16% pay increase for domestic workers in South Africa
Domestic workers in South Africa continue to struggle to make ends meet and earn incomes that match the National Minimum Wage, despite a 16% increase in median earnings from 2024.
The latest Sweepsouth Annual Report on Domestic Worker Pay and Working Conditions shows that domestic workers in the country earn a median wage of R3,932 per month.
This is up 16% from the R3,404 recorded in 2024; however, it falls significantly short of the R4,606 national minimum wage set for 2025.
According to Sweepsouth, the increases in the minimum wage for domestic workers over the past few years have contributed to an upward pressure in earnings.
“Continued increases, matched with better enforcement, hold the potential for significant improvement in domestic worker earnings in the years to come,” it said.
“However, rising living costs continue to strain household budgets, limiting the impact of wage gains.”
Sweepsouth CEO Lourandi Kriel said that as the cost of essential goods and services continue to rise sharply, domestic workers are finding themselves wstruggling to survive.
“Housing costs increased by 11% and food prices by 8%. For the average domestic worker, the monthly shortfall between income and essential expenses now sits at nearly R900,” she said.
“This leaves no room for savings, emergencies, or investments in education. Families are forced to make impossible choices between putting food on the table, paying rent, or keeping children in school.”
Domestic workers on the Sweepsouth platform fare much better, earning a median salary of R5,545 per month (up 6% from 2025); however, this also falls short of meeting quality of life earnings.
When looking at earnings on a per-hour basis, the picture changes somewhat.
South Africa’s National Minimum Wage is currently set at R28.79 per hour, with the absolute minimum allowed to be paid per day is the equivalent of four hours (circa R115 per day).
Breaking down median pay per hour, Sweepsouth’s data shows that domestic workers are earning above this, with the average paid at about R33.71 per hour.
While the survey showed that the bulk of domestic workers earn above minimum wage (61%), an alarmingly large number of domestic workers earn less than the NMW (39%), it said.
Complicating matters is that households have responded to the rising NMW by cutting the number of hours they hire domestic workers for.
In other words, while the per-hour rate increases, the overall pay is limited by a reduction in work hours.
Pay changes coming for 2026
While the data shows domestic workers are still catching up to the National Minimum Wage, the NWM commission is processing the increases for 2026.
The commission is tasked with reviewing the NMW each year and determining the hikes for the next year, typically starting from 1 March.
It looks at various factors and takes multiple inputs from stakeholders into consideration in setting the increase, but has stated that it targets, at minimum, a rate above inflation.
Hikes in the NMW are often welcomed by workers and labour unions, while employers and businesses are less enthused, typically pointing to increased operation costs in what is an already a difficult economic environment.
These pressures are already reflected in Sweepsouth’s data, where the group has pointed to over 400,000 domestic worker jobs being lost over the past five years.
One of the key reasons for this is the financial pressure on households who can no longer afford to employ a domestic worker. Other factors, like emigration, are also in play.
Following consultations in 2023, the Department of Employment and Labour hiked the NMW by 9.62% for 2024.
This drew significant backlash from employers and business groups, but came off of two years of extremely high levels of inflation and low wage growth.
For 2024’s consultations, the result was more employer-friendly, in that the inflation-tied increase of 4.4% was implemented.
While 2025’s consultations are only now starting, workers can at the very least expect an increase of 3%, given the current inflation levels.
Based on the current monthly minimum of R28.79, employers should expect a new level upwards of R29.65 per hour.
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