Domestic worker lays human rights charge

A domestic worker has complained to the Human Rights Commission about hospital staff telling her employer that she is HIV-positive.

After a three-day stay at Steve Biko Academic Hospital, in Pretoria, the 41-year-old woman returned to work last week to be greeted by her boss yelling at her: "You are dying and pregnant . I know . the lab told me you are sick."

What angered her most was that a technician at the National Health Laboratory Services ignored her right to privacy by disclosing her status to her employer - without her consent.

"Now [my employer] has developed a horrible attitude towards me. She has stopped me from making her tea, she does not want me anywhere near her room and has made it clear that if I make her sick, and if it was up to her, she would have fired me," she said.

The woman, who asked not to be named for fear of further stigmatisation, is one of just under a million domestic workers in South Africa. The general secretary of the domestic workers' union, Myrtle Witbooi, said cases in which domestic workers were ill-treated or fired because of their HIV status were widespread but most would not speak up about it.

As a result, she said, it is not known just how many domestic workers are HIV-positive.

"It is a difficult situation for them because they do not want their families to know and also fear that this will hurt their prospects of finding other employment. This makes it impossible to successfully pursue such cases," she said.

The Pretoria domestic worker said her nightmare began just over a week ago when she was admitted to the Steve Biko Academic Hospital. She was found to be pregnant and had to undergo a routine HIV test.

When she returned to work, her 71-year-old boss, a retired midwife, yelled at her and told her the name of the person who gave her the information.

"I just walked away," she said.

Laboratory Services CEO Sagie Pillay said the technician accused denied disclosing the test results, but a full investigation would be launched to identify the culprit.

There would be full cooperation with the SA Human Rights Commission's investigation.

Rights groups are fuming. The general secretary of the National Association of People Living with HIV and Aids, Mluleki Zazile, vowed to stage a protest at the hospital and at the home of the employer once the facts were known.

"We will do this not just to support this poor woman but also as part of our advocacy for the rights of people living with HIV and Aids.

"We condemn this incident and call for serious steps against the employer and staff member once the facts are known," he said.

Treatment Action Campaign spokesman Caroline Nenguke said whoever disclosed the worker's status should be dealt with harshly.

"Now her working environment is hostile because of the disclosure and the employer probably wants to get rid of her. This is totally wrong, especially because her employer went behind her back to get private information," she said.

Gauteng Department of Labour spokesman Mishack Magakwe said: "This is a breach of the Employment Equity Act which prohibits an employer from discriminating against an employee on the grounds of HIV status. It is totally unacceptable that she is treated differently because of her status, which the employer got illegally in the first place."

The domestic worker's employer first denied she had called the laboratory but changed her story when told the laboratory had confirmed her call.

She said she phoned because she was concerned about her domestic worker and "wanted to know how I could help her because she is always sick. She looks after me and I have to look after her".

Asked if she were aware that the woman had complained to the Human Rights Commission, she exclaimed, "Oh my gosh! She did? I have to speak to her!"