South Africa maternity leave lags behind many nations. Formal employees get four months off at 66% pay through the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). Yet globally, this ranks poorly. Some countries, like Norway, offer over a year of fully paid leave. Others, like the US, provide no statutory paid leave. South Africa sits in the middle but fails millions in the informal economy, where no safety net exists.
Informal Workers Left Out
Over 1.9 million South Africans work in the informal sector; more than 40% are women. These traders, vendors, and self-employed hustlers get no maternity benefits. Labour laws, like the Unemployment Insurance Act, cover only “employees.”
Pregnant informal workers face a brutal choice: lose income or return to work too soon after birth. Dr Janine Hicks, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, calls this exclusion discrimination in the 2022 Project 143 report.
Why This Hurts Now
Without South Africa maternity leave protections, informal workers skip rest, harming their health and newborns. Early returns disrupt breastfeeding and bonding. Low-income moms also lack pre-birth grants, struggling to afford food when nutrition needs peak. This fuels poverty, inequality, and health risks. In SA, 13% of babies are born under 2.5kg, raising stunting risks for over 25% of kids under five.
How to Fix It
Extend South Africa maternity leave to informal workers. Project 143 urges letting self-employed women contribute to UIF for paid leave at 66% wage, like in Colombia and Namibia. Add a Maternal Support Grant, as Rahima Essop from DG Murray Trust advocates, to support poor moms from the second trimester.
This nine-month grant would boost nutrition, cut low birth weights, and shift to a Child Support Grant post-birth. Fund it via public resources to meet global standards, like the ILO’s Maternity Protection Convention 183. Simplify access to avoid red tape. Track progress with open data.
South Africa maternity leave can do better. Cover all moms, formal or not. Healthy mothers and babies strengthen the nation. Act now.
