High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In general, all racial and ethnic groups in South Africa have long-standing beliefs concerning gender roles, and most are based on the premise that women are less important, or less deserving of power, than men. Most African traditional social organizations are male centered and male dominated. Even in the 1990s, in some rural areas of South Africa, for example, wives walk a few paces behind their husbands in keeping with traditional practices. Afrikaner religious beliefs, too, include a strong emphasis on the theoretically biblically based notion that women`s contributions to society should normally be approved by, or be on behalf of, men. Anglo-Africans tend to be the most liberal group, including on issues pertaining to gender roles.