Research suggests that most domestic workers (over 70%) are single mothers and that many (over 80%) are primary breadwinners. Sweepsouth’s annual survey shows that domestic workers spend on average R1,100 on monthly groceries. “Like everyone else, domestic workers in South Africa rely on their income to put food on the table for them and their dependents. If these workers aren’t paid during the lockdown, they face worsening poverty and mounting debt. We simply cannot allow SweepStars and their children to be left to this fate”, said Aisha Pandor, co-founder and CEO of SweepSouth.
To assist domestic workers with food and essentials during the national lockdown, SweepSouth has launched a fund, aided by a R6m contribution from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, which invested in SweepSouth in 2019. Sweep South’s mission is to create happy homes by providing dignified, flexible work at decent pay to our SweepStars Cleaners.
The aim of the investment into SweepSouth was to promote better family economic stability in South Africa by backing an organisation providing broad access to work opportunities. The contribution from the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation’s will enable SweepStars to receive weekly financial support in the form of top-ups between R150 and R450 during the national lockdown period.
According to Aisha Pandor, co-founder and CEO of SweepSouth at least R4 million a month will be needed to ensure that SweepStars and their families are able to eat and at least meet day-to-day living costs during a lockdown. Our aim is to raise up to R12m in order to contribute to SweepStars’ living costs for a three-month period. Their financial difficulties will extend far beyond the 21-day lockdown, so it’s important to mitigate this as much as possible, “commented Pandor.
In addition, SweepSouth is also negotiating with retailers to secure bulk buying discounts on basic food staples to maximise the buying power of the funds they have available to them. The SweepSouth platform is allowing customers to continue contributing to domestic workers during the lockdown. So far, SweepSouth customers have contributed in excess of R100,000. Pandor thanked the customers for their generosity and calls on all private employers of domestic workers, to continue helping to support those in our society who are the most economically vulnerable.
