Towards Gender Responsive Service Delivery in South Africa

In South Africa, the Strategic Framework for Gender Equality within the Public Service (DPSA, 2006-2015) seeks to increase women's participation in decision-making and an employment equity target of 50% representation for women at all levels of Senior Management. At the launch of women's month in 2010, the Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities expressed confidence in the steady progress in the representation of women at senior levels of public services, pointing out that women occupied 36% of senior-level jobs in government. With 44% of members of the legislature at national and provincial levels being women, South Africa comes third worldwide in having the highest number of females in parliament. Admirable progress has been made in increasing women's participation in decision-making processes at high levels in the public sector. However, the lingering question remains: does this gender representation on the supply side of service delivery translate into gender representation in access to and use of basic services on the demand side of service delivery? In South Africa, the all-too-familiar service delivery protests, while not gender responsive, are by no means gender neutral. The issues generally raised during these service delivery protests are issues that impact the primary role of women and it is important for responses to these protests to be done in a gender sensitive manner. This conceptual article presents a review of policy and practice related to gender and basic service delivery in South Africa by examining firstly, gender considerations in the employment of women in public service and secondly by an exploration of differences in access to and use of basic services. This is followed with a discussion of possible barriers, challenges and issues for consideration in ensuring that gender issues on the supply side of service delivery translate into positive spinoffs for gender considerations on the demand side of service delivery. The article concludes with suggestions on possible governance processes to ensure a gender responsive service delivery while pointing out areas for further research.