Gaborone - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the availability and cost of household help, and what types of help are typically employed by expatriates?
Nannies and housekeepers are employed by most embassy staff. Some have gardeners as well. We pay our live-in nanny about $350 a month plus bonuses. Our kids love her and we appreciate her so much. Many will want to live-in as commutes can be difficult if your helper doesn't drive. Unfortunately the new housing compound has no maid quarters, so it might be challenging to find someone who is able to live out. - Aug 2024
Household help is relatively cheap. The minimum wage for full time work is about $200/month. This is not a liveable wage, but it is what locals will pay. Domestic workers prefer to work for expats and diplomats as we generally pay more. Almost everyone prefers to hire Zimbabweans because they generally have a better work ethic than their Batswana peers. - Dec 2023
I had a couple come twice a week for housekeeping and gardening and they stayed about 4 hours each visit. I paid US$200 a month. - Jul 2019
Very available, very inexpensive. My housekeeper worked for me 14 hours a week (two 7 hour days) and I paid her $120 per month. - Apr 2017
We pay about 250 USD for full-time care of three children and all housework. It's incredible. - Jul 2016
Available and relatively cheap - most pay US$1,500-2,000 per month for full-time help. But most do NOT cook, and the Botswana household help tend to be lazier than expats from Zim or Zambia. - Mar 2015
It's not that expensive. People get live-in maids. Our helper comes 2 times a week and gets paid US$131 per month. She cleans, washes the clothes and irons. Our gardener comes 2 days a week for 4 hours each day and gets around US$80 - Oct 2014
I hear it is fairly inexpensive. I didnt have house help, but my gardner was 100 BWP per visit...which was about US$13.00. He was good and I used him once, sometimes twice, per week. - Nov 2013
Limited availability of reliable, competent domestic help; extremely low cost (around US$1-2 an hour). Nannies are very hard to find. Cooks are next to impossible, not a culture that cooks much beyond staples. Best to try to hire domestic help from a departing employee, with their recommendation. - Jul 2013
Cheap and available. Quality varies, but we had a FANTASTIC housekeeper whom I found through a maid service. Lots of expats and one good site on facebook (gaborone grapevine) which helps with recommendations if you're just arriving. - Apr 2013
Domestic help is readily available and will cost about $200 a month for a full time maid/nanny. Gardeners are a bit cheaper and are easy to find. Many people also share domestic staff (part-time for certain hours during the week) at a lower cost. One thing that is hard to find here is a domestic who can cook. - Jun 2010
