Aging & Social Change: Eleventh Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

The South African Constitution may be comparatively generous as it includes a justiciable right to have access to social security. Yet, the South African social security framework does not include a public retirement fund nor any mandatory retirement insurance. As a result, most older persons, and older women in particular, in South Africa rely on social assistance as a means of survival. This paper illustrates how the absence of a comprehensive social security system has rendered retirement an unknown concept to many older women in South Africa. It provides a critical analysis of the statutory framework for retirement income in order to identify the barriers working women face in saving for their retirement. It also highlights how statutory attempts to provide support to older women have been dismantled in the name of equality. This paper argues that a clear understanding of the state’s duty to provide older persons and particularly older women with access to social security, is crucial to shape a coherent legal framework for income security and support for older persons in South Africa.