Labour oversight: Portfolio Committee twisting truth on Western Cape facts
Last week, the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Labour visited various farms in the Western Cape to conduct oversight into the working conditions of farm workers in the province. My colleague George Boinamo MP and I participated in the various visits.
Today, the committee chairperson, Elleck Nchabeleng, briefed the media on our findings. I believe that the findings of our oversight visits have been misrepresented in that press conference.
There were certainly a few isolated problems on the farms we visited, and those should be dealt with in accordance with the law. Workers on one farm were living in a container, and several cases of workers using outdated safety equipment were discovered. This is unacceptable and these cases need to be reported to the Department of Labour as soon as possible.
It was however clear that an overwhelming majority of farmers complied with regulations in full; and that those who did not, agreed to take steps to rectify the problems on their farms.
The committee chairperson has exaggerated the extent of breaches in labour regulations in an attempt to score political points. The chairperson seemed to suggest that there were widespread problems with housing and sanitation. At one point he even claimed that less than 10% of farmers comply with the minimum requirements for housing their workers. This is completely false, as we only encountered some problems with housing at two of the 21 farms we visited.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) fully supports the safeguarding of farm workers' rights. Those farmers who do not follow labour regulations must be prosecuted in accordance with the law. But the evidence from our oversight visits suggests that only a tiny minority of farmers do not follow the labour regulations; and in most cases the breaches are not severe.
The DA-run Western Cape government takes these issues very seriously. All serious allegations are investigated by the Western Cape Department of Agriculture and reported to the police and the Department of Labour if necessary. But ultimately it is the responsibility of the Department of Labour to ensure that any breaches of regulations are properly policed in all nine provinces.
We have to protect the rights of workers whenever they are breached. But embarking on extended witch hunts in one particular province, with a specific political agenda in mind, and without acknowledging the facts, does not help anyone.
We need to promote an agricultural industry that protects the rights of workers, creates opportunities for communities to share in the wealth of the land and that is profitable for commercial farmers. Misrepresenting the facts on the ground does not help us to achieve any of these important goals.
Statement issued by Ian Ollis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Labour, January 31 2012
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