UNITED DOMESTIC WORKERS
OF SOUTH AFRICA

In 2019 Joanna Mkhonza was savagely beaten by the 28 year-old son of the couple for whom she had worked for 22 years. After a night of heavy drinking Enrico took out his frustrations at the South African government on the woman who had helped to raise him since he was five years old. Joanna managed to escape with heavy bruising to her face but was forced into retirement by the incident. A criminal charge has been lodged against the family but still has not been heard in the court. In the CCMA the family was ordered to pay Joanna R48,000 (£2,500 approx.) for loss of earnings.

Sarah was working for a family in Pretoria in 2012 when she was blinded in one eye by an open bottle of drain cleaner that fell from the top shelf. Her employer had asked her to move all of the cleaning products to a lower shelf. Instead of taking her straight to hospital, Sarah was made to wait until the husband got home and was driven to hospital two hours after the accident took place. She stayed in hospital for 3 months, but when the family was asked to pay for medication they refused, saying that they didn’t have any money. On returning to work she found that the electricity had been cut off to her living quarters, and the toilet had been blocked. After three months she was forced to leave and told that they could no longer employ her. 10 years later and Sarah still hasn’t received any compensation, but she is working with Pinky to get justice for her injury.

After 3 years of diligent work as a domestic worker and nanny, Rebecca Kutumela was dismissed from her job with no warning because she took three days off, sick with flu. Rebecca was paid a salary of R4,000 a month to be a live-in domestic worker. The understanding was that she would work 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, but the reality was very different. Often she would have to get up early to look after the baby and at 4pm she was expected to feed and bath the child, often she would only finish at 8pm once she had served dinner and washed up the dishes. As she was live-in, Rebecca was often expected to babysit when her employers wanted an evening out, there was no offer of payment. Since September 2023 Rebecca has been unable to find work. She is now 60 years old and a mother to 2 daughters, grandmother to 4. She has been left feeling dehumanised and discarded by a family who did not care about her life but only what they could get from her for as little as possible.