Becoming rational and relevant on Gender
One of the consequences of the loud and often illogical debate on gender that has dominated the news recently is that the real issues have been almost entirely lost. It is deeply ironic that, during this very period, the results of research into crucial issues that should shape this debate were released at the University of Stellenbosch -- and went almost unnoticed.
The research was commissioned by the Anglican Church into the sexual behaviour and attitudes of youth between the ages of 10 and 24. The church was seeking to understand its role in the battle against HIV/Aids.
Only one newspaper, as far as I am aware, published the results. They were entirely ignored by the vocal army of activists, and the statutory commissions set up at huge expense to the taxpayers, supposedly to address these issues. Most of these organizations and structures were otherwise engaged, expressing "outrage" and launching protest actions against the composition of the Western Cape cabinet.
The survey reportedly found that more than 10% of South African children between the ages of 10 and 13 are sexually active. Just stop and think about that. Can it possibly be true that one in every ten of our children (not only girls) is subject to statutory rape? A statistic like that should focus every adult's mind on how we as a nation can address an issue that has lasting personal, psychological and socio-economic consequences.
About 27% of respondents said that they could prevent HIV infection if they bathed after sex. One wonders (silently) where they got that idea from. Asking that question aloud would attract another week-long misdirected uproar to divert us from the real issues. This statistic is a sharp reminder of the powerful impact that the behaviour of leaders has on young people. It also explains why a leader's personal conduct should be subject to scrutiny if it has public consequences.
But in South Africa we prefer respecting taboos rather than facing facts. Public consensus is that women (in particular), must respect the secret realm of male sexuality, which requires both respectful silence and acquiescence. The tragic irony is that people who claim to uphold women's rights are at the forefront of maintaining this taboo, with disturbing consequences. This too is clear from the survey's results.
Misinformation around the link between sex and AIDS is rife. 38% of young people believe the pill can prevent HIV/Aids, and 30.4% believed that HIV/Aids can be transmitted via a toilet seat. If young people believe they are at risk of contracting AIDS every time they go to the toilet, why bother to practise safe sex? All the more so, if they believe that taking a shower or swallowing a pill can protect them from the consequences. These misperceptions are convenient for the large number of South African men who believe that multiple, unprotected sexual encounters are their right. Such men have no interest in challenging these myths.
When research like this emerges, it is clear how thin our constitutional veneer is in South Africa. Just scratch the surface and the real SA emerges.
It did so in brutal fashion this week on a facebook site that listed Deputy Home Affairs Minister, Malusi Gigaba, and ANCYL spokesman, Floyd Shivambu, as administrators (see here). The postings on this site exposed such depths of bigotry and misogyny, that it is almost understandable why gender activists avoid the real issues. The consequences of doing so can be devastating.
In public, we often hear the ANC reciting its mantra of a "non-racial, non-sexist society". The warped set of hateful patriarchal attitudes displayed on this site, perhaps reveals more of the truth.
My aim is not to wage a verbal war with various ANC-affiliates, nor to prolong what the media has termed "mud-slinging". My aim is to clear the muddy thinking on these issues. We must expose - and then dispose of - the political correctness that masquerades as enlightened opinion and progressive thought in South Africa. The impact of this muddy thinking is merely to perpetuate the behaviour that is at the heart of the problem.
That is why it is so easy to divert attention to imposing gender quotas in elite structures, and expressing outrage if they are not met. Far too many organisations and institutions that are supposed to promote the interests of women and children have become an extension of the ANC's predominant culture of undermining these rights through denial and diversion.
The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), created by our constitution, provides the clearest illustration of that.
The CGE's constitutional mandate is to monitor, investigate, research, educate, lobby, advise and report on issues concerning gender equality. It has done hardly any of these things. When he chaired the parliamentary review committee of Chapter 9 institutions in 2007, Professor Kader Asmal stopped just short of calling the CGE a useless body. He told the Commission, "So far you have not persuaded us that you understand your functions". He also called on the Commission to have a "higher degree" of competency and professionalism.
Like most Chapter 9 institutions, their failure can be traced back to the ANC's policy of "cadre deployment". Like many of the so-called Chapter 9 institutions, there is a revolving door between the ANC headquarters at Luthuli House and the CGE. Several gender commissioners have served as ANC MPs. Some illegally earned two salaries for several months because they refused to resign their positions on the GCE when they were elected to Parliament.
That is why the CGE is reluctant to challenge the ANC's discourse on gender. I am unaware of any statement ever made by the CGE on the need for political leaders to set an example on a range of issues that undermine the rights of women. If the CGE had done its job properly, it would not be necessary for opposition politicians to fight this battle alone.
Another problem with the CGE is that it is wracked with infighting over perks and positions. This is the inevitable logic of the "bean-counting" mentality. At one stage, for almost a whole year, the Commission was not quorate, so it could not even take decisions.
The committee on the Rights of Women in the Provincial Parliament was almost as bad. It provided an inflated salary for the ANC member who chaired it, and that was about all. This is the reason I have now located this committee in the Office of the Premier, where we are determined to address the real issues that exploit and oppress women, no matter how much outrage this elicits.
This article by Helen Zille first appeared in SA Today, the weekly online newsletter of the leader of the Democratic Alliance, May 22 2009
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