ConCourt Grants Parents Equal Rights to Share Leave
South Africa’s Constitutional Court has handed down a landmark ruling, granting all parents equal rights to share four months of parental leave, marking a major step forward for gender equality and family rights.
The unanimous judgment struck down parts of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Unemployment Insurance Act, finding them unconstitutional for discriminating against fathers and non-birth parents. Previously, mothers were entitled to four months’ leave, while fathers received just ten days.
Justice Zukiswa Tshiqi – who delivered the ruling on Friday, 3 October – said the law had “unfairly burdened mothers and excluded fathers”, reinforcing outdated assumptions that women should be the primary caregivers. The court ruled that both parents may now decide how to divide the four months and ten days of leave.
The case, brought by Werner van Wyk and others with support from the Commission for Gender Equality, aimed to challenge laws that placed childcare responsibility largely on mothers.
Gender rights advocates hailed the decision as transformative. Sthembiso Phakathi of the Single Dads Network told a local publication: “This is a ground-breaking step for equality, family wellbeing, and the future of fatherhood in South Africa”.
Parliament now has three years to amend the relevant legislation to reflect the ruling.
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