Dad’s parental leave victory

Hendri has been on a mission that means new fathers will soon get 10 days’ paternity leave

HE CAN still remember it. Although it’s been five years he can still vividly recall those miraculous first weeks of fatherhood and the joy of staring into his twin sons’ bright blue eyes.

Even the nappy changes and sleepless nights weren’t so bad – he was just so grateful his boys were alive.

Parenthood got off to a bumpy start for Hendri Terblanche and his wife, Giselle, after their babies arrived three months early.

This meant the tots had to spend weeks in the hospital’s neonatal unit – and while they were there their father was with them day and night.

It was a stressful time but Hendri was relieved he could focus on what was really important.

His boss told him not to worry, that he could work flexible hours and be with his wife and sons as much as he could be.

And as his sons grew stronger and healthier with each passing day, so did his love for them.

Imagine if he’d missed out on all of this! It was only later that he realised how lucky he was to have had that incredible bonding experience – the way the law stood at the time, South African men weren’t entitled to any parental leave.

All they were permitted were three days of family responsibility leave. If they wanted more they had to dip into their annual leave. And once that was used up it was back to work.

“I spoke to other parents and realised it was a huge problem for many people,” Hendri says.

He knew he had to do something. So for the past four years Hendri (42), who works as a financial manager at a data processing company, has worked really hard to change things.

And recently his efforts paid off – on 23 November President Cyril Ramaphosa signed the Labour Laws Amendment Bill to allow dads 10 days’ paid leave when a child is born. People can claim for 66% of their salaries for maternity and parental leave from the Unemployment Insurance Act within the salary limit cap of about R210 000 a year.

Fittingly the next day Hendri and Giselle (39), celebrated the fifth birthday of their twins, Juandré and Danté.

“We went to a wine farm where the kids could play,” Hendri tells us. “It was a good party.”

IN HIS casual jeans and flip-flops Hendri looks super laid-back – not the kind of guy you’d ever imagine would have the stamina for a fouryear David-and-Goliath battle. We meet him at Danté’s school in Durbanville, near Cape Town, which specialises in teaching children with autism.

“Until he was about two years old he could say a few words but when the autism manifested he became like a letterbox – you put the envelope in but nothing comes out.”

Hendri asked that we meet at school because when Juandré and Danté are together they can be a bit of a handful. While we chat the boys play quietly at a table, blissfully unaware of the mountains their dad has had to move to help shape a better society.

“Dads want to be involved,” he says.

LEFT: Hendri Terblanche and his twins, Juandré (left) and Danté. ABOVE: Hendri believes he has to teach his sons never to give up at the first hurdle. “But when your three days of family responsibility leave are over you have to use your regular leave if you want to stay home with them. That leads to dads neglecting their responsibility.”

He’s an early riser, Hendri tell us, so when he got up at about 3am every day he’d spend time working on his parental leave campaign.

He started off by sending out a whopping 400 individual emails to each member of parliament. And on 4 July 2014 he took the step of petitioning Thandi Modise, chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCP) – the constitution stipulates that this is one of the routes a member of the public must follow if they want to direct a petition to change the law.

“It was quite an undertaking and time-consuming to send those emails to each MP,” Hendri says, laughing. “Only a few responded.”

One of the MPs who did get back to him was the ACDP’s Cheryllyn Dudley, who turned out to be instrumental in getting the act amended. She tabled the amendment to parliament and after all the parliamentary and legal processes were completed, the NCP and National Assembly finally approved it and the president signed it into law.

Cheryllyn said she was aware of the need for parental leave even before she received Hendri’s email and had been looking into it.

She describes the victory as “historic” because it was the first private member’s bill to be approved by the NCP and National Assembly. A private member’s bill or amendment refers to a law tabled by a member of parliament and not, as is usually the case, a portfolio committee or cabinet member.

Hendri says it was anything but easy campaigning for the amendment and that there were many administrative challenges, such as making sure documents were filed with the relevant departments. But after the hundreds of emails and follow-up emails, phone calls and enquiries, his efforts have now finally been rewarded.

Giselle, who works for the communications section of the department of agriculture, supported him and acted as a sounding board.

Hendri looks at his sons as he reflects on his struggles of the past years. “The big problem is that people aren’t determined enough,” he says. “They give up too easily. You can’t start something and then stop halfway through. I can’t teach my sons a lesson about determination when I can’t finish a job.”

He’s always had a stubborn streak. “After the twins’ birth I entered the Comrades [ultramarathon] but I didn’t have time to train enough. Everything had already been paid so I decided to compete anyway.

“I had a tough time,” he says, shaking his head. “Eventually I walked because I couldn’t run any more. The last of the last people overtook me – but I made the cut-off time with two minutes to spare. You don’t just give up. You keep going until the very end.”

He reckons his ability to envision the end result is one of his greatest strengths. “I can see which processes need to fall into place to get there. Sometimes there are hurdles – but you just need to get over, around or under them.”

But this is hardly the end of the road, though – a while ago Hendri also started a campaign for parent-care leave.

His mother-in-law, Alice Bruwer, died of breast cancer earlier this year. That made him realise the importance of being able to care for your loved ones when they need you.

He’s petitioning for the amendment of the law to broaden the definition of family responsibility leave to include when a parent, adoptive parent or grandparent is ill.

At the moment it just covers workers for when their children are sick or if there’s a death in the immediate family.

With a determined glint in his eye, Hendri tells us that if the existing legislation can’t be amended he’d like a new law regarding parent-care leave to be drafted.

“It’s another effort to bring equality and balance to our society,” he says.