The Progressive Domestic Workers Union of South Africa (Prodwusa) wants the treasury to develop a pension fund for domestic workers so they can retire with a measure of financial security.
The union is still drafting the proposal and will hand it over to the department of employment and labour during a demonstration next month on the plight of domestic workers.
Thousands of the workers dedicate their lives to serving households, but end up with no safety net after decades of service, said Prodwusa secretary general Thato Reitumetse Maleka.
“This pension fund will correct that injustice and bring long-overdue recognition to the domestic labour sector,” Maleka said.
About 850 000 people, most of them women, are employed as domestic workers in South Africa, contributing 5.2% to total employment, according to a Statistics South Africa report.
Prodwusa proposes that the pension fund formula be similar to the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) model to ensure workers receive “a little extra” — much like a provident fund. It maintains that although domestic workers registered under the union qualify for UIF, the amount “is not enough security for them when they retire”.
Therefore, the contribution structure for the pension fund will require the worker to contribute a fixed percentage of the minimum wage and the employer to match that contribution. The government will be asked to either match both contributions, or an amount equivalent to what the worker has put in.
“In fairness to employers, a significant number of our members have expressed openness to negotiating a lower employer contribution percentage while ensuring that the fund remains sustainable,” Maleka said.
“This flexibility aims to balance the financial burden while still securing a reliable pension for domestic workers.”
It would be difficult for the treasury to allocate a budget for a domestic workers pension fund, said Lourandi Kriel, the chief executive of SweepSouth, an on-demand online platform for domestic cleaning services.
“I do not envy our finance minister — [there are] often multiple competing priorities that require funding and [it is] a tough job to ensure resources are allocated where return on investment makes the best sense,” she said.
Prodwusa also wants the South African Revenue Service to provide incentives to employers registered for the proposed pension fund, through tax deductions or rebates and credits, which would reduce their overall tax burden.
“Employers who refuse to participate should face financial penalties, audits or possible legal action to prevent labour exploitation. This system ensures that domestic workers retire with dignity rather than facing poverty after years of dedicated service,” Maleka said.
The 2024 annual report by SweepSouth on domestic worker pay and conditions found that many are drowning in debt and depression because of low wages and non-compliance with working conditions laid out in labour laws.
The report highlighted “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 said 36% of the workers reported losing some of their work — most of them need more than just one job to make ends meet — because employers cannot afford their services. About a fifth (21%) of those surveyed reported losing all employment in the past year, primarily because of affordability (25%) and employer relocation (34%), often motivated by economic reasons.
Many employers have opted to hire undocumented migrants from neighbouring countries at lower wages, knowing that they will not report any abuse for fear of deportation, according to Prodwusa.
“The hiring of undocumented workers has created a highly exploitative labour market where local domestic workers are being undercut by employers seeking cheap, unregulated labour,” Maleke said.
Prodwusa plans to march to the department of employment and labour in Polokwane on 6 May to demand fair wages and stronger protections for domestic workers, because it wrote to the treasury in February about its proposal, but did not get a response.
“This action is about justice, economic fairness, and ensuring domestic workers are no longer ignored,” Maleke said.
Prodwusa said it would visit treasury’s provincial office in Bloemfontein in the coming weeks.
A study by the International Labour Organisation said 9.4% of women and 5.8% of men migrant workers in sub-Saharan Africa are domestic workers.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an undocumented worker from Malawi detailed the abuse she has received from her employer, including being forced to work late into the night and left for days without food when her employer is out of town.
“They went away for the weekend and did not leave me any food. I stayed in a small backroom. They locked the house and all the gates so I could not get out. When I asked the boss; What will I eat?, she said it was not her problem,” she said.
The domestic worker is paid R2 000 a month, most of which she sends to Malawi for her child’s upkeep. The woman has stayed in her job despite the abuse, because she needs the money.