Renewed calls for a woman president

In Pretoria over the weekend, the ANC Women’s League renewed calls for the next South African president to be a woman.

Gender activists keep asking if we can call ourselves a truly democratic South Africa that embraces all its citizens, including men and women, when South Africa has never had a female head of state in its entire history.

In fact, one political analyst labels this unfortunate turn of events embarrassing.

The only time our nation had a woman leader at the helm was through Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri who briefly served as acting president in 2005 and 2008.

And ​that was it. Consequently, the only woman leaders who served the country at the highest level were occupied roles such as Deputy President and Speaker of Parliament.​

For context, Liberia stands as the sole African nation to have elected a female head of state, Ellen Eugenia Johnson Sirleaf, who served as its 24th president from 2006 to 2018.

Domestically, the closest opportunity for a female president occurred in 2017 when Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was defeated in the ANC leadership race by President Cyril Ramaphosa. Furthermore, it is concerning that only two out of the country's nine provinces currently have female premiers.

It is evident that South Africa possesses a wealth of capable women who could competently assume the role of president. The primary impediment appears to be a lack of political will.

A​nother political commentator remarked: ''Looking at the parties' executives is a bit worrying because there are a few women holding positions. All three or four biggest parties do not have a woman as the president or secretary general; the ones who are included were merely for ticking the boxes.''

Given that about 51.1% (30.75 million) of the population is female and 48.9% (29.39 million) is male, according to Stats SA, it is clear that a female president is achievable. ​

The big question though is, is there a political will to do that?