Submission to The Portfolio Committee of Labour on The Labour Laws Amendment Bill

Sonke and Mosaic’s interest in the Bill stems from our objective to attain gender equality in parenting through the involvement of men as equal parenting partners and caregivers in the interest of creating equitable, healthy relationships for the benefit of the entire family.

The organisations consistently lobby for law reform for the legal provision of paternity leave for fathers that allow them to actively support expectant mothers and to participate in and contribute to child rearing immediately after birth, including in supporting breast feeding, as well as through crucial stages in the first view years of the child’s life. This Bill accordingly allows Sonke and Mosaic to directly provide input on introducing statutory provisions that will enable gender equitable parenting.