The implementation of gender equality within the South African Public Service (1994–2019)

Abstract

Background: There are various factors that affect the effective implementation of gender equality in South Africa. Some of the factors include digital divide, economic empowerment, gender relations, gender-based violence, poverty, women’s access to political power, and women’s mobility in the workplace.

Aim: The feminist movements resulted in the notion of transformation that demands that gender-based aspects need integration in all government policies, programmes and projects. This approach is called the gender mainstreaming approach (GMA). This article within the theoretical framework of GMA examines the factors that hamper the implementation of the gender equality (focus) within the South African Public Service (locus).

Setting: The research is descriptive in nature that played an important role in developing an in-depth account of gender inequalities in the public service.

Methods: A qualitative, descriptive research method was employed. This article, which is theoretical in nature, drew its arguments from secondary data, which included books, journal articles, newspaper clippings, Internet sources and official documents.

Results: The article argues that the consideration of women in lower management levels affects their career in the long term as the succession from entry-level positions to higher management positions requires a considerable time frame and is often delayed.

Conclusion: The article recommends that all South African Public Service departments need to submit a gender mainstreaming report annually to the Department of Public Service and Administration for assessment to identify gaps in the implementation of gender equality within the public service.

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Africa’s Public Service Delivery and Performance Review
ISSN: (Online) 2310-2152, (Print) 2310-2195
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Authors:
Ayola Bangani1
Shikha Vyas-Doorgapersad1
Aliaons:
1School of Public
Management, Governance
and Public Policy, College of
Business and Management,
University of Johannesburg,
Johannesburg, South Africa
Corresponding author:
Shikha Vyas-Doorgapersad,
svyas-doorgapersad@uj.ac.za
Dates:
Received: 14 Oct. 2019
Accepted: 18 Feb. 2020
Published: 30 Mar. 2020
How to cite this arcle:
Bangani, A. & Vyas-
Doorgapersad, S., 2020,
‘The implementaon of
gender equality within the
South African Public Service
(1994–2019)’, Africa’s Public
Service Delivery and
Performance Review 8(1),
a353. hps://doi.org/
10.4102/apsdpr.v8i1.353
Copyright:
© 2020. The Authors.
Licensee: AOSIS. This work
is licensed under the
Creave Commons
Aribuon License.
Introducon
One of the key demands of the feminist movement (which started in the 1880s globally [but first
arose in France in 1870]) has been and continues to be women’s exercise of their full and active
citizenship, which they consider was denied them as a result of not being recognised as equals at
the moment of the definition and construction of citizenship in the 18th century. Since then, the
women’s movement and feminist movement have denounced this exclusion, calling for equal
citizenship for women (Vyas-Doorgapersad & Lukamba 2011). At first, between the end of the
19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, the feminist movement demanded the right to
vote along with other civic, civil and political rights, considered as a first wave of feminism. The
second wave of feminism during the 1960s and 1970s continued to demand the expansion of
women’s citizenship in the case of the African continent as a whole, and called for a redefinition
of the private sphere in which women were isolated. In this sphere, they were excluded from
certain human rights and were thus unable to fully exercise rights expressing an equal citizenship
(Vyas-Doorgapersad & Lukamba 2011).
In South Africa, gender equality is a constitutional human right whereby women are
afforded the same status as men. The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996
provides for the establishment of one sovereign state, a democratic system of government
committed to achieve equality between men and women, as well as all people of all races by
providing for the prohibition of racial, gender and all other forms of discrimination. Section 9
(2) of the Bill of Rights (Chapter 2) (Constitution of the RSA 1996) stipulates that:
Background: There are various factors that affect the effective implementation of gender
equality in South Africa. Some of the factors include digital divide, economic empowerment,
gender relations, gender-based violence, poverty, women’s access to political power, and
women’s mobility in the workplace.
Aim: The feminist movements resulted in the notion of transformation that demands that
gender-based aspects need integration in all government policies, programmes and projects.
This approach is called the gender mainstreaming approach (GMA). This article within the
theoretical framework of GMA examines the factors that hamper the implementation of the
gender equality (focus) within the South African Public Service (locus).
Setting: The research is descriptive in nature that played an important role in developing an
in-depth account of gender inequalities in the public service.
Methods: A qualitative, descriptive research method was employed. This article, which is
theoretical in nature, drew its arguments from secondary data, which included books, journal
articles, newspaper clippings, Internet sources and official documents.
Results: The article argues that the consideration of women in lower management levels
affects their career in the long term as the succession from entry-level positions to higher
management positions requires a considerable time frame and is often delayed.
Conclusion: The article recommends that all South African Public Service departments need
to submit a gender mainstreaming report annually to the Department of Public Service and
Administration for assessment to identify gaps in the implementation of gender equality
within the public service.
Keywords: gender; gender mainstreaming; gender mainstreaming approach; gender equality;
South African Public Service.
The implementaon of gender equality within the
South African Public Service (1994–2019)
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[E]quality includes the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and
freedoms. To promote the achievement of equality, legislative
and other measures designed to protect or advance persons, or
categories of persons, disadvantaged by unfair discrimination
may be taken. (p. 5)
The achievement of gender equality is supported by an
institutional framework of policies and mechanisms that include
the National Gender Policy Framework and a Ministry for
Women, Children and People with Disabilities. The government
is enforcing tough laws to ensure gender transformation
compliance in the private and public sectors (Goko 2013 cited in
Nhlapo 2019). Goko (2013) emphasises that:
[S]ince 1994, government departments and companies need to
ensure filling a minimum of 50% of all senior and top management
positions with women. Women deserve to be appointed and
elevated to decision-making positions contrary to the norm of
confining them to decision-implementing positions. (p. 1)
However, the Gender Mainstreaming Initiatives in Public Service,
a report published by the Public Service Commission (PSC
2006 cited in Nhlapo & Vyas-Doorgapersad 2016), states that:
[E]mpowerment of women is not happening in any significant or
meaningful way in departments. Apart from general policies
and practices that affect all staff, there are no specific programmes
that recognise women as a separate interest group with specific
interests and needs. This includes issues related to recruitment,
training and addressing the practical needs of women. (p. 171)
In addition, the Department of Public Service and
Administration (DPSA) published a report (cited in
Nhlapo & Vyas-Doorgapersad 2016:171–172), highlighting
that ‘women mostly occupy lower levels where earnings and
power to influence decisions are equally less’. The
consideration of women in lower management levels allows
them to obtain a job at entry level’. However, it affects their
career in the long term as the succession from entry-level
positions to higher management positions requires a
considerable time frame and is often delayed. The South
African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) in its 2017
report emphasises that in the financial year ending 31 March
2016, 16% of the total complaints received alleged a violation
of the right to equality. This violation is against the purpose
of the Employment Equity Act (No. 55 of 1998) that aims
‘to achieve equity in the workplace by promoting equal
opportunities and fair treatment in employment through
elimination of unfair discrimination’ (RSA 1998a) based on
gender, race, disability or ethnic background.
This situation creates a warning, showing that women are
marginalised in human resource (HR) processes (recruitment,
selection, promotion and career management) and that
gender mainstreaming requires serious consideration and
implementation by South African policymakers. To improve
the situation and enhance gender equality within the public
service, the DPSA proposed the Strategic Framework for
Gender Equality within the Public Service in 2005. The
framework and processes to mainstream gender are reviewed
in this article through document analysis of the official
reports of the DPSA, PSC and the Parliamentary Monitoring
Group (PMG). In view of the above background, the main
research question addressed in this study is as follows: what
are the institutional factors that influence the implementation
of gender equality within the South African Public Service?
The article aims to provide a conceptual framework gained
from the relevant literature in an effort to explain the
challenges related to gender equality. The article
contextualises factors that affect the effective implementation
of gender equality within the public service.
Methodology
The article employs the qualitative research approach that is
considered significant as it emphasises the careful and
detailed description of social practice (Sibanda 2015). Denzin
and Lincoln (2005) further emphasise that:
[Q]ualitative researchers stress the socially constructed nature of
reality, the intimate relationship between the researcher and
what is studied, and the situational constraints that shape
inquiry. Such researchers emphasise the value-laden nature of
inquiry. They seek answers to questions that stress how social
experience is created and given meaning. (p. 8)
The qualitative research approach utilises the triangulation
of data (conceptual analysis, document analysis and
unobtrusive research) to strengthen validity and reliability in
the research process. The basic idea is that questions like
‘“What is knowledge?, What is justice?, or What is truth?”
can be answered solely on the basis of one’s grasp of the
relevant concepts’ (Auriacombe 2011:96). According to the
University of Southern California (2018), the:
[P]rimary reason for using conceptual analysis is to understand
the meaning of an idea or concept. The secondary reason is to
determine how that idea or concept relates to other philosophical
problems. (p. 1)
A conceptual framework is a system of concepts, assumptions,
expectations, beliefs and theories that support and inform
research (Maxwell 2005), and is generally regarded as an
explanation proposed to reach a better understanding of the
social reality and/or phenomenon that is being investigated
(Auriacombe 2011). According to Research Methodology in
Education (2016), document analysis:
[I]s a social research method and is an important research tool
in its own right, and is an invaluable part of most schemes
of triangulation, the combination of methodologies in the study
of the same phenomenon … The purpose of triangulating is to
provide a confluence of evidence that breeds credibility. (p. 1)
Information from official documents of South African Public
Service departments, the DPSA, PSC and PMG, was
considered in the article.
According to Bryman (2004, cited in O’Brien 2011)
unobtrusive research methods:
[O]ffer a strong critique of positivism, which is the concept that
truths can be determined about the social world by scientific
measurement. They instead belong to the epistemological theory

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of interpretivism, which is that the social sciences are
fundamentally different from natural sciences, therefore
requiring researchers to reject empiricism and grasp subjective
meanings of social action. (p. 2)
In terms of ‘ontological considerations, unobtrusive methods
fit into the constructionism theory, whereby social
phenomena and their meanings are continually accomplished
and revised by social actors’ (O’Brien 2011). The reason to
consider unobtrusive research, according to Web Center for
Social Research Methods (n.d.), is that it ‘presumably reduces
the bias that results from the intrusion of the researcher’. (p. 1)
Conceptual claricaon
Gender is socially and culturally constructed diverse tasks,
roles and responsibilities related to women and men (Vyas-
Doorgapersad 2015). Gender mainstreaming, according to
Verloo (2001 cited in Vyas-Doorgapersad 2017):
[C]onstitutes a clear example of policy succession or policy
adaptation, prompted by the desire to overcome the limitations
of existing policies, and the need to respond to a changed policy
environment. (p. 104)
This explanation is supported by Daly (2005), who highlights
that ‘the primary objective of the gender mainstreaming
approach is to institutionalise equality by embedding gender-
sensitive practices and norms in the structures, processes, and
environment of public policy’. Gender equality has ‘to do
with the view that all human beings are free to develop their
personal abilities and make choices without the limitations
set by strict gender roles’ (Holzner, Neuhold & Weiss-Gänger
2010). The South African Public Service, as described by the
PSC (2017), is a holistic administration centre that consists of
different department and sectors within itself that seeks to
ensure that the people of the republic are serviced. Public
service is the entire service centre of a particular state.
Moore (1994) says that achieving:
[G]reater equality between women and men requires changes at
many levels, including changes in attitudes and relationships,
changes in institutions and legal frameworks, changes in
economic institutions, and changes in political decision-making
structures. Gender equality denotes women having the same
opportunities in life as men – including the ability to participate
in the public sphere. (p. 55–56)
Gender equality also denotes equality on the professional
front. The lack of equality may result in institutions creating
gender gaps, which Goldin (1990) explains as a ‘difference
that exists between males and females in access to some
social good or benefit based solely on their difference in
gender’. To improve gender equality and to fill gender gaps,
it is considered necessary by the United Nations Statistics
Division (UNSD 2007) to establish gender indicators, which
are tools for monitoring gender differences, gender-related
changes over time and progress towards gender equality
goals. The aforementioned aspects, according to the United
Nations Fund for Women (2015), ultimately demand gender
mainstreaming, which:
[I]nvolves bringing the contribution, perspectives and priorities
of both women and men to the centre of attention in the
development arena in order to inform the design, implementation
and outcomes of policies and programmes. (p. 3)
Theorecal underpinning
Various development movements have been witnessed in
the past that demand gender equality, such as women in
development, women and development and gender and
development. Various gender-based theoretical approaches
have also emerged in a multidisciplinary context, such as the
critical feminism theory, the gender disparities theory, the liberal
theory, the equal treatment approach, the welfare approach, the
efficiency approach, the equity approach, the empowerment
approach and the gender mainstreaming approach (GMA).
Gender mainstreaming, according to the European Institute
of Gender Equality (EIGE 2018):
[H]as been embraced internationally as a strategy towards
realising gender equality. It involves the integration of a gender
perspective into the preparation, design, implementation,
monitoring, and evaluation of policies, regulatory measures, and
spending programmes, with a view to promoting equality
between women and men and combating discrimination. (p. 1)
The GMA is considered as a theoretical framework for this
article. The rationale is that this approach (EIGE 2018):
[C]onsiders that gender mainstreaming requires both integrating
a gender perspective to the content of different policies, and
addresses the issue of representation of women and men in a
given policy area. (p. 2)
The GMA addresses the issue of gender representation ‘by
examining the representation of women and men as policy
beneficiaries, as well as their representation in the labour force
and in decision-making processes’ (EIGE 2018). The rationale is
supported by Vyas-Doorgapersad (2018a citing African
Development Bank 2011), emphasising that the approach aims:
[T]o integrate gender into development analysis, country
dialogue, sectors and operations, in the hope that gender will
become everyone’s business, and lead to improved gender
equality and more equitable and sustainable development. (p. 10)
The GMA is therefore considered with the intention that it
may assist South African Public Service departments to
develop and incorporate a gender perspective into all
government policies and programmes.
Strategic Framework for Gender Equality
within the Public Service
The field of public management and public service reform in
democratic South Africa has been shaped by the tenets of
New Public Management (NPM), including a strong focus
on decentralised management (Sheoraj 2015). However,
decentralisation is not fully achieved in terms of embracing
diversity; hence, the South African Public Service lacks
gender mainstreaming and equality in processes, structures
and programmes. Developmental and progressive thinking

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by policymakers has resulted in the inclusion of gender in the
public service in the form of a framework entitled ‘Strategic
Framework for Gender Equality within the Public Service’.
According to DPSA (2006), the:
[D]evelopment of this framework is premised on the Draft
National Programme for Action for Women’s Empowerment
and Gender Equality (2005–2015) produced by the Office on
Status of Women (OSW) in The Presidency. (p. 9)
According to Vyas-Doorgapersad (2018b):
South Africa faces a range of socio-economic and cultural
challenges that continue to underpin aspects of gender inequality.
There are a number of factors that play a crucial role in assessing
progress towards achieving gender equality. These include the
need to encourage a more equitable and non-gendered division
of labour; and the need to ensure equitable access to employment
opportunities for women. (p. 123)
Achieving ‘the goal of gender equality is premised on the
fundamental integration of women and gender issues within
all structures, institutions, policies, procedures, practice,
programmes, and projects of the government’ (DPSA 2006).
The DPSA (2006) emphasises that:
[P]riority focus on increasing women’s participation in decision
making, and the concomitant adoption of the Public Service
employment equity target of 50% representation for women at
all levels of the Senior Management Service (SMS), are built into
the current strategy. This translates to a concerted effort needed
across all government departments, at national, provincial and
local levels, in addressing women’s empowerment and
leadership development. (p. 3)
It, according to DPSA (2006:12), ‘is the full compliance, by
government departments, to the imperatives contained in the
South African National Policy Framework for Women’s
Empowerment and Gender Equality’ which was adopted in
2000 by the South African cabinet.
The aim of the framework is to create an enabling environment
in public service departments that demands a need (Jordaan
2013):
[T]o adapt their organisational management and planning
methodologies to suit the anticipated realities of the environment.
Due to the constantly changing environment, organisations will
have to reflect the realities of the time in order to be really
responsive and responsible. (p. 76)
The changed environment also emphasises a need to
incorporate gender mainstreaming and equality in the South
African Public Service.
The framework:
[P]rovides a wide set of options for the transformation of the
workplace premised on the promotion and protection of human
dignity and the rights of women. It recognises the role of the
government in promoting non-sexism and non-discrimination
for employees in the Public Service. (DPSA n.d.:3)
In other words, according to the DPSA (n.d.:4), the aim of the
public service is to create an enabling and barrier-free
workplace that is non-sexist and non-discriminatory.
Also note that related to the concept equality, according to
Wessels (2008):
[A]re the concepts equal opportunities and equal employment
opportunities. The implication of the concept equal opportunities
within the context of government institutions is to have the
opportunity to be treated equally, especially with regard to
employment, hence the concept equal employment opportunities.
(p. 26)
Wessels (2008) cites the Green Paper on a Conceptual
Framework for Affirmative Action and the Management of
Diversity in the Public Service by highlighting that:
[T]here are two characteristics to the concept equal opportunities,
namely that of a principle enshrined within the ideal of a
representative Public Service to ensure equality in employment
for the equal enjoyment of rights, opportunities, benefits and
access in the workplace and a tool to eradicate discrimination
and unfairness in the workplace in pursuit of a representative
Public Service. (p. 26)
It needs to be considered that ‘mainstreaming gender ensures
a comprehensive approach to transforming gender relations in
the workplace, the community, and the home, with the ultimate
goal of achieving gender equality’ (Public Administration
Leadership and Management Academy [PALAMA] n.d.).
South Africa:
[H]as taken a stance that gender equality is not only a human
rights issue, but also a developmental issue. The Public Service is
one of the vehicles for achieving gender equality. A transformed
Public Service that is equally responsive to the needs of all will
contribute to delivering on the government’s promise of A Better
Life for All. (PALAMA n.d.:1 )
PALAMA (n.d.) emphasises that by adopting a gender-
sensitive:
[A]pproach to service delivery and integrating gender
considerations into programmes and projects from the outset,
the Public Service can play a significant role in improving the
lives of women, men, girls and boys (p.1).
Status of gender equality in the South African
Public Service
The discrimination of women and poor representativeness in
the workplace can be traced to traditional norms and cultural
practices. Mokhele (2016) states a Setswana proverb in this
regard: ‘[a] team of oxen is never led by a female. Otherwise, the
oxen will fall into the ditch’. Mokhele (2016) further adds that
since democracy, only a small number of ‘women in the public
sector have grown significantly, particularly in the supervisory
and technical skills positions’. Since the inception of democracy
in 1994, women have always been under-represented in the
South African Public Service, as shown in Table 1.
It is evident from Table 1 that women are poorly represented
at management levels. The:
[S]ituation was at its worst in 1995, with increases in female
manager numbers from 1995 to 2000. These increases are offset to
a degree by corresponding increases in the numbers of male
managers. (Thompson & Woolard 2002:14)

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Tables 2 and 3 show the net change in female managers and
the net change in female managers as a percentage of
total change in management for the period 1995–2001,
respectively.
The situation has still not improved on absolute basis.
According to reports of the African National Congress (ANC
2014 cited in Mokhele 2016), in 2005, after the adoption of the
Strategic Framework for Gender Equality within the Public
Service (2006–2015), South Africa experienced a:
[S]ignificant increase of women representation from 30% in 2005
and 40% in 2014, yet still below the 50% target. To drag down the
progress which has been laid down by the South Africa [n]
government institutions towards advancing women in SMS and
decision-making position, statistics have indicated that such
growth has been growing at 1% per annum. (p. 8)
In addition, the statistics published by the DPSA (2017)
highlight that the ‘number of departments making progress
in meeting the 50% equity target has decreased from 22
departments in 2015 to 16 in March 2016’. The increase in the
representation of women at senior management service
(SMS) has been at an average of 1%. This pace gives us an
indication that the 50% target can only be achieved by 2025 if
it does not change (DPSA 2017). This is confirmed by the 17th
Commission of Employment Equity (CEE) Annual Report
2016–2017 (DoL 2018a), highlighting that more than two-thirds
of employees (66.7%) in senior management level are men,
while female employees only account for 33.3%. The 18th CEE
Annual Report 2017–2018 (DoL 2018b) highlights that the
representation of women is at approximately half their
economically active population at the top management level
(see Figure 1).
The review of facts and statistics published by the DPSA
(2017) indicates that the equity targets on the representation
of public servants:
[W]ith disabilities (2%) and for women at SMS (50%) have not
been met. Of concern are departments that have been hovering
between 45% and 49% over the past three years, but do not seem
to be making any progress to reach the 50%. Some departments
still have representation of women at SMS below 30% and
representation of persons with disabilities below 1%. (p. 21)
Gender equality has therefore been a concern and challenge
in the South African Public Service, whereby especially
women struggle to achieve strategic positions and equal
representation in decision-making positions. The factors that
hamper the incorporation of gender equality are discussed in
the next section.
Instuonal factors that inuence the
implementaon of gender equality
within the public service
Some of the institutional factors that hamper the
implementation of gender equality in the public service are
discussed below.
Representaon at senior management service
level by gender
As of 31 March 2017, according to the DPSA (2018), the public
service had a total of 10 254 filled senior management posts.
Of these, 41.3% were filled by women and 58.7% were filled
by men. At the end of the 2016/2017 financial year, the public
service had 1774 more male senior managers than female
senior managers.
This situation shows a lack of implementation of employment
equity in the public service. The South African government
has introduced various policies in this regard, such as the
White Paper on Reconstruction and Development of 1994,
the White Paper on Transformation of Public Service of 1995,
the White Paper on Affirmative Action in the Public Service
of 1998 and the Employment Equity Act of 1998, all aiming to
mainstream gender in the public service. However, the
departments are falling short of meeting their equity targets.
TABLE 3: Net change in female managers as a percentage of total change in
management – All levels: 1995–2001.
Management:
All levels
1995–1997
(%)
1997–1999
(%)
1999–2000
(%)
2000–2001
(%)
African people 33.3 43.0 34.4 59.0
Mixed race people 32.2 34.3 29.4 42.0
Indian people 28.6 39.9 21.5 32.7
White people 36.4 72.7 21.5 46.5
Total 34.1 48.5 27.0 49.5
Source: Thompson, K. & Woolard, I., 2002, Achieving employment equity in the public
service: A study of changes between 1995 and 2001, viewed 13 March 2019, from hp://
www.health.uct.ac.za/sites/default/les/image_tool/images/36/DPRU%20WP02-061.pdf
TABLE 2: Net change in female managers – All levels: 1995–2001.
Management: All
levels
1995–1997 1997–1999 1999–2000 2000–2001
African people 2425 8969 1711 -2249
Mixed race people 176 1096 116 -424
Indian people 245 812 229 -223
White people 1850 5423 1256 -3187
Total 4696 16 300 3312 -6083
Source: Thompson, K. & Woolard, I., 2002, Achieving employment equity in the public
service: A study of changes between 1995 and 2001, viewed 13 March 2019, from hp://
www.health.uct.ac.za/sites/default/les/image_tool/images/36/DPRU%20WP02-061.pdf
TABLE 1: Under-representaon of women at managerial level per race group: 1995–2001.
Management: All levels Male Female
1995 1997 1999 2000 2001 1995 1997 1999 2000 2001
African people 1497 3922 12 891 14 602 12 353 5885 10 736 22 646 25 911 24 348
Mixed race people 162 338 1434 1550 1126 1418 1851 3954 4233 3648
Indian people 158 403 1215 1444 1221 677 1290 2513 3349 2890
White people 2356 4206 9629 10 885 7698 12 382 15 610 17 652 22 245 18 578
Total 6168 10 866 27 168 30 481 24 399 22 417 31 484 48 764 57 738 51 465
Source: Thompson, K. & Woolard, I., 2002, Achieving employment equity in the public service: A study of changes between 1995 and 2001, viewed 13 March 2019, from hp://www.health.uct.
ac.za/sites/default/les/image_tool/images/36/DPRU%20WP02-061.pdf

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The key challenge for the South African government, as cited
by Nhlapo (2019):
[I]s to move beyond these targets and ensure that gender
relations in the public service are fundamentally transformed to
empower all the sexes to be equal participants and beneficiaries
in the consolidation of the South African democratic state, as
well as to cultivate an entrenched reflexive intervention for this,
particularly at senior management levels. This will entail moving
beyond setting only numerical targets. Critical to this is the
creation of an enabling environment to ensure that women’s
talents and potential are harnessed and nurtured for the benefit
of the South African society as a whole.
Public servants in senior management service by salary
and gender
It is clear from the reports of the DPSA (2018) that male
dominance increases with salary levels so much so that the
difference in male representation in SMS between salary
levels 13 and 16 is 15.98%. The biggest concern is at salary
level 16 (Director-General) where the percentage difference
is 47.56%, which equates to 78 more male Directors-General
than females. In stark contrast with the level below senior
management, the percentage of women is less than that of
the men for all senior management salary levels (DPSA
2018): 13 (42.20% female vs. 57.80% male), 14 (40.81%
female vs. 59.19% male), 15 (37.76% female vs. 62.24%
male) and 16 (26.22% female vs. 73.78% male). It is seen
that men hold more positions and hence outnumber
women at SMS level across all race groups. The DoL (2007)
highlights that:
[A]lthough there is an increase of women participation in the
economy of the country they still remain over-represented in
low-income employment as the majority have jobs as unskilled
elementary workers. As such, a clear gender disparity remains in
terms of the implementation of equity targets within the skills
development. (p. 36)
Compliance with the 50% target in the representaon of
women in senior management service
In the South African Public Service arena, only ‘eight National
Departments and 19 Provincial Departments have reached
the 50% women at SMS target’ (DPSA 2018). Thirty-two
provincial departments and 22 national departments have
representation between 40% and 49% women in SMS (DPSA
2018:32). Forty-four provincial departments and 13 national
departments have representation between 30% and 39%
women in SMS (DPSA 2018). There are still 19 provincial
departments that have less than 30% representation of
women in SMS (DPSA 2018). The DPSA (2018) further
confirms that the Department of Economic Development in
Mpumalanga and the Department of Sports, Art and Culture
in the Northern Cape have not submitted a progress report
for the Gender Equality Framework for 2016/2017 as yet. The
reason, as pointed out in the PSC report (2002 cited in Nhlapo
2019), is that:
[W]hile 30% is used as the benchmark for departments to use
as an indicator for the success of gender mainstreaming
departments, when they reach the 30% target, they assume
that they do not need to do more. Target setting could
therefore create a barrier to the continued advancement of
women, especially as gender mainstreaming in the South
African Public Service is still seen as meeting only numerical
targets. (p. 245)
Gender equality policies or strategic frameworks and
alignment with the Strategic Framework for Gender
Equality within the Public Service
The DPSA (2013) confirms that:
[L]ooking at the date of approval of some, it was unlikely that the
gender policies/strategic frameworks had been aligned as they
were developed long before the Gender Equality Strategic
Framework of the Public Service came into existence. (p. 13)
In addition, the challenge is that departments had adopted
different variations in developing their policies or strategies,
that is, some only developed the ones that are externally
focused and did not have the internally focused policies
or strategies (DPSA 2013). The root causes are as follows
(Department of Women 2014; Nhlapo 2019): lack of
stakeholder understanding and commitment to gender
mainstreaming; lack of sharing information and knowledge;
failure to comment on existing legislation and bills that
negatively impact the socio-economic empowerment of
women and the advancement of gender equality; inadequate
oversight capacity and expertise on policies and programmes
for the socio-economic empowerment of women and the
advancement of gender equality; predominance of gender
imbalances or disparities in the country, especially in key
decision-making positions; reversal of the women’s
empowerment agenda; the inability to promote and protect
the social and related rights of women; and the insufficient
gender expertise.
Establishment of instuonal structures and processes
The PSC (2006) highlights that:
[T]here is a lack of a clearly defined institutional framework that
is necessary to facilitate the attainment of the vision of gender
mainstreaming. Roles and responsibilities within the National
Gender Machinery need to be clarified and then implemented
and institutions held accountable for its success or lack thereof,
within the Public Service. (p. 48)
Source: Department of Labour (DoL), 2018b, Commission for employment equity 18th
annual report 2017–2018, DoL, Pretoria.
FIGURE1: Top management by gender (all employers).
Male Female
80
%
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Male
Gender
77.1
22.9
Female

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The PSC (2006) furthermore states that:
[T]he national structures established to promote women’s
empowerment and gender equality, specifically the OSW and the
Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), need to be strengthened
to be able to provide the support and services required by
government departments in implementing gender mainstreaming.
(p. 48)
‘Having addressed the lack of and inadequacy of the drivers
of gender mainstreaming at all levels within department’,
according to the PSC (2006), it is fair to state that ‘the
environment in general is not enabling for the empowerment
of women’.
According to the PSC (2006), gender mainstreaming:
[I]s not included in any departmental planning, monitoring, and
budgeting processes, apart from ensuring that employment equity
targets are met. To achieve gender equality, the government must
embark on a rigorous gender mainstreaming strategy. (p. 48)
To this end, the PSC (2006) emphasises that:
[M]uch of the responsibility for planning and implementing
effective and innovative strategies for the promotion of women’s
empowerment and gender equality rest equally with key
structures of the National Machinery and with individual
government departments at the national, provincial, and local
levels. (p. 48)
The institutional factors are internal factors that cause
organisational inactivity with regard to gender equality
initiatives. This inactivity, according to (Styodana 2015:32 cited
in Nhlapo 2019:172) produces challenges for organisations as it
creates divisions with regard to jobs, the racial and gender
make-up of jobs and differences between the diverse groups in
terms of power, status, reward and respect. These challenges
greatly impact women most of the time. The power of internal
constituencies tends to cause internal burdens for both
organisational stability and change if it fails to recognise
the inequality issues faced by organisations, that is, while
considering gender inequality, competent women leave
the organisation and constant changes must be made to the
business and the projects those same women were working on.
Recruitment and promoon pracces
In most South African Public Service departments, according
to the PSC (2006):
[R]ecruitment takes place according to employment equity
targets as informed by the employment equity plans. Women
feel disadvantaged from the onset because they have practical
needs that influence their ability to apply for certain jobs. A
perception of both men and women was that women were less
able to travel for work purposes because of domestic and
parenting responsibilities and therefore did not apply for certain
positions that require travelling. (p. 50)
The PSC (2006) therefore emphasises that:
[T]his should not be seen as the reason to justify why women do
not apply for such jobs but instead it raises substantive questions
regarding how far a department would need to go to ensure
organisational transformation to combat these challenges.
Therefore, while there are no formal restrictions on the
recruitment of women into senior positions, some subtle
discrimination might come into play. This also refers to the
obstacles or perception of the work that men and women should
be doing. For example, secretarial work is generally seen as
women’s work. (p. 50)
As stressed by (Stamarski & Son Hing 2015:4, cited in Nhlapo
2019), HR policies:
[T]hat are inherently biased against a group of people, regardless
of their job-related knowledge, skills, abilities, and performance,
can be termed institutional discrimination. Institutional
discrimination against women can occur in each type of HR
policy from the recruitment and selection of an individual into
an organisation, through to his/her role assignments, training,
pay, performance evaluations, promotion, and termination. For
instance, if women are underrepresented in a particular
educational programme or a particular job type and those
credentials or previous job experience are required to be
considered for selection, women are being systematically, albeit
perhaps not intentionally, discriminated against. (p. 170)
The above-stated challenges are further supported by the
review of official documents to highlight gender inequality
in the public service. Ms MmathaoMashao, Chief Director of
the Office of the Public Service Commission (OPSC), reported
to the PMG that the PSC:
[H]ad conducted a study on gender mainstreaming initiatives.
This was intended to provide a baseline for future research, to
develop a gender representivity profile, to examine the extent to
which there has been empowerment of women, to establish
whether there were family-friendly policies, to examine the
impact of gender mainstreaming, how recruitment and
promotion enhance gender equality, and the sensitivity of issues
associated with gender relations. All of this will enable the PSC
to propose interventions. It would also examine the role of the
OSW. (PMG 2007:4)
The key findings of the PSC’s study were then summarised
as follows:
[T]here was a general lack of knowledge and understanding of
gender mainstreaming in most departments across all levels. The
provincial overview of women in senior positions showed that
the target of 30% had not been reached. Some individual
provinces had reached or even exceeded the target (such as the
North West) but other provinces, such as the Western Cape, were
far below par. (PMG 2007:2)
The:
[A]verage percentage of women in senior positions in national
departments was 31.2%. Targets had not been reached in respect
of disability, with seven provinces having no female managers
with disabilities. The empowerment of women was not
happening …[.] There was no defined institutional structure to
attain the vision of gender mainstreaming. (PMG 2007:3)
The lack of implementation of the Strategic Framework for
Gender Equality within the Public Service is supported
by a report released by the DPSA (2016), emphasising that

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SouthAfrican Public Service departments during the Women
in Management Week in 2016 reported on various activities
aimed at promoting and protecting human rights and
specifically women’s rights, including workshops and
information sessions. However, very few departments gave a
breakdown of participants at these sessions, and the topics
that were being addressed. In a few cases where the numbers
of participants were provided, the information was not
disaggregated.
Since 2012, as confirmed by the reports of the DPSA (2016),
South African Public Service departments were given
feedback to supply this information, but the situation has not
improved. The majority of departments reported on sessions
conducted for sexual harassment and this gives an impression
that this is the only area used to address sexism in the
workplace. Sometimes, broad statements such as women are
given the same opportunities in the department, advocating
for the rights of women is crucial to the unit, were given by
departments and this does not give any indication of what
progress was achieved.
The most important information that was required for this
principle was for departments to report on the measures that
they are putting in place to meet the 50% target of women in
SMS and for departments that had met the targets to indicate
how they are maintaining them. Although a majority of
departments reported on having Employment Equity Plans,
they did not show how the implementation is helping to
meet or maintain the targets (DPSA 2016).
It can be deduced that even the institutional mechanisms,
processes and structures incorporate gender aspects, the
percentage of women involved in decision-making portfolios,
strategic positions and capacity-building initiatives is low.
Recommendaons
To improve gender equality aspects within the South African
Public Service, this article proposes the following
recommendations.
Regulatory obligaons
All public service departments must ensure that workshops
are organised to guide employees regarding awareness of the
various global, regional and national commitments that
demand gender equality in the public service. The officials
must be able to translate these mandates into action plans for
implementation.
Knowledge and awareness regarding gender
mainstreaming and gender equality
The DPSA needs to ensure that the document A Strategic
Framework for Gender Equality within the Public Service is
submitted to all public service departments. The departments
thereafter need to organise orientation workshops at the
beginning of every year to equip new appointees with the
aspects and processes of gender mainstreaming and equality
in the public service. Gender forums must be established to
organise such workshops in the departments to enable
employees to reflect on gender equality aspects and processes
in the context of their specific work areas.
Short courses on gender mainstreaming
The public service departments must ensure that SMS
employees attend short courses on gender mainstreaming
organised by the National School of Governance. For middle
and lower management levels, workshops must be organised
to ensure that all employees at all levels are informed and
knowledgeable about aspects of gender mainstreaming and
equality. The employees must therefore be able to implement
actionable measures in their work environment.
The courses must include the aspect of diversity to ensure
that both men and women are capacitated and work together
as co-workers and partners and not as sub-employees, which
is a gender-biased approach. Hence, gender awareness and
diversity issues must be handled together with maintaining
gender sensitivity in the workplace.
Capacity-building intervenons
All public service departments must ensure that capacity-
building interventions are in place for gender equality and
women’s empowerment. Human resource and line managers
must identify the training needs of female employees and
offer them opportunities to improve their competence for
better career options. The capacity-building interventions
must also include bursaries, learnerships and mentorship
opportunities for female employees in the public service. This
intervention also demands that the leadership in public service
departments must set aside a portion of their budget for
gender-based training. Gender-based training must also be
provided to officials and staff members who are involved in
programme planning, procurement and budgeting processes.
Human resource management processes
Human resource management processes in the public service
must be gender-based. The gender mainstreaming of HR
processes is imperative to ensure that women are given fair
and equal opportunities in recruitment and selection, career
development and training and development aspects of HR.
This is required for women to access better positions and
portfolios in the public service.
Integraon of processes and structures
Public service departments must ensure that gender
mainstreaming and equality processes and structures – for
example, gender focal points, gender desks and gender
forums – are established, integrated and functioning efficiently.
Monitoring and evaluaon
The DPSA must ensure that all public service departments
submit their gender mainstreaming and equality reports

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annually to the DPSA for assessment. This will assist the DPSA
in identifying gaps in the implementation of the Strategic
Framework for Gender Equality within the Public Service.
Conclusion
South African Public Service is regulated by statutory,
regulatory and policy frameworks that demand gender
equality in the public service to offer equal opportunities to
male and female employees. These frameworks are requisites
for a country to eliminate gender-based discrimination, and
to create opportunities for both men and women to achieve
better education, access to training and capacity-building
initiatives, employment opportunities, and participation and
representation in political and policy-making processes. In
addition to frameworks, the HR processes in public service
departments also need to mainstream gender in recruitment,
promotion and employment equity aspects.
This article concludes that corrective measures can be
established to improve gender equality in public service
structures, processes, organisational strategic and leadership
portfolios, department-based decision-making processes and
work-based policies and programmes. However, the realisation
of gender equality also demands political and administrative
will to ensure that gender equality is streamlined and aligned
with all organisational and departmental processes, structures,
strategies and policy frameworks, and driven at the highest
level in each public service department.
Future study can be conducted in selected public service
departments to develop a comparative database with an aim
to explore implementation gaps and success factors, hence
expanding the knowledge base in the field of Public
Management and Governance.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the works of scholars who have
contributed their knowledge debating the aspects of
devolution in Africa.
Compeng interests
The authors declare that they have no financial or personal
relationships that may have inappropriately influenced them
in writing this article.
Authors’ contribuons
This article is based on a completed Master’s dissertation
entitled ‘Factors influencing the implementation of the strategic
framework for gender equality within the South African public
service’, submitted at University of Johannesburg, under the
supervision of Prof. S. Vyas-Doorgapersad.
Ethical consideraon
This article followed all ethical standards for carrying out a
research without direct contact with human or animal subjects.
Funding informaon
This study received no specific grant from any funding
agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Data availability statement
Data sharing is not appropriate to this article as no new data
were created in this study.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of
the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or
position of any affiliated agency of the authors.
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