Paternity Leave in the Spotlight of Graduate’s Research

BY: .

Master of Laws cum laude graduate Ms Nontuthuko Zuma’s research supports the introduction of paternity leave provisions as they will create equality between men and women in South Africa.

The comparative study titled: “Paternity Leave: The Benefits for South African Fathers in Comparison to Fathers in Foreign Jurisdictions. How Progressive Laws Governing Paternity leave are in South Africa", focuses on what South African legislators could learn from jurisdictions in Kenya and the United Kingdom if and when paternity leave is enacted in our legislation.

‘Studies have shown that children that have present fathers are more likely to do better than children who do not,’ said Zuma.

‘South Africa is a country that is in need of both equality as well as more involved fathers therefore if paternity leave provisions are introduced in South Africa it could be very beneficial to society as a whole. I think South Africa is really close to introducing paternity leave in its legislation and it will be interesting to see if it is modelled in a similar way to the way I think it will be,’ she added.

The Candidate Attorney who aspires to become a commercial law attorney says possessing this qualification will definitely be beneficial for her career pursuits.

‘I have always been passionate about doing Law and after completing my LLB degree, I was interested in studying further. With any sort of qualification I think the biggest sacrifice that one makes is your time. I worked part-time and was enrolled as a full-time student so that helped when it came to juggling the two. I cannot say right now if it is beneficial to my career or not but it is something that I wanted to do,’ she said.

Thandiwe Jumo