An Agenda with no gender: 2021 local government elections and patriarchal domination in South African politics

ABSTRACT The South African opposition political parties went to the 2021 local government elections with one agenda: to push the African National Congress (ANC) – as the majority political party since the dawn of democracy to the opposition bench. This was despite their deep-seated ideological differences that are to date, far from being reconciled. The Democratic Alliance (DA), liberal at core, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) adopting the radical left stance and the Action SA as a new kid on the opposition block, had to sacrifice their differences to ensure that they unseat the ANC from all the major metropolitan municipalities in the Gauteng province and other provinces. While the agenda was clear, the politics has not centred women as part of transformative development. Sprinkling a few women here and there, the political parties continue to consolidate patriarchal dominance through compromised coalitions. The paper draws analysis from the election manifestos of four political parties, the ANC as the majority ruling party, the DA and the EFF as the major opposition political parties and the ActionSA as a newcomer and the kingmaker of the 2021 LGE in Gauteng. I argue that in spite of women accounting for a higher number of voters than men, women continue to be poorly represented in local politics.