SOUTH AFRICA

After overcoming the trials and tribulations engendered by apart heid, South Africa has turned its attention to an issue of equality that transcends race: empowering women to play an active role in the nation's political process. A proposal for intro-ducing reservation of seats for women in the country's legislatures is under consideration.

Presently, there are 101 women parliamentarians in the 400-member National Assembly. A decade ago, only 2.8 per cent of the legislators were women. The increasing appearence and participation of women in the political process came about owing to the ruling African National Congress's policy of ensuring that one- third of its nominees for the legislatures, in the all-race polls, were women.

According to the provincial affairs deputy minister Valli Moosa, sexual discrimination will not change naturally. It has to be reversed through a constitutional provision. The constitutional initiative has elicited support, particularly from women's organisations which feel that it has to be part of a holistic empowerment process for women.(IPS)