“They Treat Us Like Dogs”: South African Employee Exposes Abuse by Foreign Bosses at Cake Zone Bakery.

“They Treat Us Like Dogs”: South African Employee Exposes Abuse by Foreign Bosses at Cake Zone Bakery.

By Mamelodi News - December 9, 2025

A desperate South African worker at Cake Zone bakery, located in Pretoria West Carl has blown the lid off alleged workplace exploitation, claiming staff are overworked, underpaid, and subjected to racist abuse, sometimes forced to sleep in storerooms just to keep their jobs.

In an anonymous post sent to Mamelodi News pleading “Pls hide my name 🙏🏾,” the employee detailed a toxic environment where  workers, are being mistreated by their bosses who are allegedly from Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

“Rena le problem as ba bereki go company yengwa e bitswa gore ke Cake Zone,” the worker wrote in a Setswana. “Re bereka go feta tekano, reka fetsha 3 days rele mowe re bereka 😣 and re yeme ka maoto.” Translation: “We have a problem as the workers of CakeZone factory, We are working beyond expectations. We sometimes spend more than 3 days at work, standing without resting".

The whistleblower accused supervisors of open discrimination: South African are banned from the canteen and if married  you'll break up with your man.

Workers are told, “If you are married letlo kgaogana le motho wa gago gore bjang o ka Se tsebe 😞” [Sepedi] (“If you’re married, you'll be told that you'll break up with your partner and we don't know”). Some sleep in the bakery at night and be threatened to be fired.

“Sometimes re have s*x gore le Mang a re tsebe,” the post claims, alleging sexual harassment goes unchecked. “Re kgopela thuso please 🙏🏾 re fetogile makgoba”, “We’ve become slaves.”

The worker begged for help alleging black magic: “Once ware wa tsamaya o lata ke bashemane ba bangwe ba bannyane(Tokoloshi) bare a re tsamaye ro bereka 😭” warning that when they try to leave they're stopped by some small creatures.

Cake Zone, a popular South African bakery chain, Production Manager responded "I engaged with the team from Operation Dudula regarding this matter, and we provided all the answers they needed. There are no such allegations, sir. Mamelodi News further asked "so you don't let workers work over hours?, he replied No"

Labor experts say such allegations, if proven, violate the Basic Conditions of Employment Act and could trigger Department of Employment and Labour inspections.

Mamelodi News is investigating. If you’ve experienced or witnessed abuse at Cake Zone, contact us anonymously, your voice matters.