By: Sello Theletsane
A top game farm outside Klerksdorp in North West has been found by Parliament to be non-compliant with legislation impacting farm labourers, including non-payment of the standard minimum wage.
A delegation from Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (ALRRD) and the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour swooped on Bona Bona Game Farm on Saturday where it consulted and engaged with the farm workers on the conditions and dynamics of their employment.
The committees found that the farm was non-compliant with some of the legislation impacting farm labourers. The areas of non-compliance included non-payment of the standard minimum wage and workers were not compensated at the correct rate for overtime worked on a Saturday or Sunday.
The farm was also not compliant with their payment towards the Unemployment Insurance Fund. The visit to the farm was part of a joint oversight of three farms at Matlosana Local Municipality to assess the living and working conditions of farmworkers, farm dwellers and labour tenants.
Hartbeesfontein was the second farm that the committees visited to assess the farm dwellers/labour tenants’ access to land and their living conditions. The committees found that 52 families were relocated there from the surrounding farms when they were evicted. The farm was bought by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development however there were no homes to accommodate the 52 families.
There were some temporary units on the farm whilst the other workers were living in shacks with no water, electricity or sanitation. The committee after engaging with the beneficiaries found that some of the workers were happy there whilst some still wanted to go back to where their loved ones were buried.
The committee requested the Department of ALRRD to engage with the Department of Human Settlements and the municipality to fast-track the building of houses and the delivery of services to the area.
Thereafter the committee visited Beatrix Farm where it had received a complaint at the stakeholder engagement on Friday that the Department of ALRRD was dragging its heels in assisting the owners of Beatrix Farm. The 642-hectare farm was acquired through the Proactive Land Acquisition Strategy (PLAS) in 2014 for 13 families who had occupied the farm since 1952.
The committee found the families were living in deplorable conditions in dilapidated mud and iron structures with no running water, electricity or sanitation. Their unemployment rate is high and there are no agricultural activities on the farm.
The beneficiaries appealed to the committee to intervene and to fast-track the approval of the business plan that was submitted by the provincial office to the national department. The approval of the business plan and the funding will assist them to build houses, and ablution facilities, purchase production infrastructure and be able to start growing crops and livestock.
The Department of ALRRD responded that the project was earmarked for funding in the current financial year 2022/23 through its Land Development Support Programme.
