The stipulated minimum wage for domestic workers has increased this year by 7.6%.

But the South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union (Sadsawu) are unhappy with the increment.

The minimum wage for urban areas has risen, as from December 1, the minimum wage of those working more than 27 hours a week will now be R9.63 an hour (previously R8.95), while that of their rural and small-town counterparts will be R8.30 (previously R7.65).

The department added that the minimum wages for urban domestic workers working 27 hours or less a week will be R11.27 hourly, R304.29 weekly (for a 27-hour week) and R1 318.48 monthly (for a 27-hour week), while in rural ares, it will rise to R9.80 hourly, R264.60 weekly (for a 27-hour week) and R1 146.51 monthly (for a 27-hour week).

The Labour department has also stipulated that overtime must be paid at one and a half times the employee’s normal wage, or an employee may agree to receive paid time off.

Sadsawu Spokeswoman Eunice Dhladhla, a former domestic worker herself, said it was “a mere drop in the ocean.”

Dhladhla said that at a recent meeting, disgruntled domestic workers said they earned between R2 000 to R4 000 a month, depending on the number of duties they had to do.
For most of the women, this was not considered a ‘living wage’.

The legislation applies to almost two million workers in the country who work as housekeepers, gardeners, nannies, domestic drivers and those who look after the sick, aged or disabled in private homes. It also covers domestic workers who work as independent contractors.

(This story has been corrected after, due to a typing error, it previously read that the minimum wage increase was 1%)