Gender responsive budgeting in a large metropolitan area in South Africa

Abstract

South Africa started the Women’s Budget Initiative in 1995 as part of its commitment to meeting its gender equality objectives and gender mainstreaming. However, in later years, research has found that government Gender Responsive Budgeting or GRB initiatives in South Africa are either dormant or dead. There is a range of reasons for this and some of them are not directly related to gender budgets or even gender. Research has shown that perhaps the greatest weakness is the lack of advocacy. From the review of existing literature, it is clear that there is a need for strong alliances between key stakeholders, which are Parliament, non-governmental organisations, academics, United Nations and the media to sustain the momentum of the gender budget process. Capacity building and training are also important for budget officers, civil society, national and local parliamentarians, given the low level of skilled financial personnel in municipalities. The availability of adequate sex-disaggregated data is an important success factor for municipalities so that they can deliver services equitably to their communities. This research is exploratory in nature and focuses on assessing GRB in one of South Africa’s largest urban municipalities. It also reviewed the 2012/13 Integrated Development Plan through a focus on health, housing infrastructure, safety and security and education. These are some of the wellknown variables to ease the plight of the poor and are good quality of life indicators for men, women, boys and girls. The research method that has been used in this research is both qualitative and quantitative. This study has found that there is no clear co-coordinated plan for the implementation of GRB in this metropolitan municipality. The lack of resources is also seen as the main challenge to GRB in this metropolitan municipality.