GENDER EQUITY AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN THE

The problem investigated in this study is that gender equity and change management in the City of Cape Town and in particularly the Diversity Equity and Change Management Department, has not been adequately assessed and a coherent set of options to address this problem has not yet been adequately researched. In particular, the situation is that senior management is not representative and that recruitment and appointment procedures as well as the change management process are not conducive to gender equity. The nature of this study is qualitative and the case study method has been utilized. The scope of the study is on gender equity and the change management process followed by management and staff at the City of Cape Town, in particular the Diversity Equity and Change Management Department since 2000 to 2007, with the view of proposing options for improvement. In 2006 the City of Cape Town Employment Statistics indicated that 80 % of top management within departments across the City is still white males. At professional and middle management level white males and females dominated this level with 69.5%. In the technical and associate professions, the tally for whites is 38 % and at elementary level 6.5