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Around 1914, a hundred years ago, women began campaigning for the right to vote in South Africa.
White women were the first to gain access to the vote in South Africa in 1930 and the rights of Black, Indian, and Coloured women to vote only came in 1994.
In Bill Nassan's book, 'Springboks on the Somme' he notes that a member of Parliament around that time was quoted as saying something like 'The question of why women don't have the vote is the same as the question of why don't women have beards.'
In essence, 'voting: it's a guy thing.'
As more than half of the population then, women as a whole have only had a say in our country for a very short period in our history.
This might explain why progress for women remains slow. I have written before on the slow progress in the economic sphere for women, and on the high levels of violence against women.
Women are most likely to be poor in SA, likely to earn less than men, more likely to have HIV, less likely to own land, and more likely to do all the cleaning even when they're also employed. Things aren't equal, even though they should be.
Less than half of top ten candidates of all 28 political parties contesting the National elections are women.
When you get to voting stations this year, your options are mostly male. Some closer examinations of political parties and women's rights shows that no party is targeting women as a voter.
As of the 2013 count, more women than men were registered to vote. So we obviously care about how our country is run.
I think it's time we started caring about by who. We need to make a South Africa where women Government officials are able to exercise their voices within political spaces in the interests of women.
Sometimes the promise of equality makes us relax, and assume that things will all work themselves out. They haven't. We have to work them out for ourselves. It's time to put ourselves first. We need to make the promise of a female President seem real.
I'm not saying vote for a woman because she's a woman (although I think that sometimes that helps too – representation is very important).
I'm saying vote on the 7th in an informed way. Look at the political parties with women leaders, and see whether you can invest your vote in them.
Look at the parties on offer, look what they offer women, and if you don't find something you like then start thinking about how you can get that in 2019.
As women, we need to start participating before and between elections. We need to make our voices heard continuously.
We need to look around for the women leaders around us – those women who inspire, who get things done, who are committed to making a difference – and we need to encourage them to run for political office. We need to start thinking long term.
Good luck voting on the 7th. I hope you go there with the feeling that you are part of a collective of women across the country who are using their vote to influence the future of our country.
I hope that you vote in honour of all the women who have been denied the vote before you, and in honour of those who worked so hard to get it for us.
Follow Jennifer Thorpe on Twitter
Follow Women24 on Twitter or like us on Facebook
White women were the first to gain access to the vote in South Africa in 1930 and the rights of Black, Indian, and Coloured women to vote only came in 1994.
In Bill Nassan's book, 'Springboks on the Somme' he notes that a member of Parliament around that time was quoted as saying something like 'The question of why women don't have the vote is the same as the question of why don't women have beards.'
In essence, 'voting: it's a guy thing.'
As more than half of the population then, women as a whole have only had a say in our country for a very short period in our history.
This might explain why progress for women remains slow. I have written before on the slow progress in the economic sphere for women, and on the high levels of violence against women.
Women are most likely to be poor in SA, likely to earn less than men, more likely to have HIV, less likely to own land, and more likely to do all the cleaning even when they're also employed. Things aren't equal, even though they should be.
Less than half of top ten candidates of all 28 political parties contesting the National elections are women.
When you get to voting stations this year, your options are mostly male. Some closer examinations of political parties and women's rights shows that no party is targeting women as a voter.
As of the 2013 count, more women than men were registered to vote. So we obviously care about how our country is run.
I think it's time we started caring about by who. We need to make a South Africa where women Government officials are able to exercise their voices within political spaces in the interests of women.
Sometimes the promise of equality makes us relax, and assume that things will all work themselves out. They haven't. We have to work them out for ourselves. It's time to put ourselves first. We need to make the promise of a female President seem real.
I'm not saying vote for a woman because she's a woman (although I think that sometimes that helps too – representation is very important).
I'm saying vote on the 7th in an informed way. Look at the political parties with women leaders, and see whether you can invest your vote in them.
Look at the parties on offer, look what they offer women, and if you don't find something you like then start thinking about how you can get that in 2019.
As women, we need to start participating before and between elections. We need to make our voices heard continuously.
We need to look around for the women leaders around us – those women who inspire, who get things done, who are committed to making a difference – and we need to encourage them to run for political office. We need to start thinking long term.
Good luck voting on the 7th. I hope you go there with the feeling that you are part of a collective of women across the country who are using their vote to influence the future of our country.
I hope that you vote in honour of all the women who have been denied the vote before you, and in honour of those who worked so hard to get it for us.
Follow Jennifer Thorpe on Twitter
Follow Women24 on Twitter or like us on Facebook
