A prominent economist has slammed the Constitutional Court judgment that allows men four months of parental leave after their spouse has given birth.
Mandla Maleka was speaking after a landmark ruling by the highest court that all parents, regardless of gender or circumstances, are now entitled to equal parental leave of four months.
This decision, delivered by Justice Zukisa Tshiqi at the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg, addresses the disparity in leave entitlements between mothers and fathers.
Previously, South African law granted mothers four months of maternity leave and fathers only 10 days of paternity leave, a situation deemed discriminatory by the Gauteng High Court in 2023.
Maleka told Sunday World that the judgment delivered on Friday may be democratically and constitutionally correct but was not economically sound.
“What are we trying to create here? A nanny state that says men must be accorded similar rights to women?”
Maleka warned that companies would be at a disadvantage, as they would now be required to pay wages to a man while he is on parental leave and the person who would act in their position.
“You are taking an asset out of a production line and then expect somebody else to perform the tasks, and that person will expect whatever was due to the absent asset. We are changing the whole fabric of the production mechanism,” he said.
Maleka raised further concerns that the parental leave could result in job losses as companies opt to improve and adopt artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, which could be more productive to replace men in the workplace forever.
“The AI is going to replace the man who decides to go on parental leave, which means the company will never need that man back. This refers to all production universes.
“A company will always be seeking ways to replace you forever because you are costing it.”
Maleka said it was wrong to want to equalize almost everything between men and women.
“If your wife is pregnant and about to give birth, you must go to work. And you are not even breastfeeding, for that matter. Why would you want to benefit from not breastfeeding, just to be home and support your wife?”
He said history had shown that companies grew stronger with men going to work rather than sitting at home.
Trade union federation Cosatu, however, welcomed the apex court judgment, describing it as progressive and affirming the need to afford greater choice and equality with regard to maternity and parental leave to parents of newborn children.
“The Constitutional Court has correctly directed parliament to amend the Basic Conditions of Employment and the Unemployment Insurance Acts to provide equal cover to parents under the laws’ maternity and parental leave provisions.
“This bold ruling endorses Cosatu’s long-standing call for greater equality and responsibility for parents, as well as more flexible choices for them based upon the individual family’s needs and circumstances.
“It follows in the steps of advances by workers in Sweden, Denmark and other pace-setting labour market regimes,” said the federation’s parliamentary coordinator Matthew Parks.
He said Cosatu looked forward to urgent engagements with the Department of Employment and Labour at Nedlac to effect the necessary legislative amendments.
“Much thought needs to be given to ensure equality of cover and responsibilities between both parents on the one hand, whilst simultaneously recognising the need to provide for dedicated time within the leave provisions for mothers to physically and emotionally recover from pregnancy and birth.
“Consideration will need to be given to ensure parents can receive the maximum financial relief whilst allowing them space to decide upon the allocation of leave that makes the most sense based upon their individual needs and circumstances,” said Parks.
