Despite recent reforms in South Africa's domestic work sector, a critical gap remains: the lack of retirement savings for domestic workers. This article explores the implications of this oversight and the urgent need for solutions to secure their financial future.
Household employment has become increasingly formalised over the past few years, but there is still one big gap: domestic workers do not have access to retirement savings.
Other reforms have been widespread and far-reaching. Today, a domestic worker who works more than 24 hours a month must be registered for the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF). Employers of domestic workers are now also obliged to register with the Compensation Fund and submit annual returns, with a 10% penalty for late submissions. Since March 1, 2026, the national minimum wage of R30.23 an hour applies to domestic workers too. And now, every household employer in South Africa must submit their Returns of Earnings under the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) by 30 June 2026.
But we still haven’t addressed the national crisis of lack of retirement savings. That’s deeply worrying, given that 82% of domestic workers are their household’s primary breadwinner, and 72% don’t earn enough each month to save a single rand.
