Gender in the 2011 South African local government elections

The 2011 local government elections that witnessed a decline in women’s representation at the very moment that South Africa should be redoubling its efforts to achieve gender parity underscores the need for a legislated quota for women in national and local elections. This is the conclusion reached by Gender Links (GL), the Johannesburg-based research and advocacy organisation following a gender analysis of the 18 May 2011 local government election results.