Farm-Worker’s dilemma…
The constant strikes and protests of farm workers for salary increases got me thinking. How should the government be more involved, create more work possibilities and address the housing issue?
It was exactly the core findings in a recent study by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). A total of four universities were involved in the study “Farm workers living and working conditions in SA: key trends, emergent issues, and, underlying and structural problems” according to Agri SA .
It was interesting that they stated that on the one side the government got very involved in the agricultural sector and on the other side they started to be less involved because more involvement required the government to enforce labour law to farm workers, specifically the Extension of Security of Tenure act to fight eviction of farm workers.
Support to commercial agriculture is mostly withdrawn. Producer estimate support from the government reduced to 3%. Increased levies that protected South African Farmers against low import costs was abolished, and access to overseas markets limited.
In 1996 there were an estimate of 60 000 farms and by 2007 there was a third less. More and more farmers were stuck with their backs against the wall and thus they had to cut labour costs, with farmers making more and more use of seasonal workers. Research estimates that within the Western- Cape only 40% of workers are permanently employed with 60% being seasonal workers and within some sectors it’s even higher, for example the table grape sector, where over 80% of workers are seasonal.
Permanent workers go hand in hand with certain benefits, like free housing. More farmers are making use of local town inhabitants, knowing that they can just be transported to the farm and temporarily employed, without the stress of the above mentioned “housing benefits”. This is having a direct impact on the smaller towns and the increasing pressure for government housing. Municipalities expressed the issues of extremely long waiting lists for these houses, the low housing budgets and sewerage systems that is not equipped to withstand the demand.
Even though most farmers comply with the labor law requirements, the fact is less and less work surety and work creations are taking place with a bigger and bigger housing problem and low salary issues. Most farmers do pay minimum government wage, but there are still some farm workers far from being paid R150 per day (the amount claimed at De Doorns). The Bureau for Food and Agricultural Policy (BFAP) found that even if two people in a house of four got paid R150 per day, it is still not possible to feed a family of four properly. On the other hand the BFAP said that the majority of farmers in 2013 would have gone bankrupt if they had to pay workers R150 per day.
The conclusion? The study suggested that the government should do more to protect the worker, but even more so the farmer, who initially is the employer. By protecting the farmer they create a platform for more work possibilities and thus housing.
More government help is needed to grant access to special markets, to broaden exports to more than just the traditional markets that are being oversupplied, thus ensuring good prices for the farmer. Import levies should be revised thoroughly, to secure a good local market for our farmers. These are just a few ways the government could make changes.
The point is, the government should not interfere less, but rather intervene on a more consistent base. By protecting our farmers, we are protecting our workers.