Aug-Sept 2014 K.indd

43

www.cosatu.org.za • AUG/SEPT 2014

Africa do so without a father present in the home. In 2011, 48 % of South African children had fathers who were living elsewhere than in their home, 16% had fathers who were deceased, resulting in a massive 64% of children growing up without their father in the home. In many of these cases, it means that other members of the family - mostly mothers or older siblings – are relied upon for all the care work. Research evidence from countries that offer paternity leave supports the intuitive idea that an emotional connection during infanthood would lead to long-term involvement in care, and that fathers would then take more responsibility for their children’s development. While a mere 10 days of paternal leave does not give fathers the opportunity to be as deeply involved in the care work of their children as it does mothers, Lewaks says Sonke supports this petition as a step in the right direction towards a framework where the vital care work in an infant’s life could be shared equally by both primary caregivers. South Africa would not be the fi rst country in Africa to establish paternity leave. Kenya already offers fathers 14 days, Cameroon 10 days, and Ghana fi ve days. Czerina Patel manages Sonke Gender Justice’s Communications Unit and Wessel van den Berg is Sonke Gender Justice’s Child Rights and Positive Parenting Portfolio Manager and MenCare Global Coordinator

the feasibility of paternity leave.

fathers in South Africa do not have this opportunity and decided to champion this cause on behalf of all fathers, and more importantly, all children. “Being a fi nancial manager, you’re always trying to identify reasons for problems, and then try to rectify the situation,” says Terblanche, “For me it was such an honour and a privilege to be the father of little Danté & Juandré. I wanted other fathers to also get to be involved in the day-to-day care of their little babies from day one.” So Terblanche developed a petition calling for an amendment to the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (1997) to include 10 days paternity leave for fathers in South Africa with the birth or their adoption of their child(ren). Somehow fi nding time between his job as a fi nancial manager, and his role as a father to infant twins, Terblanche singlehandedly approached every member of Parliament and urged them to draft a bill for consideration by the National Assembly, mounted a twitter campaign under @DadToBeAdvice using the hashtag: #10DaysPaternityLeave, and submitted the petition to the NCOP. Sonke Gender Justice (“Sonke”) and Terblanche are now working together to ensure that the special petition to the NCOP for paternity leave in South Africa is taken seriously, and that Parliament also takes up the call to change the law to ensure that a child’s right to parental care is fully realized by the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. The Department of Labour and the Department of Social Development are mandated in the White Paper on Families in South Africa (2013) to explore

“While we hold men accountable to their parenting responsibilities through shared work at home, or child support when they are separated from the mothers of their children, we feel that it is also important for men, women, children and families to create more opportunities for men to be involved in care work,” says Andre Lewaks, Sonke’s Manager of MenCare in South Africa. “Paternity leave is one step towards this that is still lacking in our leave framework.” South Africa’s Basic Conditions of Employment Act (Section 27:1997) only provides for three days of family responsibility leave for employees, and the Unemployment Insurance Act (1966) protects mothers from losing their salary for up to four months at the time their child’s birth. Terblanche’s petition proposes an additional 10 days paternity leave for fathers. campaign advocates for men’s involvement in unpaid care work and promotes gender equitable and non-violent fatherhood. Lewaks says that parental leave for fathers creates a valuable opportunity for fathers to do unpaid care work and to bond with their children. Child development research shows that a child bonds with the adults that provide for their basic survival needs, in other words, the adults that care for them. Lewaks says that when men get more involved in child-care work, children bene fi t by receiving more care, and mothers bene fi t by carrying less of the burden of care and having more opportunities for paid work. More than half of the children growing up in South Sonke’s MenCare

Gender Agenda