South Africa’s most competitive election in three decades carried a measurable price in women’s political power, and the arithmetic of that trade-off is now clear. When voters went to the polls on 29 May 2024, no party won an outright majority for the first time since 1994, opening the door to coalition politics and new accountability. Yet the same contest that strengthened democracy weakened gender parity, and figures compiled by the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) and Gender Links show how quickly electoral market share can convert into lost representation.
Women make up 55% of registered voters, roughly 15.3 million people, and they turn out in greater numbers than men. Still, in 2024 they were only 42% of candidates and won just 43% of parliamentary seats, down from 46% in 2019. South Africa fell from 12th to 22nd globally for women’s political participation, and from first to third in SADC, now behind Namibia and Mozambique. The slide runs to the local tier too, where decisions about water, clinics, community safety and local development are made daily: women’s representation dropped from 41% in 2016 to 37% in 2021. It is too early to quantify the outcome of the 2026 Local Government Elections, but absent deliberate intervention the trend points to further regression.
The mechanics of the decline are straightforward. The ANC carries a voluntary 50/50 gender quota, which helped women reach 53% of its MPs in 2024; the EFF achieved 54%. But when the ANC lost its majority, the parties that gained influence brought no comparable parity measures. The DA, now the second-largest party in the Government of National Unity (GNU), has approximately 32% women representation, while Jacob Zuma’s MK Party, the third-largest in Parliament, sits at around 34%. The effect carried into the Executive: after a gender-parity Cabinet in 2019, the GNU Cabinet of 77 ministers and deputy ministers includes only 31 women, or 40%. That is a significant setback for a country long seen as a continental leader in women’s political representation.
The lesson, as feminists have argued for more than three decades, is that progress is not automatic. Gender equality in politics is the product of deliberate policy choices, political will and accountability mechanisms that survive shifts in electoral fortunes. The decline of a dominant party with a quota has exposed how fragile gains are when they are never institutionalised across the political system. Non-sexism remains a foundational value of the Constitution, but the composition of the GNU raises questions about whether gender parity is being prioritised across coalition partners.
Political culture is part of the same ledger. Minister Gwede Mantashe was recently asked about sex-for-jobs allegations against an ANC councillor in the North West, and his dismissive response drew criticism for trivialising a serious issue; the ANC Women’s League was right to demand accountability. More broadly, recent public responses by senior leaders to allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse point to entrenched sexist attitudes within political institutions, echoing concerns from numerous gender equality audits about environments where women’s experiences are minimised or ridiculed. When senior figures respond to such allegations with ridicule, it reinforces attitudes that trivialise the abuse of power and weakens accountability. Gender transformation means women can report misconduct without fear of humiliation, retaliation or political consequences. If parties will not hold leaders accountable for harmful conduct, building accountability around budgets, shelters, Thuthuzela Care Centres and other commitments aimed at addressing GBVF becomes far harder.
Representation carries governance weight as well. Research from across the world consistently links greater women’s representation in decision-making structures to stronger attention to gender-based violence, childcare, healthcare, social protection, education and community safety. Declining representation affects whose experiences shape policy priorities, whose needs are reflected in public spending, and whose voices influence national decisions.
The 2024 outcome therefore demands reform. Voluntary quotas have delivered gains but remain vulnerable to political change, so South Africa should consider legislated gender parity requirements for all parties, drawing lessons from countries such as Senegal. The GNU’s founding statement of intent should explicitly strengthen commitments to gender equality, with every government department required to report publicly on gender-responsive budgeting, gender equality outcomes and spending on the National Strategic Plan on GBVF. Ahead of and after the 2026 local elections, municipalities should undergo independent assessments of sexual harassment complaints, allegations of sexual exploitation and workplace gender equality practices, and local government legislation should provide clear mechanisms, with due process, to suspend or remove elected representatives found guilty of such misconduct.
South Africa is often celebrated internationally for high levels of women’s political representation, yet the CGE report reminds us that women vote in greater numbers than men while exercising less political power. Democracy cannot be fully celebrated while the majority of voters remain underrepresented and continue to bear a disproportionate burden of violence, economic exclusion and inequality. Until institutions consistently challenge sexist attitudes, budgets reflect gender equality commitments, and survivors can access a fully resourced justice system, the transformation project remains incomplete. Progress has been made. Significant gaps remain.
Bafana Khumalo is the co-founder and co-executive director of Sonke Gender Justice and a former commissioner of the Commission for Gender Equality. He writes in his personal capacity.