Ward 17 councilor Sikhululekile Moyo says the women’s quota system for proportional representation will be effective in spotlighting and advocating for issues affecting women.
Cllr Moyo was speaking at a meeting hosted by Amakhosikazi Media under the the theme: “Is the quota system in local government going to be significant and beneficial for women.”
She said women are generally less represented in leadership positions hence the PR quotation system is a welcome platform that would enable more representation.
“This quota will benefit women immensely. For issues to be effectively articulated, advocated for and exhaustively dealt with, there is need for self representation. We cannot say we want to address issues affecting women when the women themselves are not there to speak out,” she said.
“Generally, the political landscape is not level for men and women, that is why we find that less women get seats through elections. This past election, here in Bulawayo, only seven women were elected to be councillors, the rest of the 22 seats were won by men. So imagine if only seven women are to advocate for women’s issues amongst 22 men, how much support would they get?”
Cllr Moyo said the PR system further serves as a platform to show that women are equally capable to represent people as men.
“This is a platform for women to showcase their capability to serve people, to advocate for service delivery, formulate and implement policies that will enhance livelihoods. That way, we can be able to change people’s perceptions of women in leadership. Some people believe that women are not capable, hence the women who have been put in these positions rise to the task and demonstrate their effective leadership qualities,” she said.
“The gaps in our service delivery affects women mostly. Water shortages for example, even young girls in school are affected. When there is no running water how do the girls on their menstrual periods take care of themselves? These are some of the issues that require numerous female voices to address. We really hope that we will achieve more with the PR councilors.”
