‘Anything can happen,” says domestic worker Florence Sosiba. “I am sitting here in the house. A criminal can come.“But if I am not in the Coida [Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act], how will my family get something?” asks the recently-elected president of South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union .
Sosiba has been a domestic worker for 36 years. She says working in a private household means there is no one to ensure that labour laws are being complied with. Mahlangu’s death in 2012 sparked a seven-year battle to challenge the exclusion of domestic workers from the Act. She drowned in her employer’s swimming pool, but her family received no compensation for her death.
But the leaders of domestic worker organisation say there is yet another hurdle ahead of them: organising and educating domestic workers about their right to claim compensation. Mthimunye, who has been a domestic worker for 14 years, says many in her line of work are afraid to join unions because they fear being fired.
She says the difficulty of mobilising domestic workers is paired with the problem posed by also having to ensure their families are educated about their rights. It is also necessary to make sure employers are on board. According to the Act, employers must register with and pay yearly contributions to the Compensation Fund.
“If there was money, every weekend I would be going to find domestic workers to tell them about Coida,” she says. “I try to reach them with the little that I get, but there is no money.” There are 20 000 more private household workers than there were a year ago and 32 000 more than there were 10 years ago.
Fairuz Mullagee, a researcher and co-ordinator of the Social Law Project at the University of the Western Cape, said that when regulation changes are introduced “there’s quite a lot of scare-mongering … and parties hide behind their concern about job losses”.possible for millions of people to go to work every day. They take care of over a million private homes and add great value to the economy.”
According to the senior attorney for the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa , Thulani Nkosi, the department of labour has said the fund will be left bankrupt if the Act — which compensates workers, or their survivors, for work-related injuries, illnesses or death — is applied retrospectively to domestic workers.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: IOL - 🏆 46. / 51 Read more »
New era or false dawn? Tsitsipas win invites cautionThe long-promised challenge to tennis’s Big Three seems closer, but next season will reveal more
Source: BDliveSA - 🏆 12. / 63 Read more »
Source: IOL - 🏆 46. / 51 Read more »
Source: TheCitizen_News - 🏆 6. / 75 Read more »
Graeme Smith steps out, Nosworthy steps up in director of cricket raceIn the aftermath of Graeme Smith's withdrawal from Cricket SA's director of cricket race this week, the experienced David Nosworthy has emerged as one of the candidates for the critical position.
Source: SundayTimesZA - 🏆 47. / 51 Read more »
Source: ewnupdates - 🏆 30. / 53 Read more »