Today's Labour News

Cape Argus reports that Sweep South revealed on Sunday how domestic workers have felt the wrath of the Covid-19 pandemic – with depression being a common diagnosis.

In its fourth annual report, Sweep South surveyed pay and working conditions for domestic workers in SA, Kenya, and Nigeria. Job losses were among the primary effects in all three countries. In Kenya and Nigeria, two in five domestic workers lost their jobs due to the pandemic, versus one in five in SA. Depression was the most common diagnosis (72%), followed by anxiety (25%). Issues weighing domestic workers down ranked from unemployment (52%) to debt (25%), and family problems (15%). The survey found SA’s working conditions to be better than those in the other two countries. “South Africa has laid down extensive protections specific to domestic workers. Kenya has followed suit in some areas, but Nigeria’s regulations are not as extensive as those in SA or Kenya,” the report indicates. Sweep South’s Aisha Pandor commented: “As for basic living costs, the pandemic’s economic fallout has had a devastating effect on domestic workers’ livelihoods. Their living costs are down, but it’s likely due to them sacrificing variable-cost items, like food, to stretch their earnings … Many of us would have predicted that the worst of the pandemic would be behind us a year later. However, we continue to see job losses and economic hardship for domestic workers, and even though there are some encouraging signs, the general outlook is still grim.” Cosatu’s Sizwe Phamla welcomed the report, saying: “It is testimony to our progressive labour laws that abuse levels reported in South Africa are lower than in other African countries.

• Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Thabo Makwakwa at Cape Argus
• Read too, ‘Domestic workers must incur debt to survive’, at City Press (paywall access only)

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page