4 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Colin Northmore Filling classrooms to tackle xenophobia Colin Northmore at his offices in Rosebank, Johannesburg Sacred Heart College is a school that sits between two very different socio-economic areas of Johannesburg. On the one side is Houghton, a quiet, affluent, middle-class suburb and on the other lies Yeoville, a bustling community that is home to many asylum seekers and refugees. In 2004, Colin Northmore created Three2Six, an educational programme that enabled undocumented refugee children to get the basic education and qualifications needed to legitimately enrol in high school. As the head teacher at Sacred Heart, Colin used his position and the school's facilities to build a bridging educational programme that would provide opportunities and stability to kids who had already experienced so much upheaval in their short lives. “Sacred Heart is on the border of two worlds, we can’t just serve one side of the street.” Colin grew up in a typical white, blue-collar family in Springs. His father was a fitter and turner in the mines and the family lived a regular apartheid-era life, shielded from the cruelty and with little racial interaction. After completing his degree in education from Wits, Colin served as an officer in the SADF before embarking on a career as an English teacher in government schools. It was from his father-in-law that Colin’s passion for social justice was ignited. As the secretary general of the South African Council of Churches, John Rees was persecuted by the Nationalist Government for his dedicated work with oppressed communities. There came a point where he had to stop keeping records of his work as the security forces would raid his offices in an attempt to trace the people he was helping. An event that would echo through Colin’s own work many years later. Sacred Heart College is a Marist Brother's school which, during apartheid, was one of the only schools to defy the government by becoming multi-cultural after the 1976 Soweto riots. By 2003 the school had started to lose its momentum as an institute on the frontline of social justice, so Colin decided to steer Sacred Heart in a new direction. He realised that there were refugee teachers who were unable to teach, and refugee children who were unable to learn; all living within walking distance of well-equipped classrooms that were sitting empty in the afternoons. “It all came together in my mind that the way Sacred Heart and I could make a contribution was in tackling xenophobia in our society by using the empty classes in the afternoons.” Three2Six focused on three things; providing education, food (because you cannot learn when you are hungry) and a school uniform that resembled those of the main school so that they were seen as fellow students and not outsiders. It didn’t come without its challenges, however. Towards the fifth year of the project, a law started to make its way through parliament that posed a real risk to the refugee communities. The law would enable police to raid the Three2Six offices in order to get information on refugees. So, like his father-in-law many years before, Colin was forced into the removal of physical records, putting everything on to an encrypted digital platform with a donor putting money aside to defend him if he was prosecuted. Three2Six was a great success over the years, seeing dozens of students come in with no documents and little education, and leaving to become integrated into the formal education system. It’s a testament to the quality of the programme and the values instilled in the students that many of them returned to volunteer their time to the next generation of learners. “I am proud and humbled to have originated the idea, but the teachers and funders were the real hands and the hearts of Three2Six.” Colin Northmore left Sacred Heart College in 2017 to run an online school called Evolve that focuses on unique and innovative learning experiences. The Three2Six project is still functioning and administered by Sacred Heart College but it is now hosted by a new school, Dominican Convent, where it offers a full curriculum, integrated with local students in the same classroom. Three2Six has continued to thrive since Colin left and has recently moved its entire operations to the Dominican Convent School. For a detailed understanding of the programme visit www.three2six.co.za . < Previous Item Next Item >

75 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Norma Mbele Standing alongside victims of GBV Norma Mbele surrounded by her crime scene activism props As with so many Actionists, Norma Mbele found her calling through her own traumatic experience. Whilst staying in a women's shelter, as a survivor of a rape for which she never got justice, she experienced the way that many women are treated while seeking protection from the perpetrator. The long ordeal of getting justice for gender-based violence is a lonely and isolating experience that Norma vowed she would not let other women go through alone. So she started the NGO Tosunga Baninga. Tosunga Baninga is a Lingala phrase from the DRC that means ‘helping you to help others’. As a passionate believer in diversity, it was important for Norma to name the organisation with a phrase that was not from one of the South African languages. She wanted it to reflect the positive cultural diversity which she experiences in her community and which she seeks to promote through her work. Tosunga Baninga is a Gender-Based Violence support organisation. Their mission is to assist the victims of GBV whilst also educating the broader community. Their approach, however, is slightly different than you might imagine… When Norma left the shelter she committed to helping other women who were victims of gender-based violence. She had no idea how she was going to achieve her goal, but she was steadfast in the conviction that such a lonely road to justice needs support. From visiting the court proceedings she observed that the perpetrators often had many more supporters in the courtroom than the victims and she watched as, on multiple occasions, the authorities treated the perpetrators more kindly than the victims. Norma started to turn up at the trials holding hand-written cardboard signs outside the courthouse containing generic messages of support for the victims. As the trials progressed, she started to include quotes from the court proceedings in her messaging. In time, her team began sitting inside the courtroom wearing t-shirts with quotes from the previous day's proceedings on them, making it clear that every word was being heard and noted by the victim’s support team. When it became clear that these techniques were having an impact Norma started experimenting with even more powerful ideas. What began as a need to show solidarity and to prove that supporters were watching and ready to hold the authorities accountable, quickly evolved into a very powerful form of visual activism. In 2018 Tosunga Baninga recreated their first crime scene outside a court. They wanted to raise public awareness of the crimes and, more importantly, to force a sense of accountability and shame onto the perpetrators and their supporters as they entered and left the courthouse. Working with the full consent of the victim's families, they use “bodies” under blankets, crime scene tape, props and clothing to stage the scenes informed by the details that were available about the crime. “The first one was Nomatjala in 2018 on the street outside the court of Sebokeng. Her mother had never seen her body at the scene. We recreated it and the mother almost collapsed. We started at 7.30 am so that everyone going to work would see it. It was a way for the mother to get closure. She walked into the court with anger and sat on the front row for the first time.” They also “carry the bruises and the scars of the victims”, often sitting in the courtroom with bullet wounds and bruises painted on them in the positions of the original injuries. “We are in solidarity with all women who have been assaulted and are covering bruises under their makeup. We are carrying these bruises so that other women are not alone. I walked the journey alone and I made the promise that no other woman would walk the journey alone. “ Although Norma has nearly been killed, her home shot at and her windowsill smudged with blood, she is not going to back down. She knows that there are voices that she needs to make heard and memories that she needs to keep alive for justice to be served. “Sometimes you fear for your life but, at the same time, you cannot walk away. In this country, whether you fight or don't fight the statistic of women being killed is very high. It’s better for women to make noise and fight. “ This story was created in partnership with Heinrich Böll Foundation < Previous Item Next Item >

52 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Sipho & Bianca Mabusela Greening futures with trees & gardens Sipho and Bianca on their home farm in Meyerton, Gauteng In 2018, Sipho and Bianca both attended the One Young World summit in The Hague, a gathering of young leaders from around the world. They did not know each other but had each been nominated for the event by their employers. They were both lucky enough to work for large multinational companies that were willing to invest in the young people who they employed, giving them the platform, at work, to explore their passion for positive change. The Hague is where they met and where they decided that, when they got home to South Africa, they would start an organisation to deal with waste management, food security and environmental sustainability. Starting with cleanups, tree planting and food gardens, they went to communities to find areas that needed regenerating and schools with the capacity for food gardens. The weekends were spent planting and cleaning, and the weekdays were spent at the office. The idea was never to plant and leave, they wanted to teach long-term habits around sustainability, and food resilience; habits that would eventually leave the community with a sense of agency in their futures. Up until now, they have planted over 3000 trees and around 20 vegetable gardens at schools, creches and churches throughout Gauteng, one of which feeds up to 80 schoolchildren a day. But while the food is important, they also believe that a garden transforms the space and the community around it, providing a living example to the next generation. In 2020 Bianca and Sipho moved to Springs to start their own farm, a place where they could be self-sustainable whilst also teaching basic principles of sustainability to the community around them. Actionism comes with all sorts of challenges and for Bianca and Sipho it hasn’t all been plain sailing. Due to issues outside of their control, the Springs farm folded and they had to move to a new location in Meyerton where they are rebuilding the dream of providing an educational space for people to learn about organic farming. On Saturdays, from their home, they provide on-farm training in a variety of skills related to food security, including composting, bee keeping and farming organic vegetables. They also offer an ongoing volunteering programme for people to come and learn as they get hands on experience. Six years after they first met, on the other side of the world, connecting over the shared dream of creating a more responsible and self-sustainable society back home, Sipho and Bianca have never lost sight of that goal. Now married and with a young daughter, they have a new incentive to keep their values at the forefront of their approach. An approach which is grounded in the importance of learning new skills and then passing them on to others. Find out more on their Instagram: @khuthazafoundation or email for more information: embofarmstead@gmail.com . < Previous Item Next Item >

26 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Helen Duigan 30 years of environmental activism Helen Duigan with her husband Anthony On first meeting, you could be forgiven for underestimating Helen Duigan, but her reputation as an activist is not in any doubt. For over thirty years she and her husband Anthony have dedicated themselves to protecting the natural resources in the Greenbelt area southwest of Pretoria. At 81, she is now passionate about connecting and supporting other environmental activists around the country through their organisation ARMOUR (Action For Responsible Management of Our Rivers). It all started when they moved out to the countryside in 1977, looking for a place where they could raise their family, away from the city. A place where the air was clean and the kids could roam free. They found some land in the rolling hills of Gauteng, outside Pretoria, between the Jukskei, Hennops and Crocodile Rivers, an area rich in natural beauty and resources. The Duigans found themselves having to oppose various applications to develop the surrounding areas, firstly from a government that planned to build a vast low-cost housing development in 1986 and then from private industries that wanted to mine, develop and monetise the land. For the last 35 years, Helen and Anthony have found themselves working alongside many other activists to create the Rhenosterspruit Nature Conservancy, as a viable platform to protect the space. Through various battles, they and many environmental activists from across South Africa established the National Association of Conservancy and Stewardship that brought together a large number of people from all provinces who were trying to protect endangered areas of land. “Linkages were being made on an important level, bringing together the 'lone rangers' to create an army!.. This is a life task. A sacred task. Fighting for something that simply has to be done” Eventually, landowners led by the late Mercia Komen, a fellow activist, managed to get the Rhenosterspruit Conservancy officially proclaimed as the Crocodile River Reserve in 2019, a process through which a valuable network of connections was made. It is this passion for the connection of like-hearted people that Helen has continued to pursue. She now runs the ARMOUR Facebook page. It is a community of concerned citizens that focuses on natural resources and how we protect them. The purpose is to connect and support environmental activists from all around the country. But Helen had been building this community without the help of social media for 36 years. In 2002 she started a newspaper called the Karee Chronicle. It was her way of being able to communicate with people living in the surrounding areas about the environmental threats and opportunities that they faced. Every two months she would produce an in-depth publication, print 2,500 copies and personally distribute it to her subscribers. This was followed by an e-zine, VeldTalk, which reached even larger numbers of people. For Helen and Anthony Duigan, protecting the natural world is what they do, it’s what they will always do. These days social media just makes it a little easier for them to assemble their army. < Previous Item Next Item >

58 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Pinky Mashiane Defending domestic worker's rights Pinky Mashiane at home Whilst walking through a wealthy suburb of Pretoria, Pinky saw a gardener being shouted at and threatened by his employer. Without thinking twice she marched through the gate, announced that she was from the Department of Labour, and declared that she would have to report the employer for what she had just witnessed. She didn’t work for the Department of Labour, and she had no means to report the man for his abusive behaviour but he believed her story, and tried to bribe her to not report him. Pinky refused the money and insisted that he give it to the gardener, along with an apology. She took both their numbers so that she could check that the mistreatment never happened again. It was at this point that she realised that she had the power to change people’s lives for the better. Pinky Mashiane now works tirelessly for the rights of domestic workers around South Africa. On a regular workday, her phone will not stop ringing with requests for help from people who don’t know where else to turn. She started her professional life as a domestic worker but soon realised that she could not tolerate the conditions and treatment that were considered normal. She became one of the most vocal voices for the rights of domestic workers around the country. One of Pinky’s greatest achievements has been to get domestic workers included in COIDA (the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act). This came about through her work on the landmark case of Maria Mahlangu, a domestic worker who fell into a swimming pool and drowned. Pinky helps domestic workers and gardeners with a range of issues, including but not limited to; Inhumane Treatment - physical abuse, verbal abuse, sexual harassment. Exploitation - underpaying, overworking, and enforcing the minimum wage. Accidental Harm - dog attacks, injuries at work. Wrongful Termination - dismissal due to HIV status, wrongful accusations of theft, etc. Unfair Deductions - withholding money for breakages, accommodation, etc. All of this she does for almost no money, fiercely motivated by the fact that as long as her phone rings, there are people that need her. And it isn’t going to go quiet anytime soon. < Previous Item Next Item >

61 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Gcina & Thato Cracking down on hunger in Alexandra Thato Mokwebo & Gcina Twala outside their soup kitchen in Alexandra Thato and Gcina met when he was making a documentary about her father; the legend of Alexandra Township, Linda Twala (also featured in The Actionists). As well as meeting his future wife, the encounter shifted his life perspective from the importance of making money to the importance of helping others. “Sometimes it’s not just about trying to be at the top and having expensive cars, It became more important to me to help other people” Together they started an organisation called Ntsika Ye Sizwesethu which runs a reading club and a soup kitchen in Alexandra. Their passion is for people and upliftment, a responsibility that was instilled in Gcina as a young child. From the age of seven, she would accompany her father in his outreach engagements, growing in confidence as she learned, to the point where he would make speak for him at public engagements. As the last-born child of a man who has dedicated himself to helping others, it’s not surprising that Gcina is passionate about creating positive change in her community and why her priority is to carry on her father’s legacy. The soup kitchen operates out of the GNF church (God Never Fails) every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. They serve food at 9 am and 2 pm, mostly to children from the surrounding schools, shack squatters and recyclers. They estimate that they feed around 700 people each day with the help of 5 volunteers from the church who generously help with the cooking. The food currently comes as a donation from Ladles of Love but resources are limited. They are always looking for further partnerships to provide them with more food donations as ideally, they want to expand the food kitchen to several other locations and provide a mobile feeding service to the elderly. To help expand their operations they are looking for partnerships and donations to help them with petrol, gas and cooking stoves. < Previous Item Next Item >

2 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Thulani Madondo Upskilling & empowering the youth of Kliptown Thulani Madondo at the KYP complex in Kliptown, Gauteng Sitting in Thulani Madondo’s bright office with the Kliptown Youth Program’s (KYP) 2025 strategic goals on the wall, it is easy to forget that the surrounds are one of the most impoverished and neglected areas in Gauteng. Madondo, 42, knows the circumstances of the 1402 children who benefit from the KYP’s programs all too well, as he was born only a few metres from the building’s front steps that he and a group of friends founded 17 years ago. He grew up in a single room shack with his mother and seven siblings. The modern building with a computer lab, numerous classrooms, a gender neutral bathroom, an indoor football pitch, and a large kitchen stands in stark contrast to the corrugated iron shacks and rubbish-strewn gravel paths surrounding it. “Our impact is really amazing,” he says with a beaming smile. “I lived here in this squatter camp, no electricity, no running water, everything communal. Today almost 99% of our team no longer live here in Kliptown. As we develop the organisation and empower the kids, we were also very fortunate to empower ourselves. “We have five of our alumni working full-time for the organisation now, with two of them in managerial positions. That is something to be extremely proud of,” Madondo says. “I always tell the kids: ‘the only thing you owe us is your success’.” Occupying a significant place in South Africa’s history, Kliptown became the first place where the historic Freedom Charter, that paved the way for South Africa’s democratic goals and ideals, was adopted in 1955. Despite the lofty aspirations of the Freedom Charter, residents of Kliptown were left behind and neglected for decades by the Apartheid regime and 30 years of democratic rule. The community lacks even the most basic of human needs such as schools, healthcare facilities, running water, electricity, and proper sanitation. Due to extreme poverty and little to no service delivery, the children of Kliptown are often the most vulnerable, with access to school uniforms, shoes, food and reading material inaccessible to many. Madondo and his friends saw these needs and came together almost two decades ago to do something about the grinding poverty and desperation that people in their community were faced with. Since then, KYP has developed and grown, catering to more children every year and providing more services to the entire community. These days children have access to tutoring, school fees and uniform support, a food program, online learning through computer labs with internet, a vocational program, performing arts, culture, and sport programs, a library, and psychosocial support, among other things. “All the work we do here, it is not for fame. It is to help people, especially children, to rise out of poverty. No one chose to be born in poverty, but how we respond to that and the challenges that come with poverty is the most important. There are so many opportunities for people, but it’s how they respond to them. That is what we are trying to do, to help people with the mindset to succeed in life,” Madondo says. But it is not just children who benefit from KYP and its many programs. Anyone from the community can come and use the computer labs to prepare for and apply for jobs, while there are dedicated staff on site to help people apply for social grants. “The best thing we can do as an organisation is to give full ownership of the centre to the community at large,” Madondo says, adding that residents of Kliptown were given job opportunities through a lottery system during the construction on the new premises. On a weekly basis, unemployed residents also get opportunities to earn some money by cleaning and helping maintain the site. Madondo says despite never going to university himself and giving up on his dream to become an accountant, he has championed more than R10-million as alumni of the program enrolled for tertiary education during the last 17 years. “Today some of our alumni are living lives way, way better than myself and I am okay with that,” he says. “That was always the dream. The more successful the children become, the better I become. I sleep very peacefully knowing very well how many people’s lives I’ve touched. And not myself, it’s a collective effort of course. I am constantly humbled, motivated, and inspired by our alumni.” < Previous Item Next Item >

23 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Nathi Mazibuko The security guard feeding the homeless Nathi Mazibuko in the Flames of Hope Office in Hillbrow, Gauteng The night-time fires that Nathi Mazibuko built during his shifts as a security guard were simply meant to ward off the piercing cold on winter nights, yet they drew others towards him, inadvertently sparking his journey as an Actionist. Working in downtown Johannesburg was a lonely experience until he invited others to sit with him around his fire. Over time, he formed relationships with street kids and sex workers, learning about their life experiences first-hand. From these relationships grew his passion to make a difference in people’s lives, ultimately planning to open an orphanage and drug rehabilitation centre in the future. Although his resources were limited, his ambitions weren’t. Armed with nothing but the encouragement of a friend, he decided to start. Nathi borrowed money from some friends, cooked a meal of rice and beef stew and took it to a nearby park to offer the homeless people who lived there a decent meal. This is how the Flames of Hope Foundation was started. “I was very happy, it was like a dream come true. Because it had always been in my heart that, one day, if I could get enough money, I want to do this.” The informal feeding scheme turned into a weekly event, cooking and serving food in the park, using his own money to fund the initiative. Soon he was offered a space at the Twilight Children’s Home in Hillbrow, Johannesburg where he now runs a feeding scheme every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 3 p.m. Up to 500 people turn up for every meal. The children are served first and then the adults. After the meal, the children are invited to join an after-school programme which provides extra lessons to around 100 kids, six days a week, in partnership with Innovation of Excellence. For the first two years, Nathi paid for everything from his own salary but Flames of Hope now has financial support and food donations from various sponsors including The Angel Network SA, One Moment Foundation, Pauli's Food Company and Gift Of The Givers. “I’ve realised that if you do this community work and expect someone to say ‘thank you’, you will get disappointed. You do it for the sake of helping.” For both the feeding scheme and the after-school programme Nathi relies on the help of volunteers from the local community. His passion and enthusiasm for change is what keeps them coming back, day after day. His dedication is astonishing. Nathi still works a 12-hour night shift as a security guard from 6pm to 6am. He then runs the foundation during the day, leaving very little time for sleep. < Previous Item Next Item >

60 The Actionists About Partner With Us Contact Us FAQ ____________________ Thom Pierce Studios Menu Close Sun Mabengeza Taking permaculture to communities Sun Mabengeza in his permaculture garden Sun’s passion for permaculture comes from his love for the earth, growing food and sharing it with his neighbours. But mostly his passion is for teaching others that you can grow your own food with very little physical work, if you have the space and know what you are doing. He claims that he can teach you everything you need to know in one hour. It has always been in Sun’s blood to move around, to not get too attached to one place or specific items. He moves fluidly between Port Elizabeth, Polokwane and Johannesburg. This nomadic lifestyle complements his philosophy of shared spaces and the freedom to grow food wherever it can be produced. The journey into permaculture started in 2006 when Sun formed a guerrilla gardening crew called the Ambush Garden Collective. They would create wild gardens in dump sites and other forbidden spaces as an awareness campaign, highlighting the importance of greening spaces and living sustainably. As a member of the Bez Valley Agriculture Cooperative, Sun now runs a Permaculture garden called NDAWO ENTLE EZELE Uthando NaturalGrowing Heritage Site and Living Plants Museum. Here he grows a number of different edible wild plants, which he sells to the public from a small shop on site. But his real passion is education. From the garden, he hosts events, festivals and school visits with the intention of demonstrating how easy it is to live in a more sustainable, environmentally conscious manner. The gardens are a zero-waste environmental learning space that also provides the possibility for homeless people and job seekers to learn, grow, eat and create their own small businesses. < Previous Item Next Item >

UNITED DOMESTIC WORKERS OF SOUTH AFRICA Advocating for the labour rights and dignified treatment of domestic workers. Read More Contact Us The United Domestic Workers of South Africa was founded by Pinky Mashiane, a domestic worker who recognised the need to combat low pay, long hours, GBV, harassment and other hazards of an unregulated work life. Our aim is to support domestic workers to get justice for inhumane treatment, to educate them in a full understanding of their rights and to advocate for labour laws that support domestic workers. Domestic work is often seen as informal work, even though the hours are usually well over a regular full time role. The conditions of work usually go unregulated and the mostly black female workforce are easily exploited. As a domestic worker you are protected under the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act. We assist with cases of... Inhumane treatment Physical abuse, verbal abuse and sexual harassment Exploitation Underpaying, overworking, minimum wage and withholding pay Accidental harm Dog attacks, accidents and injuries whilst working. Wrongful termination Dismissal due to HIV status, health issues, wrongful accusations of theft. Joanna Mkhoza In 2019 Joanna Mkhonza was savagely beaten by the 28 year-old son of the couple for whom she had worked for 22 years. After a night of heavy drinking Enrico took out his frustrations at the South African government on the woman who had helped to raise him since he was five years old. Joanna managed to escape with heavy bruising to her face but was forced into retirement by the incident. A criminal charge has been lodged against the family but still has not been heard in the court. In the CCMA the family was ordered to pay Joanna R48,000 (£2,500 approx.) for loss of earnings. Sarah Makuwa Sarah was working for a family in Pretoria in 2012 when she was blinded in one eye by an open bottle of drain cleaner that fell from the top shelf. Her employer had asked her to move all of the cleaning products to a lower shelf. Instead of taking her straight to hospital, Sarah was made to wait until the husband got home and was driven to hospital two hours after the accident took place. She stayed in hospital for 3 months, but when the family was asked to pay for medication they refused, saying that they didn’t have any money. On returning to work she found that the electricity had been cut off to her living quarters, and the toilet had been blocked. After three months she was forced to leave and told that they could no longer employ her. 10 years later and Sarah still hasn’t received any compensation, but she is working with Pinky to get justice for her injury. Rebecca Kutumela After 3 years of diligent work as a domestic worker and nanny, Rebecca Kutumela was dismissed from her job with no warning because she took three days off, sick with flu. Rebecca was paid a salary of R4,000 a month to be a live-in domestic worker. The understanding was that she would work 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, but the reality was very different. Often she would have to get up early to look after the baby and at 4pm she was expected to feed and bath the child, often she would only finish at 8pm once she had served dinner and washed up the dishes. As she was live-in, Rebecca was often expected to babysit when her employers wanted an evening out, there was no offer of payment. Since September 2023 Rebecca has been unable to find work. She is now 60 years old and a mother to 2 daughters, grandmother to 4. She has been left feeling dehumanised and discarded by a family who did not care about her life but only what they could get from her for as little as possible. IMPACT More than 200 domestic workers have been assisted since the formation of UDWOSA. UDWOSA currently has over 700 members nationally. According to Statistics South Africa’s most recent quarterly labour force survey, the country has almost one million domestic workers. Contact Us CALL / WHATSAPP Pinky Mashiane: +27 73 291 2244 / +27 79 474 3321 Emmah Tshabangu: +27 76 439 9293 Rebecca Kutumela: +27 82 315 4248 EMAIL udwosa.2018@gmail.com Join our Facebook group In The Media Video: Newzroom Afrika Houses for Domestic Workers Video: SABC Fighting for the Rights of Domestic Workers Video: The Forge Challenging Injustice Through Law Article: Daily Maverick The Actionists - Profile Article: Mail & Guardian Domestic Workers Will Rise Up Article: LRS Meet The Union Leader Pinky Mashiane Pinky Mashiane is the founder of UDWOSA and works tirelessly for the rights of domestic workers around the country. On a regular workday, her phone will not stop ringing with requests for help from people who don’t know where else to turn. She started her professional life as a domestic worker but soon realised she could not tolerate the conditions and treatment that were considered normal. She became one of the most prominent voices for the rights of domestic workers around the country. One of Pinky’s greatest achievements has been to get domestic workers included in Coida (the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act). This came about through her work on the landmark case of Maria Mahlangu, a domestic worker who fell into a swimming pool and drowned. CREATED FOR positive activism © 2025 UDWOSA Home About Impact Media Contact Close