Dr Ntini-Makununika's journey from domestic work to PhD

MEET Dr Thobeka Ntini-Makununika, a third-generation domestic worker who defied the odds to break the cycle of generational domestic work.

- ROBIN-LEE FRANCKE

Ntini-Makununika graduated with her PhD at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) earlier this week.

Her PhD study unpacked the hidden power dynamics in South African households in her thesis titled: "Unravelling the Dynamics of Power in the Employer-Domestic Worker Relations in Contemporary South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal: Praxis-Oriented Research".

She explained she carries the sacrifices of generations of women in her family and conveyed this into every chapter she wrote. Along with herself, her late mother, aunt, and late grandmother were domestic workers.

"I was raised by Black African women who survived through domestic work. For seven years, from 13 years old, I worked part-time for white families and in holiday resorts. I experienced first-hand the quiet suffering, the layered dignity, and the complex dependencies in those relationships," Ntini-Makununika said.

Her study offers a layered, inside-out look at power relations between employers and domestic workers in South Africa, a dynamic still deeply shaped by colonial, patriarchal, and racialised histories.