An Investigation of the Challenges Faced by Female Domestic Workers: The Case of Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

ABSTRACTDomestic workers play a pivotal role in supporting the labor market and economy in any country around the world. The aim of this paper was to scrutinize the challenges experienced by domestic workers in South Africa. The objectives of the paper were to find out the coping strategies employed by domestic workers in this area and to establish some ways that may make domestic work a recognizable profession in South Africa. A qualitative research approach was used in the paper. The findings of the paper are as follows. Due to the workload of domestic workers, many of them fail to finish on time and are forced to work overtime. In most instances, they are not paid for this overtime, as the employers always argue that they did not plan for their increased wages. They are sometimes fired from their jobs for daring to demand their overtime pays. Some are also facing steep deductions in their salaries as a way of punishing them. Some domestic workers face harassment from their male employers by way of dema...