The murder of Eugene Terre'Blanche
The Congress of South African Trade Unions condemns the brutal murder of Eugene Terre'Blanche on 3 April 2010 and sends its condolences to his family. Murder and violent assaults can never be condoned, even against your worst enemy. His killing however highlights the following issues:
COSATU will remember Terre'Blanche as an enemy of democracy, a racist and a fascist. His Nazi AWB tried to sabotage our transition to majority rule, when they forced their way into the World Trade Centre when our democracy was being negotiated, and when they invaded Bophuthatswana to defend a hated Bantustan system our people had rejected.
He was also typical of the worst type of employer on South Africa's farms. The reported circumstances of his murder speak volumes about the appalling state of labour relations on farms.
The alleged killers were farm workers - one of them 15 years-old and therefore employed illegally - demanding unpaid wages of a paltry R300 a month. While their alleged violent actions cannot be excused, they illustrate the depth of many farm workers' frustration at their deplorable working conditions. We assume that these two young workers were so desperate that the only way they could see to get justice was to allegedly bludgeon their boss to death, an act we are condemning outright.
The police and courts must enforce the law in this case, but also revisit the numerous outstanding cases where farm workers and dwellers have been shot - often under the blatantly false excuse that they were mistaken for dogs, baboons or warthogs - had dogs set on them, been thrown into lions' enclosures or evicted from the homes on to the roadside in the middle of winter.