The farm protests and farmworkers strike-the DA's Marikana

Marius Fransman, Chairperson of the ANC in the Western Cape, would have addressed the funeral of Michael Daniels, a farmworker killed in the struggle against modern day slavery last Sunday, and said;

"A farm worker has died. He died in protest because the price of modern day slavery has become too high. We say his death is one death too many and a household now has one member less. His 8 year old daughter Michaela has lost a father. A cause as old as our history of struggle has lost a fighter. Michael Daniels was only 27 years old and the meagre R327 he earned per week is now also lost to those whom he supported."

Fransman went on to describe the history of slave labour on farms, the master-servant relationship, the limited progress made in improving the conditions of the farmworkers and the manner in which even these limited gains made through ANC policy have been rolled back by the farmers". He was prevented from addressing the meeting by reactionary religious leaders.

By contrast, the DA has tried to blame the ANC for the strike, foreigners for the violence and has opportunistically tried to make the ANC responsible for what its own constituency has done-completely neglect the human rights of farmworkers. The reality of this strike is that it is the agricultural version of Marikana.

Nobody saw it coming and the violent nature of the protests has shocked everybody. Such violence can never be condoned, but it is the consequence of the social alienation of these people and their abuse over centuries that is the cause of such social alienation. The superficial analysis of the DA and its opportunism will take farmers, farmworkers and the industry nowhere.

As in the mining sector, the chickens have come home to roost and the DA constituency which mainly owns the farm were shocked by the extent of the crisis. For instance, the common refrain is that the ANC is responsible because it sets the minimum wage. Such drivel is a measure of the callousness of the DA.

There is no law preventing farmers paying more than the minimum wage and some do. Unfortunately, these are the exceptions. In discussions, the ANC leadership has proposed a number of measures to address the situation. Among these are:

1. The immediate payment of the minimum wage with no deductions to all farmworkers,
2. A living wage to be negotiated through a multi-year agreement over the next 3 years,
3. Safer and better worker conditions for the farm workers,
4. Funded skills development programs and income generation projects for farmworkers to be managed through a development entity managed by the social partners-government, business and labour,
5. Better social amenities and services on the farms, such as housing, health and education, to name a few,
6. Addressing the issues of alcohol abuse and ending the tot system,
7. Addressing the issue of landownership and overcoming the historical legacy of Colonialism and Apartheid by ensuring farms are owned by farmworkers, including the creation of a cooperative institution to support the ownership of farms by the workers. This institution would ensure good management, marketing and commercial practices and support generally,
8. Addressing all other farmworker abuses by farm owners including, physical and psychological abuse and the systemic debt caused by lending at usurious interest rates by farmers,
9. Enforcing a fair labour standards code for the industry and labeling produce as coming from such farms or not,
10. The creation of a labour placement office to be run by the social partners-labour, business and government-to end labour broking,
11. The immediate access to joining unions for farm-workers,
12. A commission of enquiry into the treatment of farm-workers in the Western Cape. There is sufficient evidence that point to human rights abuse and other forms of assault on their dignity, basic rights and freedoms,
13. The setting up of a Task team of relevant departments and institutions (DRD, DOA, DTI, Landbank) to ensure accelerated development and upliftment of rural dwellers and rural farm-workers in particular,
14. An amnesty for foreign workers without papers on the farms and a process to have them "legalised",
15. A relief payment to all workers for some basic foodstuff and other such support. 

How is this to be achieved? In fact it has been done before in the motor industry and in the clothing and textile industry. There, such agreements were fought for by labour. The result has been the turn around of these industries and all the resultant improvements. This was the result of strong unions, employers with a vision and the government leading such initiatives.

It is clear that the DA will not do this. In fact it cannot as it sides with the feudal landlords who still want to farm as if the institution of slavery is in place.

Therefore the ANC led government has a responsibility to lead the restructuring of the agricultural industry so that it survives grows and with it the workers benefit from the wealth that their labour creates. Let the ANC lead and ensure a better life for farmworkers through the transformation of the agricultural sector.

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