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Union says domestic workers need government’s support
Mthombeni has slammed the looming hike as an insult, saying it’s not in line with the cost of living.
Izwi also expressed frustration with the Home Affairs Department, saying whenever it visits some companies with labour inspectors, they don’t focus on the problem of them being underpaid but focus on the legal status of migrant workers.
Mthombeni says most employers hire migrant workers because they know they’re desperate and are unlikely to take them to the authorities should they not pay them according to the law.
According to a 2024 survey by SweepSouth, an online platform that connects clients with domestic cleaning services, 83% of domestic workers are the sole providers of financial support to their families.
The report also shows that 21% of respondents lost full employment in 2023 due to affordability (25%) and employer relocation (34%).
The survey had more than 5 600 workers’ responses.
General Industries Workers’ Union of South Africa (Giwusa) President, Mametlwe Sebei, supports Izwi Domestic Workers Alliance’s call for improved hourly rates.
The union describes the hike as a slap in the face and betrayal to the 5.3 million workers on the minimum wage and millions more who toil daily for poverty wages.
Giwusa says R15 000 would be the acceptable payment for the workers.
“The amount whilst not a living wage it is based on what UCT Livable Wage Research Group suggest it is the amount vital for workers to be lifted out of the extreme forms of working poverty and on the basis of which they can meet the most vital needs,” adds Sebei.
Labour Analyst, Terry Bell, says R15 000 is a great idea, but it’s unrealistic in the country in which millions of households live below the poverty line and full-time workers are paid minimum rates.
Veteran labour lawyer, Michael Bagraim, however, believes that making the national minimum wage too high will result in some people losing their jobs, as about 90% of private households won’t be able to afford paying R15 000 to their domestic helpers.
Bagraim says they have found that a majority of domestic workers don’t even earn the minimum wage and are afraid to speak up.
Labour federation, Cosatu, has slammed employers who still pay their employers pennies, saying it hopes the Department of Employment and Labour will intensify its crack down on those who ignore it.
Cosatu’s Parliamentary Coordinator, Matthew Parks, says employers who fail to comply with the national minimum wage must be treated as criminals and urges unions to expose such employers.
Some social media users are divided on the matter.
The amount of people who think having a domestic worker is a basic right and that domestic workers don’t live in the same economy they do where they must earn enough to pay for housing, transport, feed their families is one of the more embarrassing things about SA discourse
— Uppity African 🍉 (@naledimashishi) February 6, 2025
Domestic workers are also trying to survive in the same economy. The cost of living affects everyone, not just those who hire domestic workers.
— Maduduzo (@MaduduzoR) February 5, 2025
Government should incentivize people to hire domestic workers legally by making the salary a tax deductible expense.
The worker must be South African and must be registered with the UIF, etc. to get an official number.— JN (@UnityInSA) February 5, 2025
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