In South Africa, women account for only 37.66% of local election candidates — TimesLIVE

In South Africa, women account for 37.66% of candidates registered to take part in local government elections. Of the 137,153 candidates in the country, 51,645 are women, while there are 85,508 men, TimesLIVE reports, citing data from South Africa’s Electoral Commission.

A wider gap among ward candidates

At the national level, the gender gap is wider among candidates running in wards: women account for 35.19%, while men account for 64.81%. Among candidates under the proportional representation system, the gap is smaller: of 38,702 people, women account for 43.93% and men for 56.07%.

In KwaZulu-Natal province, women account for 34.02% of all candidates. In eThekwini, women make up 32.89% of the total number of candidates and 30.91% of those running in wards. In smaller municipalities, the figures are lower: in eNdumeni, women account for 16.82% of ward candidates, and in Jozini, 17.89%.

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Differences between provinces

In Gauteng, women account for 36.75% of all candidates. In Johannesburg, their share is 36.38%, in Tshwane it is 34.96%, and in Ekurhuleni it is 38.26%. In the Eastern Cape province, the figure stands at 40.25%, but in the Dr Beyers Naudé municipality, women account for only 27.06% of candidates overall and 22.03% of ward candidates.

The Northern Cape province has the highest share of women among the provinces, at 42.28%, although men also predominate there. In the H!a!is municipality, women account for 65.38% of all candidates and 66.67% of ward candidates. At the same time, in the Khâi-Ma municipality, their share is 22.62% overall and 21.67% among ward candidates.