In this week’s post, Marthinus van Staden and Grey Stopforth expose a blind spot in South African labour law: grandparents and other caregivers may shoulder the day-to-day work of raising children, however they remain excluded from parental leave. The authors argue that African regional instruments already highlight the need to support caregivers. It is national labour law that needs to catch up.

In this post, Marthinus van Staden and Michele van Eck highlight a significant oversight in South Africa’s labour law framework, which allows employers to unilaterally alter working conditions without employees' explicit consent. This gap disproportionately affects vulnerable groups, who struggle to navigate contracts laden with complex legal jargon. The authors advocate for labour law reforms mandating written employment contracts and the use of plain language in all employment-related documentation.