Political Violence Directed Towards Female Politicians in KZN Local Government, South Africa

Violence directed towards female politicians undeniably undermines the presence and role that women play and can play in politics and ultimately in democracy. South Africa (SA), specifically KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has seen increased episodes of violent acts directed towards female politicians. In 2016, as the country drew closer to its Local Government (LG) elections the province witnessed, threats, physical attacks, intimidation, harassment, malicious damage to property and political assassinations which are of serious concern to the province and the country. The high number of violent episodes towards female politicians warrants a deeper look at the issue. These occurrences have often been dismissed as the 'cost of doing politics' but such acts pose a serious threat to democracy and pose a challenge to global progress made toward integrating women as full political players. These incidents have been termed Violence Against Women In Politics (VAWIP), a relatively new phenomenon. In KZN, where the phenomenon is on the rise, research on the topic is scarce. Through a qualitative discursive approach and drawing from a diverse range of qualitative data and literature, the paper sought to place a focus on the political violence directed at women in the LG sector before and after the 2016 LG elections. Against the background of the above, the paper considered the following points: contributing factors to the political violence towards female politicians in the province of KZN and the responses of the South African government to the political violence. Finally, the paper proposed emerging solutions and measures that should be adopted to prevent the situation from spiralling further out of control.