AWD Report 2020
4.2 Trends in Legal, Policy and Institutional Reform 4.2.1. Legal Reforms Over the Decade, the countries of the Southern African region implemented legislation concerning women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurship. South Africa (Act No. 47 of 2013: Employment Equity Amendment Act) and Zambia (Gender Equity and Equality Act of 2015) have specific legal provisions that promote affirmative action to benefit women and advance their economic status.626 In 2011, Angola adopted Law No. 30/11 on Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises. Under this Law, the executive should structure specific tax, financial and organisational incentive programmes for women and young people, including training and/or professional improvement courses with the involvement of recognised national business and/or professional associations.627 All Southern African countries allow maternity leave. Four countries (Angola, Botswana, Lesotho and Zambia) have introduced new legislation concerning paid maternity leave. Angola’s General Labour Law No. 7/15 of 15 June 2015 and Presidential Decree on Maternity Protection No. 8/11 of 7 January 2011 provide for 90 days of paid maternity leave and establish that the government administers 100% of maternity leave benefits.628 Botswana increased maternity income protection to cover 50% of the woman’s salary in 2010 under the amended Employment Act.629 In Lesotho, there is no obligation for an employer to pay the wages of women on maternity leave, which leads to many taking their annual leave instead to cover for their absence.630 Many women working in the informal sector, such as in agriculture, do not benefit from maternity leave or pensions.631 In nine countries (Angola, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe), women’s rights to equal pay for work of equal value are enshrined in law. In three countries (Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe), reforms for equal pay provision took place during the AWD. The 2015 Gender Equity and Equality Act of Zambia, Section 31(e), provides that women have a right to “equal remuneration, benefits and treatment in respect of work of equal value as well as equality of treatment in the evaluation of the quality of work.”632 Likewise, Angola’s General Labour Law, Section 157, states that women have the right to equal remuneration.633 Both Namibia and South Africa continued to promote female employment through legal provisions enacted during the Decade. Namibia’s Employment Services Act No. 8 of 2011 set quotas for female members of the Employment Services Board and prohibited private employment agencies from discrimination based on sex, marital status or family responsibilities.634 South Africa’s 2017 Codes of Good Practice on Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment specifies that 12% of net measurable procurement must be spent on black women-owned businesses.635 During the AWD, some Southern African countries adopted legislation prohibiting sexual harassment in the workplace. Malawi’s Gender Equality Act prohibits sex discrimination including at the workplace and enables victims of sexual harassment to report this outside of the institution, to mitigate fears of retribution.636 The Policy on Employment in Mozambique prohibits sexual harassment and discrimination against women at the workplace,637 while promoting training opportunities for women to take on more traditionally male jobs.638 Sectors traditionally dominated by women are regulated in the Angolan Presidential Decree on the Legal and Social Protection Framework for Domestic Workers,639 while the Malawi Pensions Act protects part-time, temporary, seasonal and home-based workers.640
4.2.2. Policy and Institutional Reforms During the Decade, most Southern African countries took steps to eradicate poverty, most commonly through frameworks such as national policies on gender and development and country strategic plans. Some countries (Angola, Botswana and Zimbabwe) adopted policies and programmes specifically aimed at eradicating poverty. The 2011 Poverty Eradication Framework of Botswana incorporates a gender equality perspective.641 In Mozambique, the
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