Woman helps domestic out of a R1 500-a-month labour
THE story of a Musgrave domestic worker earning R1 500 a month for a wall-towall, seven days-a-week job has landed 56-year-old Christina Mkhwanazi a decent part-time job and full-time accommodation.
After learning about Mkhwanazi’s plight, a good Samaritan, Mazeeda Limbada, posted an appeal to the Everything Musgrave Facebook group. It read: “Hi guys this lovely lady is currently working as a domestic for seven days a week from 7am until 8pm for only R1 500 a month. We all know this is not enough for basic needs. Please if anyone is looking for a reliable helper give the lovely Christina a call. “Let’s make this lady’s day.” The story soon went viral on social media, not only sparking heated debate on the working conditions of domestic workers, but also resulting in lots of job offers.
She was first offered a position which doubled her salary, but with her employer allegedly withholding her salary, she could immediately.
“So I lost the position,” Mkhwanazi told the Sunday Tribune this week.
She has since moved to a home in Westville where she will be paid decently for a oneday-a-week job, and be free to work for other people in the neighbourhood on other days.
The mother of four, who hails from Mariannhill has been a domestic worker for most of her life. While working for her now former employer in Musgrave she was expected to work seven days a week. not take it
“I hardly got to go home to my family. When I did, it was an issue. I only got to go home once a month, for one night only,” she said.
Mkhwanazi said some of her other working conditions included living in a room with no electricity. She said she was allowed to eat only left over foods and dry bread.
“There wasn’t even butter or something to put on my bread,” she said.
Commenting on Mkhwanazi’s story, Tertius Bossert, operations manager at FNB Law on Call, urged employers to adhere to minimum wage set by Department of Labour.
Pending passage of the minimum wage bill, he said domestic workers in urban areas earned a minimum of R13.05 an hour and in nonurban areas at least R11.89 an hour.
“These rates are currently the the under review,” said Bossert.
When Mkhwanazi’s former employer was contacted, she refused to speak to the Sunday Tribune and hung up the phone on three occasions.
Limbada, who can be contacted via the Everything Musgrave Facebook page, has appealed to people to offer employment for Mkhwanazi.