it yields results. And then I think the next step is to think about accountability – how do we hold people accountable who are rolling out these services that are important to women?” she said.
However, Makhaya warned that the gender equality focus must look beyond women in leadership positions.
“In as much as we should focus on getting women into leadership – that’s still important – but we also have to make sure that the most vulnerable women, the least powerful women, are also being catered for,” she said.
Joining Makhaya on the panel was chief executive at the Commission for Gender Equality, Keketso Maema, head of citizenship at Absa Group, Sazini Mojapelo, UN Women Executive Director, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and chief executive at Business Leadership South Africa, Bonang Mohale.
“The issue of gender equality has to be purposeful, deliberate and conscious. Therefore, the words and the thoughts that emanate must reflect in [the] world and a South Africa we pray for,” said Mohale.
Mlambo-Ngcuka emphasised the need to hold businesses accountable.
“We would like a kind of a barometer that monitors the performance of companies, especially in those areas that truly disadvantage women like equal pay, representation, safety and protection from sexual abuse. These are just some of the critical things that we would like to actually monitor and publish so that companies can see for themselves who is getting it right and who is not,” she said.
“So far I haven’t seen any significant change, so whatever it is that we are using now is clearly not having the right impact,” added Mlambo-Ngcuka.
