Worker abuse allegations continue to dog South African agriculture

Allegations of violence, victimisation and exploitation of children made against farmers by organised labour threaten South Africa’s agricultural export prospects and risk destabilising commercial agriculture, farmers’ unions say.

The North West branch of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) issued a statement in late August condemning what it termed “the attitude of the majority of farmers in North West Province who continue assaulting and even killing farm workers, using abusive language and exploiting child labour.”

The regional branch of the country’s largest labour federation called for a joint investigation, including the national agriculture and labour departments and the police, into the matter.

Agricultural unions Agri SA, TAU and provincial farmers’ unions rejected the allegations as “devoid of all truth” and not in the interest of farm workers. Agri SA president Lourie Bosman said the organisation had lodged several complaints of hate speech at the Human Rights Commission.

Agricultural exports constitute about 8% of the country’s total , while primary agriculture contributes about 2% to gross domestic product and provides about 9% of formal employment.

COSATU’s national spokesman Patrick Craven said the organisation was satisfied that its North West branch’s facts were correct and that it endorsed the branch’s statement.

The accusations are reminiscent of similar charges made last year by rural activists and repeated by Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana that white commercial farmers were raping, assaulting and unlawfully evicting workers from farms in Western Cape and Limpopo. The minister later retracted the statements and apologised to Parliament, saying she had been given outdated information.

At the time, SA had come close to losing its export markets as a result of the unsubstantiated allegations, Bosman said recently. “This kind of statement undermines investor confidence and stereotypes South African farmers. It does irreparable damage to the image of farming.”

In the latest accusations , COSATU lists the death of a farm worker killed in an accident, a child killed by lions, unlawful evictions, unfair dismissals and brutal assaults in which a worker’s back was reportedly broken and another throttled. The statement also accused the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration of helping a farmer to unfairly dismiss a worker. A commission spokesman rejected the claim, saying its strict code of conduct had never been breached and that the commission took a dim view of COSATU’s statement.

Farmers’ unions elsewhere in the country said the accusations were nothing new and seemed to be part of COSATU’s efforts to win support in rural areas. Agri Free State CEO Henk Vermeulen said the accusations were common, but typically fell apart when proof was sought.

Business Day