The South African Local Government Association (Salga) hosted a two-day Women's Commission Conference on Tuesday 3 May and Wednesday 4 May 2022. The purpose of the conference is to ensure that women's equality issues are championed at the level of local government.

“There has been an acknowledgement that the appointment or election of mayors has not been consistent. In other years it escalates, and in others it decreases. This is precisely due to the political environment,” said Sikisi.

He added that the Free State has 11 female mayors and 14 municipal managers, which he indicated is pretty good although there is room for improvement.

This is out of a total of 23 mayors and 23 municipal managers, according to Sikisi.

Regarding plans on improving the female leadership roles in local government, Sikisi says that Salga has established a woman's commission, which has been elevated to a stature of a governance structure.

“The women’s commission can make decisions and recommendations to higher structures for the appointment of more female leaders in the local government.”

According to a statement by the Free State Government, the Premier of the Free State, Sisi Ntombela, has called on women to be agitators of change. She also advocated for unity of purpose amongst women to change the plight of women being overlooked for positions of influence and those suffering as victims of gender-based violence.

OFM News/Heidré Malgas