The Department of Labour has announced that it will engage with farmers, their workers and labour tenants to assess the levels of compliance with labour and occupational health and safety legislation on commercial farms.
The department has said that while there are many model employers in the agricultural sector, there remain too many cases of non-compliance and near slave-labour conditions, ill-treatment, unfair dismissals and many other challenges within the sector.
The programme, which started last year, has already completed inspections on commercial farms in the North West and the Western Cape.
Visits are still to be done in farming areas in Kimberley, Riverton and Douglas in the Northern Cape.
The department said that the visits would be conducted by Minister of Employment and Labour, Thulas Nxesi, and his deputy Boitumelo Moloi.
Representatives of the departments of justice and agriculture, rural development and land reform will also be present.
“The Department of Justice will be participating because of the possibility of legal action,” said the department. – Zoë van Rooyen
