Gender equality, Pro-poor growth and MDG goal 1 in South African municipal governance: The case of Sedibeng district municipality

The Republic of South Africa has introduced transformation processes through relevant legislative and statutory frameworks to ensure that the country is administered in a non-sexist manner. The aspect of gender equality is a vital element in the South African Constitution that now links the government’s manifesto to the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Under this imprint, South African municipal governance is constantly looking for new approaches for solving socio-economic issues such as combating poverty and enhancing sustainable development. Gender equality, pro-poor growth strategies and the MDG goal 1 are important focus areas in the discourse on extreme poverty reduction. The aim of this article is to explore the links between gender equality, pro-poor growth strategies and MDG goal 1. The case study of a specific municipality (Sedibeng District Municipality [SDM]) is explored, providing a detailed analysis of its gender equality measures and pro-poor strategies. In order to rationalize the status quo, a questionnaire was distributed to residents of SDM and interviews were conducted with personnel of SDM. Based on these findings, the article offers relevant recommendations for improvement. The relationship between gender and poverty is a complex topic that is now being debated more urgently than ever before. We know that poverty is linked to gender but this article aims to explore and rationalize these links. Given the magnitude of poverty challenges, the article concludes with proposing a municipal assessment tool to identify the gaps in municipal capabilities for implementing gender-based pro-poor strategies at institutional level.