Still serving the tea: domestic workers in Zimbabwe 1980–90

Abstract

This article examines the effects of independence on domestic workers in Zimbabwe during the years 1980–1990. In this period the government took numerous steps to improve the conditions of domestic workers. Among the most important of these were the creation of a legalised system of labour relations and the support of the formation of a domestic workers’ union. Yet, despite these measures, changes in the Zimbabwean political economy minimised the effect of government policy. By 1990 inflation, unemployment, and lack of political interest in the domestic sector meant that many conditions similar to those of the colonial era were reappearing in household labour relations. However, whereas during the colonial era race was a major factor underlying household power relations, after 1980 class came to be the dominant force.