Severe Shortage of Women Directors Remains a Major Concern in South Africa

• There are currently very few women in leadership roles on boards of directors in South Africa
• Women have increased their roles in state-owned enterprises and private companies, but not in boardrooms
• Many of them remain in front desk and assistant roles in companies

With South Africa celebrating Women's Month, concerns remain regarding the underrepresentation of women in top leadership roles on the boards of companies.

Though the number of women joining state-owned institutions and corporations has gained momentum, they remain largely absent from boardrooms.

Women tend to get trapped in administrative roles such as front desk or personal assistant levels, reflecting an alarming lack of scope for them to be in a position to make meaningful contributions at the leadership level.

As the United Nations points out, based on the progress being made so far, it would take an additional 140 years to reach parity for women with men as managers.

This is even though studies have confirmed that organizations with more gender equality consistently perform better than those with low numbers of women in their staff and management.

To date, fewer than one in five JSE-listed companies have a female director, and female representation on boards stands at 19.1 percent. This has been unchanged for five years and is lower than the international average of 23.3 percent. In contrast, other countries have up to 45 percent women on boards.

Prof. Anita Bosch, Research Chair in Women at Work at Stellenbosch Business School and editor of the 2025 Women's Report, labeled South Africa's progress as "glacial." She advises establishing a realistic short-term goal of 30 percent female representation on boards.

"Women constitute 51 percent of South Africa's population and 46 percent of economically active persons. More women than men attain tertiary education, yet their numbers in senior decision-making positions are disproportionately lower," Anita said.

Internationally, research has shown that female board representation results in more effective decision-making, improved company governance, increased performance, and greater reputations.

South Africa now has no legislated gender diversity mandate on boards, although it is a signatory to the 2008 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development, which specified a goal of 50 percent for women in decision-making positions.

Although the King IV Code of Corporate Governance invites companies to strive towards parity and report on progress, the JSE's listing requirements—although referring to King IV—do not go so far as to make such numbers mandatory.

Anita highlighted that the glacial rate of change has driven some nations to implement compulsory quotas, while others take on voluntary targets, with patchy but frequently significant results.