The South African Communist Party (SACP) dips its red flag and conveys its deepest condolences to the family of liberation struggle stalwart and champion of the working-class, Myrtle Witbooi (31 August 1947 – 16 January 2023).

May her children Jacqui, Linda, and Peter, as well as her three grandchildren, be comforted by her sterling work in fighting for the rights of the working-class in South Africa and the world.

The SACP also sends its condolences to the liberation movement and the entire working-class, both in South Africa and beyond, in particular domestic workers, a sector to which she devoted her life to uplift.

Becoming a domestic worker from the age of 17, Myrtle Witbooi spent the largest part of her life advocating for the rights of the working-class, domestic workers in particular. Her involvement in struggles of domestic workers led her to comprehend the interconnectedness of the working-class struggle and the struggle against apartheid rule. Thus, with class, race and gender oppression deepening during the apartheid period, she fully committed herself to fight against the apartheid system, joining the African National Congress in the national liberation struggle.

In 1986, Witbooi helped to co-found the South African Domestic Workers Union (SADWU). Constituted by over 40,000 women workers, SADWU later affiliated with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), breathing new life not only to the struggle against apartheid but also to the working-class struggle in general.

Her activism did not end with the dismantling of the apartheid system, however, since capitalist production relations continued, with domestic workers, the vast majority of whom were, and remain, women, being among the worst affected by inequality. Her devotion to struggle led to the legal recognition and protection of domestic workers’ rights. Over 100,000 women gained maternity rights as well as access to unemployment insurance.

In the year 2000, Myrtle Witbooi helped to form the South African Domestic and Allied Workers’ Union (SADSAWU), where she became the union’s President. SADSAWU’s participation in international conferences led to the declaration of domestic work as decent work in 2006 and helped to establish a global standard designed to extend labour protections for domestic workers. The union’s work also led to the adoption of Convention 189 at the 100^th Labour Conference of the International Labour Organisation in 2011. Witbooi’s dedication to domestic workers’ struggles led to her election as the President of the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF).

The passing of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and the Sectoral Determination for Domestic Workers were part of the successes earned through the crucible of struggle by Witbooi and her comrades. While these were notable successes from the legal front, Witbooi understood that translating the law into practice would not happen automatically. As such, she went on to engage in relentless activism to ensure that the victories “on paper” would translate to real victories in the workplace and in the rest of society, to lead to dignified treatment of domestic workers.

In paying tribute to Myrtle Witbooi, the SACP reiterates the necessity for more domestic workers to be organised into trade unions so that they earn a living wage and win fair working conditions. The SACP also calls for the working-class in South Africa and abroad to unite in defence of their collective rights, including uniting in the struggle against gender and class oppression.