Van der Waldt, GerritFourie, D.J. (David Johannes)Van Dijk, Hilligje GerritdinaChitiga-Mabugu, MargaretJordaan, Johan2020-08-242020-08-242019Van der Waldt, G., Fourie, D., Van Dijk, G. et al, 2019, 'A competency framework for women empowerment : the case of the local government sector in South Africa', Problems and Perspectives in Management, vol. 17, no. 2, pp.v348-364.1727-7051 (print)1810-5467 (online)10.21511/ppm.17(2).2019.27http://hdl.handle.net/2263/75872Gender representativity in political and managerial positions in local government in general and women empowerment in particular remain contentious issues. Although an extensive statutory and regulatory framework for gender equality was established and despite the fact that specific equity targets are set, it is evident that much more needs to be done to facilitate women empowerment in the local government sector. The purpose of this article is to reflect on findings of an empirical survey conducted amongst female politicians, managers, and experts in the local government sector with the aim to design the parameters of a competency framework for women empowerment. The results support the fact that a women empowerment competency framework should incorporate various dimensions and elements, notably sector-specific job requirements, registered gender-based formal programs in the tertiary education sector, as well as content of women empowerment initiatives taken by non-governmental organizations.en© Gerrit van der Waldt, David Fourie, Gerda van Dijk, Margaret Chitiga-Mabugu, Johan Jordaan, 2019. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International license.Competency frameworkWomen empowermentLocal governmentMunicipalitiesSouth Africa (SA)Article