Intimidation, forced labour, gender-based violence, gender disparity, farm evictions, poor living conditions and absent occupational safety and health systems. These are some of the issues and challenges farmworkers still face, and agriculture, land reform and rural development minister Thoko Didiza says farmworker rights violations must be addressed.
“It is unacceptable that, even today, farmworkers’ living conditions and human rights remain violated,” Didiza tells Food For Mzansi.
“Painful testimonies given [to me] by some farmworkers are those where water and electricity are cut. One farmworker even stated that her employer refused when she wanted to develop a vegetable patch, where she stayed, for food security purposes.”
On issues of evictions, Didiza says that the department continues to assist farmworkers, even through legal representation. However, the critical element is to address tenure security so that farmworkers are secured and not dependent to owners of farms where they work.
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Labour contractors also at fault
According to Emerentia Patientia, senior project officer at the Dignity for All (D4A) South Africa Wine Project, farmworkers face a myriad of challenges that remain under-reported.
The D4A project, which is a Fairtrade Africa initiative, seeks to address the living and working conditions, as well as the standard of living, for farmworkers in the country.
Some of the challenges faced by workers, Patientia says, include issues of overtime, especially during harvesting periods, which is not negotiated.
“Labour contractors appointed by the farms disregard farmworker rights and tend to disregard working hours and pay the workers under their contracts less than the minimum wage.” The minimum wage in South Africa is R21.69 for each working hour since March 2021.
Patientia says that, by the time workers find out about this, it’s already too late to address the issue because they are too scared to speak out over fear of losing their jobs.
Commenting in general on worker rights in the industry, Jason Baartman says that he shares Patientia’s sentiments. He is a farm nursery production manager in the Western Cape.
He says, “Many farmworkers are afraid that if they start inquiring about their rights as farmworkers, they will lose their jobs.” He feels that farmworkers must be assured that if they inquire, this will not be the case.
“Not much is being done to inform farmworkers about their rights. There are so many farmworkers who do not know their rights,” he says.
“Apart from the organisations that do exist, I think there is still a shortage of organisations that farmworkers can go to. Really, not much is being done to protect farmworkers’ rights.”
There’s much work to do in Mzansi
Another issue farm workers face is forced labour. “Workers are told and not consulted around overtime, decisions around training and development opportunities, sick leave and more,” Patientia says.
She adds that in some instances, children have to leave the farm when they turn 18 unless they work on the farm.
Challenges around occupational health and safety also exist, which is especially evident with the transportation of workers, she adds, and also flags gender-based violence on farms and gender equality issues in the workplace.
“Women on the farms have highlighted that to me… they are still earning less than men and they are still stereotyped for particular jobs such as admin and general labour jobs.”
Research by Women on Farms Project in the Northern and Western Cape shows that farmworkers’ rights are routinely violated by farmers.
More than two thirds of female seasonal workers surveyed are not paid the legal minimum wage, and do not have access to toilets in vineyards or orchards where they work.
Furthermore, they are exposed to dangerous pesticides within an hour after spraying and are not provided with protective clothes by the farmer, as required by law.
Patientia says that, while a lot of progress has been made to ensure that farmworker rights are protected, there is much more work to do as not everyone buys into the rights of farmworkers, she says.
“Unfortunately, there are farms who still believe the worker is there to work and to listen. They don’t see them as co-producers and unfortunately it creates a lot of conflict in the system.”
Lessons from an evicted farmworker
Bettie Fortuin, a former farmworker in the Western Cape, worked on several farms in the Ceres and De Doorns regions since the age of 13.
In 1999, Fortuin was evicted from a farm in De Doorns.
“Through that eviction, I have learned many lessons. Back then I didn’t know my rights like I know them now,” she says.
After years of waiting, Fortuin finally acquired an RDP house and is an active activist for farmworker rights.
“I would like to encourage farmworkers to make a habit of reading their contracts and not to be so quick to sign anything their employer hands them. Consult experts who can help you better understand.”
She says it is also important that farmworkers seek out organisations that can keep them informed.
Fortuin stresses, however, that not all farmers are guilty of treating their workers badly. “There are many good farmers and I would like to encourage them to look beyond making farmworkers shareholders, but to rather look at awarding farmworkers ownership of land, even if it is one hectare,” she says.
Meanwhile Patientia says government must look at regulating labour contractors to ensure compliance, while Baartman reckons that more farmworker information sessions should be held.
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