The cost of a night out for two, including a three-course dinner and wine at restaurants in affluent suburbs such as Parkhurst and Camps Bay, can easily climb to R1,000. That amount is just more than a third of the minimum wage paid to South Africa's domestic workers per month. Yet without the help of these women many diners might not have the time to enjoy that dinner. The average income of domestic workers, according to a survey published this week by on-demand domestic service platform SweepSouth, showed that the 500 workers polled earn between R3,000 and R4,000 per month. But many earn less. Fairuz Mullagee, coordinator of the Social Law Project at the University of the Western Cape, said domestic workers form an integral part of overall economic activity and possess commercial economic value over and above their intrinsic social value. The work they provide, not only in South Africa but around the world, allow many people to take up work outside the home. "It perpetuates class,...
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