Domestic worker abuse shock

GORY details of sexual assault and dehumanisation of a domestic worker from the affluent Silver Lakes area in Pretoria have emerged.

The leafy suburb is home to rich and influential people in business and sport, and home prices in the area are tagged at R3 million or more. The shocking details of a sexual assault of a 42-year-old Zimbabwean woman, living in South Africa illegally, have shaken political bigwigs, and the South African Federation of Trade Unions leader Zwelinzima Vavi.

He wants the police to swiftly act against the perpetrators, a family of Saudi Arabian origin, living in Silver Lakes.

The victim began working there in 2019, but her troubles, according to the United Domestic Workers of South Africa, began in 2020.

The police, who are still investigating the matter, heard last week that during her employment, the employee was overworked and underpaid. The employer would make her work every day, including public holidays. The police also heard that her employer allegedly did not recognise South Africa’s public holidays because, “there were too many”.

Adding to her agony, the victim told the police that from 2020 to June 21, 2022, she had been called on numerous occasions by her female employer (name withheld) to her bedroom while her family was not home.

According to the victim, she would find her employer in her bedroom with warmed olive oil, which she was told to apply on her private parts.

She further related that her employer would close windows and curtains and lock the door or tell her to lock it. She would then undress and lie on the bed with her legs opened for her to perform this forced sexual activity.

The police were told that the employer, who cannot speak English, would use signs to allegedly instruct the worker where to touch her private parts, while she took pleasure in that.

In another incident, the victim alleged that their son (whose name is also withheld) allegedly knocked at her room in the early hours of the morning last year, and when she asked who it was, he said he was looking for water.

United Domestic Workers of SA president Pinky Mashiane said the victim couldn’t sleep after that and went to clean the house.

“After that the son followed her to her room and spanked her, but she pushed him out,” Mashiane said.

The police heard that between September and October last year, the entire family left Pretoria for Saudi Arabia on holiday – and the father returned home alone.

Relating the victim’s ordeal, Mashiane said: “The father called her that evening after his arrival, when she entered his room he switched off the lights and went naked behind her, pulled her clothes up and made sexual moves from behind without penetrating her while holding her tightly.

“Then he released his sperms and wiped himself with a tissue and tried to wipe her where he had messed her up, she pushed his hands and ran out to her room,” Mashiane said.

Mashiane condemned the “gross human rights violation” of the domestic worker: “This behaviour and abuse of power by these individuals called employers will not go unchallenged. We have taken steps against them after they unfairly and rudely dismissed her.”

Mashiane said at 5am on July 11, 2022, the domestic worker was told to wash the walls of the mansion in Silver Lakes and after that, was told to leave her room and premises because the employers said they were going to their country. She finished packing outside the room.

“They exploited her, sexually abused her, ditched and dumped her at last on August 24, 2022. We have taken her unfair dismissal case to the CCMA and opened a sexual harassment case at Pretoria Central Police Station, which was transferred to Boschkop Police Station, and we will make sure that she gets justice,” Mashiane said.

Independent Media understands that the alleged perpetrators have since acquired the services of a new domestic worker, despite promising the victim that they would call her on their return from Saudi Arabia.