addressing masculinity in the workplace environment 27

twice as likely to live in poverty as menheaded ones. in this regard, the expansion of social assistance in the 2000s, with most of the grants being received by women, has been the primary cause of income poverty decline. Meanwhile, gender-based discrimination and segregation in the labour market, which remains weakly regulated, has, in general, served to confine women to low-paid, relatively unproductive jobs that offer relatively little in terms of working conditions and access to social protection. women comprise a majority of small and micro business owners in south africa but make up a minority of workers in the formal sector. women are also more likely than men to be involved in unpaid work, with women comprising more than 55% of those involved in non-market activities in the second quarter of 2018.

against this background, universities, as microcosms embodying broader societal norms, are liable to reproduce systems of gender discrimination and violence through their structural and institutional processes. in this regard, a particular concern in relation to GBV is that those in positions of authority or power who may be tasked with protecting women may be the violators of their bodily integrity and human rights. a further concern is that the use of homogenizing language to promote gender equity within academic and policymaking circles can distract from the harsh reality of the challenges of violence and discrimination being faced by women and girls on the ground. in also important to acknowledge that, in the context of continuing widespread and acute inequality and poverty, the discrimination and violence suffered by women and girls should not be characterized in simplistic terms as a binary kind of oppression, in which victims are pitched against perpetrators. at the national government level, the issue of gender equity has been taken up by the National Planning Commission (NPC) and a Presidential review Committee on women’s emancipation and Gender equality which has been established with the support of President Cyril ramaphosa. These review initiatives are expected to provide independent evidence-based analysis on what has changed and what has remained the same or, in some instances, deteriorated since 1994. in reviewing the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030, the NPC has acknowledged that much has changed in the planning landscape since this roadmap was originally forged: some of the plan’s assumptions are obsolete; its baselines need to be reassessed; and new ideas need to be developed to fix gaps in the plan and address changes in the national, continental and global contexts. women’s emancipation constitutes one of the key concerns that the NDP should address more comprehensively.

in engaging the higher education sector, the NPC has compiled a number of questions to which it is seeking responses from tertiary institutions: • What progress has been achieved in terms of women’s development and the transformation of gender relations? • What are the obstacles to women’s transformation and gender equality? • How should existing gaps in the transformation of gender relations and women’s emancipation be addressed within the NDP in the spheres of the economy, health, safety and security, and civil society? • What needs to be done to ensure that goals and targets for women’s emancipation are progressively achieved?