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The "maiden's
bursaries" offered by a local mayor sparked a nationwide debate
in January, with critics slamming the scheme's emphasis on
virginity as outdated while traditionalists said it would help
preserve African culture.
On Friday, the gender commission said the program discriminated
against women because male students were not subjected to the
same tests.
"Any funding by an organ of state based on a woman's sexuality
perpetuates patriarchy and inequality in South Africa," it said
in a statement.
Rights groups applauded the ruling.
"It is not the cultural practice that is the problem here; it is
the allocation of state funds on the basis of girls’ sexuality
that violates the constitutional protection to equality, dignity
and privacy," said Sanja Bornman, an attorney with Lawyers for
Human Rights.
Recipients of the scholarships, which were offered only to
women, were required to undergo virginity testing each time they
returned home for holidays, and could lose their scholarships if
it was determined that they had engaged in sexual activity.
Dudu Mazibuko, the mayor who initiated the program, said in
January it would help reduce teenage pregnancy and the spread of
HIV/Aids as well as widening job opportunities for women in her
small municipality in KwaZulu Natal province.
Mazibuko, a member of the ruling African National Congress,
argued that there was already a strong culture of virginity
testing in the poor eastern coastal province.
But gender activists and some political parties condemned the
practice, with the Economic Freedom Fighters opposition party
describing it as "patriarchal and anti-women".
(Reporting by Pete Vernon; Editing by Stella Mapenzauswa and
Catherine Evans)
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