Anele Mdoda slams R2 500 live-in domestic worker ad

 A job advertisement for a live-in nanny/domestic worker with a salary of R2 500 per month has had social media users outraged. But no one is more livid than TV and radio personality Anele Mdoda.

As of 1 March, the Department of Employment and Labour implemented a new rate of just over R25 or each ordinary hour worked as the country’s minimum wage.

JOB ADVERTISEMENT HAS TWEEPS – AND ANELE MDODA – OUTRAGED

The job ad – which was shared in a Facebook group called “I Know A Guy” – found its way onto Twitter.

ALSO READ: Something or nothing? Tweeps split over paying domestic worker R200 a day

It read: 

“Looking for a stay-in helper for my eight-year-old daughter. Please, any recommendations?

“Salary: R2500. Age: 33-45”

947 Presenter Anele Mdoda reacted to the ad, sharing her disdain for the person who posted it. She tweeted: “Who is this 33-year-old that must earn R2500 a month? We have to come to terms with the fact that we can’t afford full-time nannies. This is evil”.

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Anele’s tweet had her followers split. Many agreed that R2500 was exploitation.

@nomsaSkhanyile: “It’s both illegal and immoral! Such employers must be brought to book! Evil”

@MissDiko: “I say this all the time, I don’t have a helper because I can’t afford one. Nothing worse than underpaying someone for labour”

Others claimed it was “better than nothing.”

ALSO READ: ‘Litre of petrol costs more than domestic worker minimum wage’: Tweeps bemoan fuel hike

@PovertykillerB: “Not everyone has the same income as you. That’s what she can afford so please respect that”

@MasediSghamo: “Half a loaf of bread is better than nothing”

2023: WHAT IS DOMESTIC WORKER MINIMUM WAGE?

In South Africa, domestic work and nanny tasks often go hand-in-hand.

On 1 March 2023, the Department of Employment and Labour gazetted a domestic worker minimum wage increase from R23.19 to R25.42 per hour.

Assuming a domestic worker works for a minimum of 160 hours per month – broken down into eight hours per day, 20 days per month – their monthly minimum wage would be R4067,20.

For the daily rate of eight hours, this amounts to R203,36

Employers were also encouraged to register their domestic workers with the Compensation Fund against injuries on duty. 

However, the United Domestic Workers of South Africa claim this figure is still too low.

President Pinky Mashiane told Cape Talk: “The national minimum wage is something to those underpaid and exploited domestic workers. They [domestic workers] are more exploited now than ever.