As South Africa commemorates Women's Day on 9 August, it is important to celebrate the achievements of women but also to highlight the challenges that women still face in the workplace. Against the background of the FIFA Women's World Cup, which kicked off on 20 July 2023, we look at some of the challenges South Africa's national women's football team has (red) flagged on their way into the top 16.
South Africa's Women's football team, Banyana Banyana, has used their success in the current FIFA Women's World Cup as a platform to raise their ongoing complaint that their male counterparts, Bafana Bafana, are paid infinitely more than them, despite Banyana Banyanas' constant achievements.
In the 2023 Global Gender Gap Report, South Africa ranked 111th out of the 146 participating countries in respect of pay parity. This is despite having an equal pay regime that was introduced into the Employment Equity Act, 1998 nearly a decade ago.
Section 6(4) of the Employment Equity Act provides that a difference in terms and conditions of employment between employees of the same employer performing the same or substantially the same work or work of equal value that is directly or indirectly based on gender is unfair discrimination. This provision is colloquially called the "equal pay provision".
In evaluating whether there is a case of unequal pay, for equal work, or work of equal value, it is important to look at whether:
- the jobs that are being compared are the same, substantially the same or of equal value in terms of an objective assessment; and
- there are differences in the terms and conditions of employment, including pay, of the employees in the jobs that are being compared.
If the answer to the above two questions is in the affirmative, the question is then whether the difference can be justified on fair and rational grounds.
The world over, gender pay issues have plagued sports arenas with common themes and arguments which have been made in favour of and against equal pay on and off the field. In this regard, the most common response as to why the gender pay gap exists in sports relates to the revenue generated by women's sports. There is less of a market for women's sports, which results in less interest, television coverage, ticket sales, sponsorships and other revenue generating opportunities. Whilst this may be true, the reasons as to why this is so must be considered in accepting or rejecting this argument.
When looking at the history of sport, women's participation is peppered with restrictions and gender stereotyping. For starters, women came late to the sports arena as a result of having been restricted (often legally) from participating in numerous athletic activities. Men, however, have never had any such preclusion and as such, have had centuries to build up interest in male-centred sports. This visibility (and with it fandom) has resulted in the establishment of men's sports as the cultural and societal norm in mainstream culture, which in turn leads to increased opportunity for revenue generation. When women finally made it onto the playing field, other systemic, socio-cultural barriers kept the playing field unequal and so inhibited the building of a meaningful fanbase (and in turn, revenue). These barriers are born from views that women do not have a place in the workplace, especially where that is a physical one, that only very specific (feminine) sports are suitable or acceptable for women to participate in and also from the reality that women do not play or watch sport because of other stereotypical duties, ideas or conditioning. Ultimately, women in sport started, and continue to be, on the backfoot for these reasons.
However, things are changing. Globally, there have been a number of challenges and moves taken to improve women's financial position in professional sport. In soccer specifically, the United States Women's National Team, who won the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2019, filed a lawsuit against the U.S Soccer Federation, accusing them of gender discrimination as a result of equal pay issues. The Women's National Team stated that their male counterparts earned a USD5 000 bonus for a loss, while the women earned nothing for a loss or a draw. In addition, the women received USD1 350 per win, whereas the men could receive as much as USD17 625. Interestingly, the American viewership of the Women's FIFA World Cup final in 2019 was 22% higher than the audience for the men's final the previous year and generated more revenue in each of the last four years than the US men's soccer team. This matter was settled out of court in February 2022, resulting in the conclusion of an agreement of USD24-million, plus bonuses matching those of the men's team and equal pay going forward.
In a communique from President Ramaphosa's desk on 7 August 2023, the president congratulated Banyana Banyana and the Women's National Netball team for their achievements. In doing so, he commented that these achievements were a reminder of how far we have come in building a South Africa where women are full and equal participants in society. However, he also said that they serve too as a reminder of how much further we still need to go. In this regard, President Ramaphosa recognised that the disparate sponsorship given to men and women's sports in South Africa "contributes to the huge disparity between the remuneration of female athletes and their male counterparts." He said that, "[e]qual pay for work of equal value is one of most fundamental tenets of gender equality. The sporting fraternity is neither exceptional nor is it exempt. That female athletes should still earn less than their male counterparts is an affront to our nation's sportswomen, more so at a time when the achievements of some of our women's sports teams surpass those of our men's teams."
In closing, the president encouraged increased sponsorship and investment in women's sports and acknowledged that in working together as government, business and the sporting fraternity we could level the playing field for women's sports in our country.
The messaging of the President should serve as a call to action for not only the employers, associations, and businesses operating in the sports arena but also more broadly. Employers, specifically, should be reminded of their obligation to ensure equality in the workplace. Taking the reasons for disparate pay at face value is something that should be avoided as, more often than not, the reasons which may have contributed to such inequity stem from both historical and continuing societal stereotypes and constructions.
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