Last night, while the nation slept, more than 20 domestic workers cleaned parliament's pavements.
This morning - after sweeping, mopping and holding a night vigil - they will deliver a memorandum to the Presidency in the hopes that Jacob Zuma will finally sign into law the International Labour Organisation's Convention 189 on domestic workers.
Despite being approved by the cabinet, without Zuma's signature, Convention 189 cannot be ratified.
"We want the president to show us that we are important by signing.
"We are, after all, the women who care for the nation," said Myrtle Witbooi, the general secretary of the South African Domestic Service and Allied Workers Union.
In 2011, the International Labour Organisation - a specialised agency of the UN - adopted a set of international standards to improve the working conditions of domestic workers around the world, such as reasonable working hours.
A survey of 117 countries found that there are about 53million domestic workers globally.
However, because these workers are often unregistered, there could be as many as 100million.
Earlier this week, the union sai d: "Our government has lost the opportunity of taking the lead as eight countries have already ratified Convention 189."
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