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Three of South Africa’s eight biggest municipalities (Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay and Johannesburg) elected women mayors, this moment was huge for me as young black woman and exciting in that one can start imagining what these cities will prioritise now that women are at the helm.
As an urban planner, I for one wish at the top of the agenda is urban safety. I’ve been working in the built environment for 14 years and I’ve been at the SA Cities Network for the past year and half and what I’ve noticed is that we talk about urban safety a lot. What always comes across is that perhaps the issue is that we don’t have enough women with a seat at the table to make decisions on making cities safer.
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I have lived and grown up in a Johannesburg and when I think of it, there’s never been a time I’ve ever truly felt safe. I know how to navigate the city but am tired of surviving in the city and want to thrive in it.
I carry my keys like a weapon. I lock my bag in my car boot. I have had to negotiate what I wear in certain public places to avoid harassment. I have asked a security guard to walk me to my car - hoping he, too, would be “a safe man.”
The problems of women and safety are global, the urban landscape is still a discriminatory and violent place for women and girls. Designing urban spaces with a gender perspective helps identify the diversity of interests, daily experiences and social realities that can drive the agenda on more equal and inclusive cities, free of violence against women and girls.
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According to United Cities in Local Government (UCLG) around 20% of mayors worldwide are women, while overall global numbers of female participation in politics are rising, there is a lot of work to be done. Women also make up more than half the world’s population and are often disproportionately affected by crime and violence. Their leadership and participation is therefore critical in creating safer cities.
In building back better, the world needs women’s leadership. Cities and local communities are a fundamental part of the efforts to fast-track actions towards a more inclusive, equitable and sustainable future for all. The need for gender sensitive planning cannot be emphasised enough; so rife is this problem globally that it is goal five of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals which focuses on gender equality and goal 11 that aims to make cities inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
The clock is ticking to achieve these goals.
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Research has shown that when women ascend into leadership roles, they bring a unique experience into government that leads to gender inclusive public policies, economic growth, safer environments, infrastructure development and overall improvement of citizens’ quality of life for both men and women.
We see this in how Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, introduced the “15-minute city” making urban living and travel more efficient for citizens. The plan advocates for people’s workplaces, schools, recreational centres, cafes, and restaurants where they socialise, and the stores they shop in all be within a 15-minute walk or short bike ride from their home. As a result, more people and eyes are on the street making the city feel safer.
The block of care comprises 800m2 around the SuperCADE Manitas, where a set of more than 30 services that are part of the district care system will operate, created to recognise, redistribute, and reduce the care work that has been overloaded in women. These include services for caregivers (women and men) such as flexible education to finish basic and middle school, training for employment with occupational orientation workshops and training for labour inclusion, life skills courses, entrepreneurship workshops for personally owned businesses and money management.
The physical environment plays a significant role in influencing perceptions of safety. Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles for South Africa can help our cities design safer streets and neighbourhoods.
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These five principles relate to surveillance and visibility (increased lighting and more open spaces), well-defined public spaces, limiting access and escape routes, clean streets, and less high-walled areas. Employing these principles in combination can increase the possibility of reducing crime in cities.
There is also a need for new thinking in public space management, addressing social ills by managing homelessness in public parks, improving waste management through regularising recycling, which addresses a source of extreme frustration for local businesses and creating places of recreation.
In a time of massive institutional failure, and where the foundations of our social, economic, ecological, and spiritual wellbeing are floundering, female leadership in building community resilience offers balance in an unbalanced history.
The presence of women in local government has an impact on female political representation at other levels. Local government provides a pipeline of candidates for national office. In other words, closing the gender gap in parliaments and national executives will depend heavily on removing the bottleneck at local level.
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According to parliament’s current composition, the National Assembly comprises 46% women representatives, and the National Council of Provinces 36%. After the 2019 elections, women’s representation increased from 30% to 43% at a provincial level. Parliament is ranked high in terms of the representation of women MPs.
Mpho Phalatse, the DA’s candidate, was chosen as mayor of Johannesburg, the nation’s largest city and economic hub, while her party colleague Tania Campbell was appointed to rule the industrial centre of Ekurhuleni. Nelson Mandela Bay municipality also has a female mayor in Eugene Johnson from the ruling ANC.
Let’s give these new leaders all our support and hold them accountable to act in the way that supports the development of women in society.
Lechuba is South African Cities Network’s marketing and communications manager
Sources:
https://strongcitiesnetwork.org/en/strong-cities-strong-female-leadership/
https://www.uclg.org/en/Locally_elected_women_to_BeCounted_to_achive_SDG5
https://www.uclg.org/en/media/news/women-mayors-are-ready-stand-and-be-counted
https://www.democracyspeaks.org/blog/women-mayors-make-difference
https://pmg.org.za/blog/Representation%20and%20Participation%20of%20Women%20in%20Parliament
https://www.saferspaces.org.za/understand/entry/crime-prevention-through-environmental-design-cpted
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