PODCAST | Are parties missing a beat when it comes to women's votes?

'The Numbers Don't Lie' is a limited podcast series exploring the data behind the elections, pulling out the stories we didn't know were there

02 May 2019 - 11:37 By Scott Peter Smith
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About 14.7 million women are registered to vote in the 2019 elections, compared with 12 million men.
About 14.7 million women are registered to vote in the 2019 elections, compared with 12 million men.
Image: REUTERS

Statistics SA and the Centre for Social Development in Africa (CSDA)  say there are more women voters than men in SA - and they are more likely to vote than men.

About 14.7-million women are registered for the elections on May 8, compared with 12- million men, and their turn-out rate is higher too. In the 2009 elections, women aged 20-29 was the segment with the most registered voters. In 2014, there were about 2.5-million more women registered to vote than men, with women aged 30-39 making up more than 3-million on the voters' roll. In other words, women make up 57% of voters. 

Furthermore, while parliament often congratulates itself on its representation of women and our constitutionally enshrined right to equality, this hasn't always translated into improved conditions for women.

Take the above, matched with poll findings from the same studies suggesting women are less likely to be partisan. In other words, they are less likely to have a strong, enduring party loyalty, suggesting that a party that can solve immediate problems and speak directly to women could clinch their support.

Women carry the bulk of socioeconomic and inequality burdens, so which parties are talking to them directly about issues that affect them the most? Not many it seems. 

In this episode we are taking a closer look at gender and the so-called gender divide in the  electorate.

We sit with data analyst Paul Berkowitz and the associate editor for analysis in the Tiso Blackstar Group, Ranjeni Munusamy, to ask whether parties are missing a trick.

Have a listen (or click here):

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The Numbers Don't Lie is a MultimediaLIVE production.

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