Something big is happening in South Africa! The 2025 Labour Law Amendment Bill could quietly reshape the meaning of work, power, and dignity in the country’s labour market if some of the reforms pass as proposed. There’s negatives and positives. 1/🧵🇿🇦 The law is trying to catch up with how people actually work today.

Think: on-call shifts, gig work, irregular hours. For the first time, there’s real recognition of that reality. There’s a proposal that says: If your employer keeps you “on standby”, they must:

– tell you your hours
– give proper notice
– pay you if they cancel

That’s a big deal. Because right now workers carry all the uncertainty. They plan for child care, transport and other expenses to plan for work that sometimes gets cancelled at the discretion of employers.

If I was running a newsroom in SA, I would have spent energy and resources in the 12 weeks to elections detailing the performance of the sixth administration. From governance, policy making, implementation, service delivery and the law making lens. 🧵 I would have centred every story on how it affects everyday South Africans and used their lives experience to reflect the performance of those elected to take charge of their lives. I would have explained how a 22 year old with a Chemistry degree is unemployed in this economy.