More paternal leave to dads

HIGH COURT: SA LEADS THE CONTINENT WITH RULING FOR BOTH PARENTS TO BENEFIT

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A local high court has ushered in a new era of parental leave with a landmark ruling that new parents can share four months of leave, previously available only to mothers.

The case against the minister of labour was initiated by Werner and Ika van Wyk as first respondents, and advocacy group Sonke Gender Justice as third respondent.

Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice was commissioned to write an expert affidavit on international good practices regarding parental leave and drew mainly on the criteria of good leave policies set out in the MenCare Parental Leave Platform for the affidavit.

The Van Wyk couple laid the case after Werner was not able to take sufficient leave to care for their baby.

His wife, who is CEO of her own company, had to take leave and her business suffered.

The couple argued the 10 days of parental leave made available for fathers was insufficient and discriminatory.

This is a groundbreaking judgment in Africa, since no other African country offers shared parental leave.

South Africa is leading the continent in joining the trend of countries worldwide to offer more parental leave to fathers.

The percentage of countries offering paid leave to fathers for one day or more has increased significantly, from 25% in 1995 to 63% in 2022.