Civil society organisations demanded answers on Wednesday from Parliament over what they claim has been a failed government project to uplift the lives of farmworkers across the country.
“These farmworkers became symbols of transformation, while others cashed in on their name. It’s a betrayal of farm workers who feed our nation,” Brian Adams, CEO of the Surplus People Project (SPP), told MPs on Wednesday. He was speaking at a briefing to the Portfolio Committee on Land Reform and Rural Development over long-standing complaints about farm worker equity schemes.
Other organisations at the briefing included Corruption Watch, the Legal Resources Centre (LRC), Support Centre for Land Change (SCLC) and some farmworkers from the Western Cape.
The farmworker equity schemes were set up by the government in the 1990s with the intention of economically improving the lives of historically disadvantaged farmworkers by providing them with shares in farms they were working on, partial ownership and dividends.
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Failed farmworker schemes
Research by Corruption Watch and reports by farmworkers to civil society organisations paint a poor picture of how these schemes have fared. Many claim not to have received any dividends at all. Some allege that they’re often excluded from meaningful decision-making or access to financial information.
Adams told MPs that in many cases, the farm owners were listed as the trustees and farmworkers as beneficiaries, but with very little to no authority. “These schemes did not deliver on promises for farmworkers who lived on these lands for generations. A number of beneficiaries died in poverty, and their families still live in poverty, and with no tenure.”
SPP, Corruption Watch, the LRC, and SCLC also petitioned the speaker of the National Assembly, Thoko Didiza, in September, calling on Parliament to take action and investigate the failures of the farmworker equity schemes.
“Despite more than R700-million in public investment, very few of these schemes have delivered any meaningful returns to farmworker beneficiaries,” they wrote.
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On Wednesday, the groups also raised concerns about a Zalo Capital report commissioned by the then-department of agriculture, land reform and rural development (DALRRD). The report argued that many of these schemes had failed. Yet, no action has been taken despite these findings, said Adams.
The September petition called for implementation of the Zalo report’s recommendations, an audit of finances in farm worker equity schemes, for all findings to be made public, and a commitment to develop alternatives that work.
Demand for monitoring and investigation
Naomi Betana, of the Witzenberg Justice Coalition, said it was not even necessary for MPs to look at the Zalo report because some of the beneficiaries of the scheme were in the room. Betana said white commercial farmers benefited from the equity schemes while workers gained nothing.
She demanded that forensic audits be done immediately into each scheme.
David Neves, research lead at SPP, said they spoke to over 70 beneficiaries and most of them proved that the equity schemes had failed.
ANC MP Sylvia Izaks said that it was necessary for the portfolio committee to “deepen [its] oversight over the department” and do “proper monitoring” of their schemes. Izaks noted the department’s absence and said officials should be present when they discuss these issues.
Committee chairperson Mangaqa Mncwango said they would ask representatives from the department to respond to the petition. “I assure you your frustrations are not misplaced,” he said.
He said the committee would conduct oversight visits at some of the equity scheme farms.
This article was first published by GroundUp.
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