Mihlali Nobavu, the Babel restaurant server who exposed the Menlyn restaurant’s unethical labor practices, has spoken out in public for the first time since the story went viral.
The psychology student has explained why she created the popular TikTok post and what her life has been like since.
During an interview with Newzroom Afrika, Nobavu revealed that she never intended her post to go as viral as it did.
Since that video, the Department of Labour, the Hawks, and Home Affairs have raided thousands of restaurants across the country, exposing questionable labour practices at some of South Africa’s most popular eateries, which were found to be hiring undocumented foreign nationals and not paying employees adequately in accordance with the national minimum wage.
This week, Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth announced that they had fined over R10 million and detained 81 unauthorized foreign workers after statewide inspections of eateries and workplace compliance.
Nobavu stated that she was merely venting on her platform and was astonished to learn that it had gone viral.
The student received numerous reactions and direct messages to her video, and she expressed sadness that so many others were going through similar circumstances.
She was pleased, however, that people were now coming forward to tell their stories after previously being unwilling to do so.
After witnessing officials searching other eateries and doing what was necessary in the first place, she expressed her admiration for the officials’ actions.
“I was happy that justice was finally being served. People were finally receiving the help that they needed to receive,” said Nobavu.
She adds that she is grateful to political parties like the EFF and ANC for stepping in.
“The EFF is still keeping in touch with me today,” she says.
She admires how they truly care and are active participants in righting the wrongs.
When Nobavu left her last shift at Babel, having worked from 1pm to 1am and only made R100 in tips and having a harsh fine imposed on her, she shared how she decided that she was not returning to work because she never wanted to be treated the way was ever again.
The day after she posted the video, one of her managers contacted her and asked her to remove it.
But she decided it was preferable not to remove it because it was already widely shared on social media, and that keeping the video up would do more good than harm.
She goes on to state that despite receiving only R100 for a 12-hour job, she wanted to endure and be cheerful.
However, after that particular day, she realized she could no longer do it and would not be able to survive in that work environment.
Now that she is unemployed, she has decided to focus on her education, despite receiving numerous job offers from people who have approached her.
She does, however, admit that she earns some money as a content developer, but that it is a competitive market.
Nobavu is now pursuing an honors degree in psychology and hopes to obtain her master’s degree by then.
Her dream is to become a forensic psychologist one day.
Regarding the hotel business, she wishes that inspections continue as they are currently, because she does not want anyone else to go through what she did.
