The point of departure of this paper is election statistics showing that there is a negative relationship between women's representation and party competition in democratic and hybrid regimes without national quota legislation in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries. Based on interview data, party documents, observations, newspaper articles and elections statistics, the study explores why women's representation seems to be negatively affected when parties face high pressure from rival parties. A paired comparison of two cases of high competition, the national election in Malawi in 2009 and the Western Cape Municipal elections in 2011, finds a similar pattern of a reduced opportunity structure for women although the systems differs on factors identified as having an effect on women's representation in the literature. Suggesting that when gatekeepers are under pressure they are less likely to promote women candidates regardless of factors exogenous to the party, like election rules, awareness campaigns and national party systems, and factors endogenous to the party, like party institutionalization, party leadership, ideology and voluntary party quotas.
