The Global Gender Gap Report for 2022 showed that women in South Africa earn between 23% and 35% less than their male counterparts for the same jobs. The county is ranked 123 out of 146 countries regarding the gender pay gap for similar work.
South Africa has laws meant to guard against this, namely the Employment Equity Act. Section 6 of the Employment Equity Act prohibits unfair discrimination against employees or job applicants on grounds of personal or physical characteristics including race, gender and sex.
TomorrowToday’s Zanele Njapha says organisations must have regulatory systems in place to ensure they comply with the conditions of the employment equity legislation. They add that this is made worse as keeping a job is more important than asking for a salary increase.
Njapha explains that the gender pay gap is exacerbated in the country as around 40% of mothers living in South Africa are single parents. Data also suggests that women-headed households are on average 40% poorer than those headed by males
“So all of the context really causes women in the workplace today to go 'It's better for me to just keep quiet' but in the long run what starts to happen is that when we hold the shorter end of the stick then you really start to feel the pinch of not asking for more,” explained Njapha.
They add that while many companies will work to close the gender pay gap, some won't. This is when it becomes the responsibility of the individual to negotiate higher monthly compensation.
Njapha says awareness is an important aspect of closing the gender pay gap. Companies should conduct a pay equity audit and evaluate how much workers are earning to find inconsistencies.
These inconsistencies could be identified if workers are working in the same roles and have the same level of experience but earn different salaries.
