New moves to revamp farm labour

IN A move to revamp farm
labour laws, Agri Wes-Cape
has announced that farmers
can no longer continue to
feed and accommodate and
provide social services to
workers.
FTW understands there are
some 200 000 farm workers
and 7 185 farms of all types
in the Western Cape alone, a
province bedevilled by social
problems, not the least of
which is alcohol abuse.
While the Cape provincial
government has committed
to improving the lot of farm
workers, agriculture minister
Cobus Dowry, speaking at a
recent meeting in Worcester,
expressed concern at the
‘moral decay’ of workers on
farms.
Agri-Wes Cape said in a
submission to a joint oversight
committee comprising
members of the provincial
legislature and the National
Council of Provinces, that
farming operations, like any
business, required specialised
workers, administration staff,
engineers, fruit pickers and
the like and that such posts
required specialised skills.
It makes clear the days of
growers randomly employing
untrained labour and
providing add-ons, such as
housing and training, are over.
The organisation says
while workers are employed
they should be provided with
decent housing and treated
with respect but that it is
not the responsibility of the
farmer to provide them with
permanent tenure security.