A Legal Analysis of Work-Care Leave Policies and the Promotion of Gender Equality in the South African Workplace

The United Nations (UN) has come up with several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for its 2030 vision. One of these SDGs deals with the need for all countries to promote gender equality. The gender equality goal is premised on empowering women and girls with various economic opportunities. The assumption is that in many countries, including in South Africa, women and girls are marginalised socially, culturally, economically, and politically. To this end, it should be noted that the South African constitution promotes equality for all persons. It also provides for fair labour practices. Labour statutes such as the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 (LRA), the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 (EEA) and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 (BCEA) provide for, inter alia, the realisation of gender equality in the South African workplace. This includes promoting a health balance between work and care obligations for women. While gender equality is a noble goal, its pursuit exposes some of the underlying inequalities that have not been fully addressed in South Africa. Historically, labour rights have been skewed against African or black men in the South African workplace. In the euphoria of a democratic South Africa, the new push has been to promote equality of men and women in the workplace. This tends to overlook the fact that African men have hardly enjoyed work-care obligations. In this regard, the South African labour laws offer very little for the African men. Consequently, little has been done to provide men with better work-care conditions in the South African workplace. Thus, despite efforts to promote gender equality, women still disproportionately shoulder the care burden in South Africa. This article provides that a lot needs to be done to promote gender equality and balance how the rights of both women and men are protected in the South African workplace