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

Poverty Reduction Action Plan 2011–2014 has as its primary goal to reduce the incidence of poverty by promoting employment and human and social development and increase food production.642 The Plan also includes goals to reduce gender disparities and promote gender equity. The Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 2016–2018 of Zimbabwe includes a particular focus on gender, women and development to achieve the overall objective. Among the strategies to reduce poverty among women is the implementation of gender and women development programmes to empower women’s participation in the economy and skills development.643

To effectively eradicate poverty, the Government of Namibia established the Ministry of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare during the AWD. Its mandate includes initiating, implementing and coordinating social development programmes to improve the lives of all Namibians, particularly women and children, and to effectively eradicate poverty and inequality.644

Seven countries (Angola, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe) have begun implementing GRB, with South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe standing out as the countries championing such budgeting in SADC.645 Eswatini’s 2010 National Gender Policy states that experts in gender budgeting should form an integral part of the team responsible for the planning of national and sectoral budgets.646 In South Africa, the Ministry of Youth, Women and Persons with Disabilities has released the Framework on Gender-Responsive Planning, Budgeting, Monitoring, Evaluation and Auditing. This seeks to implement gender-responsive practices and budgeting across the entire state machinery and outlines phases from 2018 to 2021 to accomplish this.647 Botswana, Malawi, Namibia and South Africa have increased the percentage of the budget allocated to the gender ministry.

Strategies used to mainstream gender concerns have also included creating gender focal points in all ministries (Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe), which should function to implement the country’s gender objectives within their respective institutions.648 Another strategy is instructing all accounting officers to include gender concerns in Budget Call Circulars, which Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Finance has been doing since 2007.649

Acknowledging the challenges that women face in accessing funds from formal financial institutions for investments in their enterprises, countries are putting in place schemes to advance finances to women on more equitable terms. Projects related to microcredit or easier loan schemes targeted at women exist in several countries.650 Countries like Angola, Eswatini, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, for example, have established microcredit or other loan schemes specifically aimed at women’s empowerment. Mozambique inaugurated in 2013 the Woman Bank (Banco Mulher), which simplifies loan access for women.651 In Eswatini, SWEET Microcredit, established in 2015,652 and the non-profit Imbita Eswatini Women’s Finance Trust grant loans for the development of women in business in areas not served by other microcredit organisations.653 In 2016, the Ministry of Small Business Development, Cooperatives and Marketing of Lesotho began development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Policy, which provides guidance on accessibility to credit.654

In South Africa, the Women’s Empowerment Fund, under the National Empowerment Fund, supports businesses that are more than 50% owned and managed by black women.655 In Namibia, the Income Generating Activity Fund provides grants for small businesses/projects, especially targeting women with disabilities.656 Zambia’s Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission allocated 30% of its funds to women,657 which increased the percentage of women’s projects supported from 17.4% of all projects in 2012 to 37% of projects in 2013.658

In 2015, Zambia’s first women’s bank was established, with Ministry of Finance funding.659 Zimbabwe launched the Zimbabwe Women’s Microfinance Bank in 2018 to help rural women in particular to

Figure 7 Southern Africa: Firms with female participation in ownership (% of firms)

South Africa 22.6%

Malawi 28.1%

Mozambique 28.3%

Eswatini 36.0%

Lesotho 39.1%

Namibia 41.0%

Zimbabwe 42.5%

Zambia 43.7%

Botswana 55.3%

Angola 56.6%

Source: World Bank, Gender Statistics DataBank.