‘Pressure on farmers will affect entire economy’

While the Western Cape economy as a whole accounted for 14.2% of the national economy in 2010, its agricultural sector alone accounted for 23.2%. “Farming and the impact that it has on the economy cannot be under-estimated,” said Western Cape Premier Helen Zille recently. “Some 80% of South Africa’s black farmers in the deciduous fruit industry are in the Western Cape. Our land reform model is the only one that has succeeded anywhere in South Africa. Indeed it is the model upon which the National Development Plan’s proposals are based. “Farming is one of the few remaining sectors in our economy able to absorb unskilled labour.” And the Western Cape, said Zille, was one of the few provinces where farmers had traditionally paid above the minimum wage set by the national Minister of Labour. “For example, in De Doorns before the recent strike, the average cost-to-company remuneration for seasonal workers was R100 per worker per day. That is one of the reasons that so many seasonal workers have traditionally sought work in the Western Cape from countries such as Zimbabwe and Lesotho, as well as other provinces, particularly the Eastern Cape.” Zille warned that too much pressure on farmers in the Western Cape would negatively affect not just the local economy, but also that of the country.