Yes it's a throwback to the bad old days of apartheid here. Black labour is cheap, hence even middle class earners such as ourselves can afford to employ full-time child minders.
I was reared with one, as are most white children. It sounds odd to outsiders, hence akrasia's raised eyebrow at that one, but they do in fact become like part of the family.
Ours has been with us since our eldest was born and she's been a pivotal part of the psych's investigation into the interior worlds of our children. She's perceived as a carer by both of them. I trust her entirely with our kids. She's not a student by the way, she's a an adult woman of thirty with two children of her own.