Australian YouTuber Louisa Mac Queen has said that affordable domestic help is one of the reasons she is raising her two children in South Africa.
Mac Queen, her husband and their two daughters have lived in the country for several years. She is a mommy blogger who shares her family life on social media and on her YouTube channel, according to The South African.
“We don’t want to work more just to have less time with our children. Having help in our home means all the domestic chores don’t fall on us as parents alone,” she said.
She said the help at home gives the couple more time with their children. She listed school events, sport, dance and afternoons together. “For us, that kind of ‘wealth’ is hard to give up,” she said.
Mac Queen has spoken many times about the family’s choice to stay. She has given other reasons too. These include access to Christian communities and schools, and what she called exposure to morals and respect. She also said the family has a business that is doing well.
She said the family knows about worries over crime and racial tensions in South Africa. Even so, she said their life in the country was “too good to leave”.
“Moving to a wealthier country doesn’t automatically mean a better quality of life. My husband would leave a business he loves. We’d lose the support we are able to afford here. We’d likely both need to work full-time,” she said.
Statistics South Africa estimates that about 900,000 domestic workers are employed in the country. The number comes from a household survey. It is not a count of registered workers.
Domestic workers are people hired by households as cleaners, nannies, cooks, gardeners, drivers and carers. The group includes live-in, live-out, casual and hourly workers.
Earlier in 2026, the Department of Employment and Labour confirmed a 5% increase to the national minimum wage. That adds R1.44 per hour. All paid employees now earn at least R30.23 for each ordinary hour worked, up from R28.79 the year before.
For most domestic workers, this works out to R1,360.35 a week, based on a 45-hour week. The monthly rate is R5,894.40, based on 195 hours worked in an average month.
The new minimum wage covers both casual and permanent workers. It took effect on 1 March 2026. The increase is made up of 3.5% for inflation, measured by the Consumer Price Index, plus another 1.5 percentage points.
Source: this article is based on reporting by The South African. Image: The South African. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice News desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Kgomotso Maake covers news and politics for Tzaneen Voice. Kgomotso reports on government, Parliament, municipalities, courts, crime and service delivery across South Africa, with a close eye on how national decisions reach towns like Tzaneen and the wider Limpopo province. Stories are written in plain English and focus on the facts: who made the decision, what it means, and what happens next.