Community Law Centre participates at SALGA Women’s Commission meeting

On the November 2, 2013 Thulaganyo Selokela, a doctoral researcher for the Multi-level Government Initiative, recently attended the South African Local Government Association Women’s Commission meeting in Worscester Western Cape.

The Commission is new and the primary purpose of the meeting was for the Commissioners (each representing the five Western Cape District Municipalities) to have a meaningful discussion with each other about what and how they want to go about strengthening their role within the bigger structures.

She was invited by the Commission to give a legal slant on developments regarding the representation of women councillors in local government. Selokela’s presentation was aimed at illustrating the important role that the Commissioners need to play in ensuring that women’s issues are pushed on a broader level than just community development programmes. Also in attendance was Leonard Macakhati, from the Commission of Gender Equality who applauded Selokela’s findings.

The insight delivered by Selokela will assist with the Women’s Commission strategic planning towards future projects, and enable their participation in the upcoming ‘Gender Dialogue’. The Gender Dialogue is an event organised by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, which aims to stimulate critical discussions on gender and progress made on gender equality-focused programmes.