ABSTRACT
Indians and Coloureds do enter this field, but, in Durban at least, not in great numbers and the few who do seek domestic employment work largely on a part-time basis and are seldom offered or accept accommodation on the premises of their employers. One of the major differences between resident and non-resident domestic service is that in the former, employees, though given a 'day off', work over weekends and on Sundays. Because neither employer nor employee is provided with fixed guidelines for behaviour in domestic service uncertainty, misconceptions, confusions and misunderstandings abound. She lives in a welfare house at KwaMashu with her two school-going sons and an elder unmarried daughter who is at present working as a resident servant in Durban. The case of Black domestic servants who work and live in the "white" suburbs of Durban highlights some of the conflicts and problems inherent in the South African system of residential separation.
