Former waitress Mihlali Nobavu shot to fame last month after exposing harsh working conditions at a Pretoria lounge, sparking national raids of bars and eateries. And she says that despite the disruptions it caused in her life, she would do it all again “because it brought about real change”.
Speaking out publicly for the first time, the psychology honours student, who was widely known by her handle Molly Brave, told the Sunday Times this week she had not expected her video to gain traction.
“I was just fed up and tired. I posted the first video and then took a nap. When I woke up my video had already travelled far and wide.”
“I was not threatened or attacked, quite the opposite. Many people contacted me with job possibilities. Not job offers, but rather positions for which I could apply. But the situation was very intense and caused a lot of stress so I decided to focus on my studies first,” said Nobavu, 24.
In her TikTok video, she complained about the poor working conditions at Babel, a clubby lounge in Pretoria's Menlyn Mall.
“I worked there for only five days before I walked out. Conditions were horrible. We had no basic salary and worked only for tips. You had to buy your own uniforms and equipment like bottle openers, cigar cutters and lighters, and the hours were inhumanly long.”
According to Nobavu they had no break when on shift.
“You had to be there at 1pm to start cleaning, every shift. Then at 3pm the doors opened for the public and closed at 1am. After that we would clean until 2am before we were allowed to go home.”
Nobavu, who finished matric in East London in 2018 and is in the final stretch of finishing her honours degree in psychology, released three TikTok videos.
“Together the three have been viewed 13-million times. I also shared screen grabs from the Babel staff WhatsApp group that also went viral.”
Looking back, it was the lack of a basic salary and the internal fines system that broke the camel's back for Nobavu.
“You would get fines for all kind of things. If a waitress's nails were not done or her hair was not neat, she would be fined. The fines varied between R200 and R500 and a manager would just post on the group that you had been fined and the reason for the fine.”
But according to Nobavu, her post brought real change to Babel.
“After the raids caused by my videos the owners did not return to their old ways. The staff now all receive a basic salary, the hours are shorter and people can now take a break in the shift.”
She goes quiet for a moment. “In spite of the disruptions and stress my videos caused, I would do it again in a heartbeat if I could go back in time.”
A manager at Babel, who did not identify himself, told the Sunday Times he could not immediately comment, before ending the call.
Other popular restaurants raided included Ocean Basket, also in Menlyn, and Tang and Mugg & Bean in Johannesburg.
The agriculture sector, construction industry and retail space have been identified as among the most “problematic” sectors after raids carried out by the labour department.
The department this week provided an update on its work and unveiled plans to scale up the number of inspectors from 2,000 to 20,000 to ensure businesses' compliance with labour laws.
Spokesperson Teboho Thejane said most inspectors were based in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape and the Eastern Cape.
“The largest provinces take up about 60% of the resources and we conduct about 27,000 inspections a month,” he said.
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