Assessing the people's navy : gender transformation and the South African Navy

In: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10713

Abstract

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 121-133). ; The South African Navy is required to implement the principle of gender equality as part of its transformation. This forms part of a broader project of transformation in South Africa, the Navy is one aspect of this. The dissertation is located in the field of Civil-Military Relations. The assessment of transformation is done by first, understanding the complex term transformation and its how it has been applied to the military. Second, the policies requiring transformation in the Department of Defence and the military are examined drawing on the Constitution, the White Paper on Defence, the Defence Review Process and numerous Parliamentary resources, including interviews with relevant Members of Parliament. To assess the Navy, three Naval Orders are examined (Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action, Social Responsibility, and Gender Transformation), which together constitute the Navy's policies regarding Gender Transformation. The assessment is furthered by the examination of the numbers of women serving in the Navy and the rank distribution. These statistics are then compared with: similar data from 1999; the relative situation to men in the Navy; the racial profile of the Navy; the different service arms; and to other navies. In comparison to the other service arms and international standards, the Navy's transformation has progressed well.