Debt and depression plague domestic workers in South Africa
South Africa’s domestic workers are drowning in debt and depression as low wages and non-compliance with working conditions laid out in labour laws affect this vulnerable segment of the population.
This was among the findings of the 2024 annual report on domestic worker pay and conditions released by SweepSouth, an on-demand online platform for domestic cleaning services, which surveyed thousands of workers across the country.
“This year’s report highlights the immense financial pressure faced by domestic workers, with 83% serving as the primary breadwinners for their households and supporting an average of four dependents,” the report noted.
“Delving into the critical issue of mental health amongst domestic workers, a significant finding is that 16% of workers reported a negative impact on their mental well-being within the past year, with women being more affected than men. This could be attributed to the multiple pressures they face, including financial strain and balancing work and family responsibilities.”
An alarming 22% of domestic workers reported experiencing some form of abuse in their workplace, whether verbal, physical or sexual.
“This figure underscores the vulnerability of domestic workers and the urgent need for interventions to ensure their safety and well-being. This acts as a stark reminder that despite the essential role domestic workers play, their work environments can sometimes expose them to unacceptable risks,” the report said.
Six percent of domestic workers do not feel safe in their employer’s home, it said.
The lingering effects of Covid-19 are also evident in the domestic work sector, which has stabilised at around 850 000 jobs, marking a 127 500 or 15% reduction from its pre-pandemic peak. Currently, domestic work accounts for 5.2% of South Africa’s total employment and a significant 11% of employment for women nationally.
Approximately 36 000 domestic workers were invited to participate in the survey, including 20 000 who had never used SweepSouth, 10 000 who previously found work through the platform and just over 6 000 who were active workers on it. The survey was conducted online, which would generally require respondents to have access to a smartphone.
Among the most significant findings was the fact that the financial strain on domestic workers remains high, with most acting as primary breadwinners, SweepSouth group chief operating officer Luke Kannemeyer said.
“This highlights the crucial role of domestic workers in providing for their families and the ongoing economic challenges they face. This trend has been observed since the beginning of the study in 2018, worsening during the Covid pandemic, but returning to the pre-pandemic numbers in 2023,” he said.
Domestic work remains “precarious”, especially during the current cost-of-living crisis that has hit employers, which has resulted in multiple knock-on effects for domestic workers and their families.
Thirty-six percent of workers reported losing some of their work due to employers not being able to afford their services, while 21% of those surveyed reported losing all employment in the last year, primarily due to affordability (25%) and employer relocation (34%), often motivated by economic reasons.
“This precariousness is exemplified by 43% of workers who lost their job in the last year and had worked for their employer longer than five years receiving less than one month’s notice. Twenty-four percent (24%) were not given any notice,” Kannemeyer said.
Most workers (73%) are unable to save, leaving them susceptible to economic shocks.
“This often leads to workers taking on debt to meet their family’s needs (35%), with around half of those in debt owing money to a shop or store, indicating a high level of easy credit and predatory lending practices in South Africa. One in three respondents in debt described their repayment situation as hopeless,” Kannemeyer said.
“This, in turn, compounds a mental health crisis with around 16% of workers reporting that their mental health has been negatively impacted in the last year, while less than one in three could access mental treatment. The largest negative drivers of mental health are unemployment (43%) and financial stress (25%).”
Workers who remained employed saw modest increases in their earnings but this still falls short of keeping up with increased spending which often results in workers compromising on variable cost items, like food.
“Without a systemic approach to economic recovery across all segments of South Africa, we are unlikely to see a turnaround in the domestic work sector,” Kannemeyer said.
He said the survey had noted “marginal improvements” to unemployment insurance fund (UIF) enrolment during the last three years among respondents, from 12% in 2022 to 16% in 2024.
“These figures remain dismal. However, I remain a strong proponent of legislative reform and the promotion of access to protections through innovative solutions. We have encountered many employers who want to enrol their workers in UIF or the COIDA
(Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act) facing significant obstacles,” Kannemeyer said.
“Domestic employers are not HR professionals, and the current systems are dense, confusing and unreliable.”
The UIF has recorded 1 040 987 unique ID numbers for domestic workers on its Siyaya database since 2002, department of employment and labour spokesperson Teboho Thejane said.
“This figure represents around 1% of the total number of workers on the database. The fund does not have statistics of the total number of domestic workers in the country. According to the Siyaya database, 526 852 domestic workers are actively in employment at present,” he said.
The department says it is aware of sectors in the labour market that do not comply with the National Minimum Wage (NMW) Act and these are subjected to inspections and compelled to pay all outstanding income to workers.
“Those who fail to pay NMW must pay their owed monies plus interest on all amounts due and payable,” Thejane said, adding that workers can file confidential complaints against employers at their nearest department of employment and labour office.
Domestic workers face myriad unfair labour practices and are bearing the brunt of the difficult economic climate, United Domestic Workers of South Africa founder Pinky Mashiane said.
“Even employers who can afford to pay domestic workers are manipulating the situation of the economy — either they’re underplaying them or they reduce their working days,” she said.
“Some domestic workers do not get annual leave. They have to work all the time, and also their employers go on holiday, and during that time, they do not pay the domestic worker. It is unfair.”
Some domestic workers can’t take sick leave or paid time off to go to a clinic to collect chronic medication such as drugs for high blood pressure and diabetes. In the worst cases domestic workers were being abused, and were at times locked in and out of premises, where they held live-in positions.
Mashiane highlighted the plight of one live-in domestic worker whose pay is so low that she cannot afford to buy food and relies on the small bowls of rice that her employer gives her and donations from other workers at trade union meetings.
“She can’t go out, and whether it’s raining or not, if she is locked out, she’ll wait for them until they come back, and she’s not allowed to cook,” she said.
“Unfortunately, domestic workers’ unions are not that strong, because domestic workers only come to unions when they’ve got problems, otherwise they hide. They are not even shy to come again after two years when they have another problem.”
A solution would be to set up a bargaining council where domestic worker employers and the trade union could discuss the challenges facing workers, Mashiane said.
“Some domestic workers are afraid to speak to their employers. If they have challenges, they just keep silent because they feel that they might lose jobs, but organised unions, together with employers, can draw light onto what’s happening in the lives of domestic workers.”