East domestics protest harsh treatment by affluent Pretoria employees

Frustrated domestic workers recently protested outside the Department of Labour building in the Tshwane metro against “sexual harassment, exploitation, racism and corruption”.

The group of local and migrant domestic workers, including gardeners, complained security company staff and their employers manhandled them, their employers set dogs on them all while xenophobia prevailed in the suburbs across the province.

Marching under the banner United Domestic Workers of South Africa (UDWOSA) on International Domestic Workers’ Day, the group demanded decent working and living conditions for live-in employees.

Founder Pinky Mashiane said domestic workers in Silver Lakes, east of Pretoria, and surrounding areas suffered harsh conditions set by employers.

The workers also demanded they be registered with the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) and Compensation for Occupational Injuries (COIDA) and Diseases regardless of citizenship and for other employment benefits.

They called on the department to investigate employers exploiting workers.

“Many domestic workers live as slaves and prisoners in those estates,” Mashiane said.

“Live-in domestic workers must be inside security gates by 20:00.

“This is happening here in Pretoria not far from the president and the minister’s offices.

“Domestic workers are experiencing inequality at its worst.”

She said many workers, especially foreigners, were underpaid, received no retirement benefits and other incentives for their work.

“Some employers take insurance policies against their employees, pay for those policies for years and but keep the policy contracts as their property.

“What’s even worse is when those insured domestic workers retire, they give them very little money or nothing.”

Mashiane claimed that sexual harassment was also a challenge for many domestic workers.

“Domestics are exploited day and night. They are affected by discrimination, gender-based violence, inequality, racism, sexism and sexual harassment.”

She said only a few domestic workers were brave enough to take offending employers to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).

“We are calling on labour inspectors to go to upmarket suburbs and estates where there is more exploitation of domestic workers by the wealthy employers who think that they are untouchable and above the law.

“We believe that the department has the power to go anywhere where there are workers, even if the inspectors have to go to court to get papers to raid those estates in Midrand and Silver Lakes.”

The group was unable hand over its list of demands because no labour department officials were there to receive them.

Department spokesperson Teboho Thejane said the department’s representative was unable to receive the demands because nobody had made them aware of the date and time of delivery.

“We only heard about it afterwards,” he said.

In response to an enquiry by Rekord, Thejane said the department held both proactive and reactive inspections.

He also encouraged workers to report all contraventions of the labour laws at their nearest labour centre.

He added that the department would lay criminal charges against any employer it found had hired illegal nationals.

He said that in Pretoria, 1 677 domestic employers were registered with COIDA and seven claimed against it.

He said of those claims, the fund had accepted liability and was finalising them.

“For two claims, there is outstanding information [required] to finalise them.”

Thejane said the department’s domestic analysis for Gauteng for April and May, found that:

– 37 employers were inspected and 32 complied with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA),

– all the 12 inspected against the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) were all compliant.

– 12 of the 40 inspected against the Unemployment Insurance Act (UIA) were compliant.

– one inspected for COIDA was found to be compliant.

He said the non-compliance uncovered included unlawful deductions, non-issuing of pay slips, incomplete employer information, non-registration of employees, non-payment of UIF contributions and failure to declare an employee.

Thejane said five employers were served notices for their BCEA non-compliance and 23 for contravention of UIA.

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