The candidate list for the local government elections was published this week and the people who are standing for election are mostly men. It’s a roughly 60:40 split. The people who have registered to vote, on the other hand, are mostly women, at 55%.

Why does this matter? Firstly, one could ask whether the political parties are paying sufficient attention to issues that are priorities for women. For example, polling by the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) between 2021 and 2026 found that 25% of women named abuse of women and children as a top priority compared with 8% of men.

Housing was named by 15% of women and 3% of men. Household security-related issues consistently carry more weight among women than men, according to the IRR’s report. This gives the ANC a persistent advantage and it’s women voters that keep the ANC ahead of the DA, says the IRR in the key findings.