Myrtle Witbooi and Hester Stephens, representatives of the South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers' Union, stressed during an event Monday night that despite advances in South African law and government, poor black women have seen little change.
The panel focused on apartheid, the system of legalized racial separation in South Africa that ended in the early 1990s. It also addressed the current state of race, gender and worker rights in the country. Witbooi and Stephens also discussed the struggle of poor black women for improved representation in the democratic system of South Africa.
Domestic workers may have rights under South African law but the two women said the failure of proper legal implementation and enforcement.
"Although we have freedom and labor laws on paper, nothing has changed," Witbooi said. "Even though [the situation] is better in South Africa than in some other countries, the fight is far from over."
For nearly 70 years, domestic workers have fought to unite and change the legal environment in South Africa that fostered working conditions reminiscent of American slavery.
"The government did not give us the laws, we had to fight for it," the panelists said in unison. "We need to push to be recognized. We need to push to be part of the democracy. We are the people of South Africa."
The women once challenged their government by chaining themselves to the gates of the South African parliament building to protest for increased insurance coverage.
Courtney Klamar, a sophomore in the School of Public Affairs, said she was particularly struck by the comparison of the situation in South Africa to that of domestic workers in the United States.
"Too often we think of the drastic situation in other countries, especially South Africa, and we forget how drastic situations can be here, or at least I do," she said.
The United States has approximately 2.4 million domestic workers compared to South Africa's 1.4 million according to Witbooi. Nearly 100 to 1 of these workers are women, the panelists said. They use this fact to justify that their fight for workers' rights as a fight for women's rights as well.
"As women, we are so strong; but we keep on stepping back for men," she said.
Stephens expanded upon the plight of South African women by recounting her decisions as a black domestic worker and mother.
Like many women in her situation, teenage Stephens left her nursing son to earn money as a domestic worker in order to feed him. The other option women have is prostitution, she said.
The reality of domestic work is that women must give up their families and children in order to take care of their employer's children, according to Witbooi.
"They suck your blood, they suck your energy and you are only a domestic worker," Stephens said of employers.
Laura Flanagan, a freshman in the School of International Service, commented on the juxtaposition of the political change and social conditions the panelists talked about.
"It was interesting to hear them talk about their current political situation, and even how it changed so much in the three weeks that they have been gone," she said. "One woman brought me to tears when she talked about how grateful she is that we the students are listening to what she has to say because she feels appreciated here."
Two of College of Arts and Sciences professor Bette Dickerson's sociology classes and a host of other student organizations from AU and Howard University sponsored the event.
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