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Mpumalanga premier David Mabuza will establish a unit to deal with problems arising from the relations between farmers and their labourers in the province.
Mabuza said this was a proposal by the Commission of Inquiry into the Socioeconomic Conditions of Farm Dwellers, which presented its year-long investigation to him today.
The premier established the commission in May 2015 to investigate and make recommendations on the protection of human rights, safety and security of farm dwellers, security of tenure, employment security, access to adequate and sustainable housing, access to basic services such as water, electricity and sanitation, access to quality education, healthcare, the justice system and the prevention of illegal evictions.
This investigation has been long overdue in the racial tensions affecting the hinterland.
The relations have, since the dawn of democracy, prompted police to establish a number of task teams to re-investigate criminal cases that farm labourers have laid against farmers but were bungled in what was largely believed to be collusion between the farmers, police, prosecutors and magistrates.
Cases farm labourers laid ranged from murder, torture, illegal evictions and denial of burial rights ro the killing of their livestock.
Farm dwellers also lived under appalling conditions and were not getting government services offered to the poor such water, housing, electricity and sanitation.
“I support the commission’s recommendation to establish the unit to deal with challenges. South Africa is a difficult country and while we tackle problems such evictions and land invasions we’ll also be building the nation,” Mabuza said.
“This unit may also give us an opportunity to deal with the agricultural sector. This province was a basket of food production for the whole country but over time production fell down,” he added.
The commission found that:
Despite the promulgation of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act of 1997 and the Labour Tenant Act of 1996, a significant proportion of farm dwellers still face insecure tenure and other forms of land rights violation including eviction from their homes;
Farmers failed to register workers with the Department of Labour. As a result farm workers were working without protective clothing and safety equipment and injuries on duty were not reported to the department;
Farm dwellers lack secure access to land, agricultural inputs, skills development and markets which are essential to the ability of farm dwellers to generate an income from agricultural production and food security. They also lack resources and support from Departments in order to enable them to use the land productively; and
Mining, which is a one of the major contributors to the Mpumalanga economy, was also responsible for displacement of farm dwellers and exposing them to health hazards.
Mabuza said that farm dwellers had not yet enjoyed the fruits of freedom the country won in 1994.
He said that government would now channel funds toward the farming communities and this would reflect when departments do their mid-year budget adjustments.
“This is not a report that will gather dust. While the commission was busy with its work, some farm workers said they had no water and houses. In some areas we drilled boreholes and built houses before the commission finished its work,” said Mabuza.
