Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi says that his department will be taking steps to deal with the exploitation and abuse of domestic workers.
This follows a recent SweepSouth survey conducted in the sector, which showed that domestic workers in the country are still being severely underpaid, taking home on average R2 800 a month. This is despite the minimum wage for domestic workers having reached parity with the national minimum wage this year, entitling workers to around R3 700 a month, if working full time.
Nxesi says that his department will utilise different methods to deal with cases.
“Through our labour inspectorate in the department, we have prioritised the issue of domestic workers. You’re talking about a very huge sector, the households where domestic workers are. Some of them we are having reports and then visit those particular areas. And some of them we’re able to get them working together with the two unions operating in that particular sector.”
Minister Nxesi elaborates on the issue of domestic workers:
Impact of COVID-19
An August 2022 report showed that domestic workers in South Africa were among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the country’s economic decline. Data from the Old Mutual Savings and Investment Monitor survey (OMSIM) showed that more South African households have recently chosen to do without a domestic worker to save money.
The findings were based on interviews with over 1 500 households, gauging the financial attitudes and behaviour of the country’s working population. Before COVID-19, South Africans employed around one million domestic workers.
Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey now shows that about 250 000 domestic workers have since lost their jobs.
According to data from the Old Mutual Savings and Investment Monitor survey, 30% of households indicated that they had to cut down on domestic help, due to the increased cost of living.
Johannesburg resident, Sharon Naidoo says she had to cut down from employing her domestic worker on a weekly to monthly basis to keep up on payments as a result of the interest rate hikes.
“The rise in interest rates has had a huge impact on my household budget as funds had to be diverted to the higher loan spending and away from general spending. This has added tremendous strain in trying to manage the rising costs from grocery items to fuel and utility bills and the reality is that there is less disposable income now. We had to re-evaluate expenses and cut back on the luxuries and having a domestic worker at this time is not a necessity,” says Naidoo.
Another Johannesburg resident, Shivani Bopp says she had no choice but to stop employing her domestic worker as she can no longer afford to pay her.
“In today’s economy and the COVID pandemic, many households are facing different types of challenges which are affecting the standard of living. I personally had to stop bringing in my domestic worker on a regular basis as the cost of living has increased in recent months and I am trying to cut down on costs where necessary,” says Bopp.
Domestic worker, Charity Siwela used to work six days a week before COVID. Now, she says she only manages to get one or two days of work a week, leaving her in an extremely difficult financial situation.
“My name is Charity and I have been in South Africa for almost three years now. When I first came here it was okay before COVID because when COVID came, most of my jobs I lost them because my bosses were not able to pay me and now I am struggling to pay my rent and for food and to send money back home because I am from Zimbabwe. It’s very tough because now I only work twice or once a week. And it’s very painful because the cost of living is very high and I can’t send money home. I am really struggling and it’s very hard,” says Siwela.
