For domestic workers, women’s month marks their ongoing struggle

The words of Pinky Mashiane sent chills down the spine as she said them. Seated in her corner office on the 4th floor of a Pretoria office block, Mashiane reflected on her life raised by women who were domestic workers, being a domestic worker herself, and her work as an activist and advocate for the rights and fair labour practices of domestic work. She co-founded United Domestic Workers of South Africa (Udwosa) to support domestic workers and gardeners in cases of exploitation, wrongful termination, unfair deductions, and inhumane treatment.

Born in 1971, Mashiane grew up witnessing the hardships endured by her mom. As she looks back on this, she emphasises that the working conditions of domestic workers in the country, 30 years into democracy, are not much improved. “Many domestic workers have lost their lives on duty. They have been attacked by employers, employer’s family members, and the dogs of their employers on their property. This is still a very painful problem that we are facing,” said Mashiane with a sigh.

The murder of 21-year-old Busiswa Nxumalo, who was a domestic worker, at the hands of her employer, Sithembile Xulu, is a painful reflection of their vulnerability. Although the Compensation of Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (Coida) covers domestic workers, compliance by employers remains a problem.

Member of Udwosa at the Pretoria High Court during the Maria Mahlangu case. Supplied by Mashiane.

‘Slave-like’

Thandiwe Mkhize* (56) has been a domestic worker for 15 years and wants more than ever to have the harsh conditions of domestic workers acknowledged and made visible. She is a breadwinner and has a family of eight people including her sister and her children, who depend on her.

She has been working as a stay-in domestic worker for her current employer for 4 years. Living in the back room, Mkhize describes her living situation as hellish because she lives with someone who does not trust her. “I don’t have a key for the house even though I live in the back. I have to wait for them to come back in order to get in or get out. I have been forced to wait outside in the cold, in winter, until they come back. I was shaking,” she explained.

Mkhize works every day of the week from 7 in the morning to 5 in the late afternoon, doing duties such as laundry, washing dishes, cleaning, and minding the 12 and 23-year-old children and the dog that stays inside the home. She is also expected to perform these duties on Sundays. Her off days are spontaneous and based on the needs of her employer. She said that she does not get food from them and is often forced to go to sleep with an empty stomach or with a cup of tea and sliced bread. She earns just R2,600 and is not registered for the UIF.

7 a.m to 5 p.m.,
everyday of the week
and offered only
leftovers for food

Mkhize continued: “Sometimes, she sends me R2,400 instead of R2,600, and I have to beg her to add the rest. As an elderly woman, who is also taking medication, I can’t just go to sleep with tea and bread. When I ask for food, they give me leftovers and force me to share with their youngest child.”

Mkhize said that she did not sign a contract of employment when she started working. When she asked her employer to register her for UIF, her employer said that she will “never” do that and also refused to increase her wages. “I don’t sleep at night because I am stressed. I am worried and I am heartbroken that this is my life. I am afraid to quit and stop working, because what will my family do?” she cried.

Domestic workers have been part of struggles for several decades in South Africa to secure worker rights and while being conditionally included in the LRA and Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA), they were excluded from the protection of the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (Coida) for over two decades.

Mkhize’s daily reality is not isolated as many other domestic workers live and work under difficult and unsafe conditions. 59-year-old, Hope Malebane* is currently sitting at her home in the south of Johannesburg, drained from an ongoing case with the CCMA against her employer. She was angered by the abuse that she, as a domestic worker, faced at the hands of her employee, who is a woman. “She chased me out of the house and did not give me a chance to explain. I can still hear the sound of her screaming “Get out! Get out! at me as if she doesn’t value me. I felt like less than a human. Is that a way to talk to a domestic worker? She accused me of stealing her money when she found me cleaning in the room. I tried to explain and empty my pockets to show her but she didn’t give me a chance.”

Malebane at her home in Eden park, 2024.

After working as a live-in domestic worker for her employer for over a year, Malebane is struggling with the memory of being treated this way by someone she cared for and respected.

“Nothing has changed for us. We are still being treated just like our mothers. They are still exploiting us. They still talk the way they want to talk to us. When they get aggressive with us, we can’t get aggressive with them. It is hard. You can’t react because you are desperate for the job,” she said.

Malebane will hear the outcome of her hearing within 14 days.

Domestic workers get protection

Since April 2023, legislation provides that domestic workers and their employers will have to make contributions to the Unemployment Insurance Fund for the benefit of the employee in the case of an illness that makes them unable to work. However, many domestic workers are still not registered by their employers today. Mashiane said that the Covid-19 pandemic revealed how few domestic workers are registered because only UIF-registered workers could apply to the government’s temporary employee and employer relief scheme fund and many did not get any relief.

Employers whose domestic workers work for them for more than 24 hours per month must register them with the UIF, and deduct 1% of their monthly wages to pay it over to UIF, together with a 1% contribution from the employer.

In March this year, the minimum wage was increased to R27.58 per hour. Domestic workers are entitled to a minimum of four hours pay, regardless of the hours worked for the day. “Although there are many employers who are complying and paying even above the minimum wage, there are employers who are ignorant and don’t have information. Others just don’t care about the domestic workers. Many employers want to have more power over domestic workers because they can’t be confronted. We are still seeing slavery wages,” said Mashiane.

A victory for the union and worker rights

She reflected back to the year 2012 when she visited the family of Maria Mahlangu who was a domestic worker that drowned in the pool of her employer’s home in Pretoria. At the time, domestic workers were not included in Coida. She made it her mission to seek justice for the family and for the future of domestic workers who are injured at work. She noted that after the Mahlangu ruling, just over 20 claims were reported by the Department of Labour for Coida, suggesting the victory is far from won.

It was in 2020 when the minister of labour was ordered to include domestic workers in Coida with immediate effect. The constitutional ruling applied retroactively to 1994. “Although, it was one of my greatest victories, the question remains: is it [Coida] working for domestic workers?” asked Mashiane.

The United Domestic Workers of South Africa and other members of supporting unions marching to the Union Buildings in Pretoria marking three years since the Constitutional Court made the Coida ruling in 2020.

“Many domestic workers don’t know about COIDA. They don’t know that they are included there. That if they are injured on duty, if they are bitten by dogs of employers, they can go and report these at the Department of Labour. There is a lot of information that does not reach domestic workers and it is the role of the department to inform them because as unions we do not have resources,” said Mashiane.

Although the victories for domestic workers are achievements for the sector, Mashiane remains determined to address the challenges that continue to keep domestic workers vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. “Domestic workers are still overlooked and not seen as valued workers. They are not seen to be doing important work even though they are.”

Mashiane concluded: “Some of the domestic workers that took some of their white employers’ children to the march in 1956, showed that they were adamant. They wanted change. Those domestic workers will not rise from the grave and fight for domestic workers today – they paved the way. I want us as domestic workers today, to channel the energy of these women. We cannot be cowards.”