‘Sister-Madam’: family members navigating hiring of relatives as domestic workers in Nkowankowa, Limpopo
Bayane, Percyval
Domestic work constitutes a large sector, with more than a
million women working as domestic workers. In South Africa, it
is a norm that whites employ black women as domestic
servants, but with the demise of apartheid, there has been an
increase in the employment of domestic workers in black
families. However, hiring family members as domestic workers
in black families is an under-researched area. Drawing from the
authors dissertation, this article examines family domestic work– whereby family members hire their relatives as domestic
workers – in rural Limpopo. The study mobilises a qualitative
approach to comprehend the experiences of hiring kin as
domestic workers. Findings illustrate that family domestic work
is an act of reciprocal care amongst family members. Relatives
hire their kin to help with domestic duties and enabling family
members to provide for their families. The relationship
between ‘sister-maids’ and ‘sister-madams’ is intertwined, which
leads to the difficulty of balancing formal employment and
family relations. Thus, family domestic work symbolises a
capitalised reciprocal caring within black families in postapartheid
South Africa, as helping involves paying each other.
The article does not generalise on family domestic work, but
contributes to the body of knowledge about domestic work
within black families.
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