Opening the debate on the adoption of the Second Reading Debate on the Extension of Security of Tenure Amendment Bill, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Gugile Nkwinti, stated that the real question is the issue of land.
The current Bill seeks to control unlawful eviction of farm dwellers. We still need to deal with the issues of land in a fundamental way, he said.
The current amendment will go a long way in protecting the interests of farm workers on farms. “With this Bill it will now not be easy for farmers to evict farm workers without them being held accountable.”
The new system that involves the Land Management Board, Municipalities and Land Committees will ensure that the arbitrary eviction of farm workers come to an end, he said.
The amendment to this Bill will help to regulate eviction, mediation prior to litigation, said the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture and Land Reform, Ms Phumuzile Ngwenya-Mabila.
The amendment has brought about the inception of the Land Management Board and Land Committees composed of interested stakeholders, she said.
The Bill has come before Parliament after rigorous public hearings across all nine provinces. “All stakeholders were involved in our public hearings. We have identified the hot spots of farm evictions, which reached more than 4 000 farm dwellers.”
Under this Bill’s watch no farm worker will be evicted without a court order, she said. “The findings of the Nkunzi Social Survey has shown that when farm workers are no longer working on a farm, the farm owner evicts them unilaterally. This Bill seeks to stop such practices.”
During our public hearings we also witnessed that farm workers are deprived of privacy. Parents go about their lives in the full view of their children because farm workers have no decent housing schemes, she said.
She urged the departments concerned to work together with the committee and other interested stakeholders to improve the plight of farm dwellers.
The Bill will succeed if it has a value set that aspires to the values of freedom for both farmers and farm dwellers, said Mr Thomas Walters. “We hope that this Bill will enhance the pursuit of dreams of farmers and farm workers in tandem with each other.”
We also hope, he added, that this Bill will help us to turn a page on a new chapter of fairness, balanced compliance, and set of rights. But legislation can be bedevilled by poor implementation and political interference.
We are disappointed that this Bill does not curb evictions but seeks to regulate them, instead, said Mr Mogamad Paulsen. “This Bill is a misrepresentation of farm dwellers’ fight for redress. It does not put them at the helm of redress. Instead of redressing this practice, this Bill intends to regulate it. That is unfortunate.”
The bulk of amendments that have been inserted in this Act will ensure that its powers are effective, said Mr Maliyakhe Shelembe.
“We welcome the introduction of the Land Management Board, the Municipalities and Land Committees will play in consolidating the department mandate in this regard.”
The irony of this Bill is that it still allows evictions to happen but in a legal manner, said Mr Mncedisi Filtane. “We would have hoped for a Bill that oppose the eviction of farm dwellers.”
We are now accepting this Bill with our hands tied behind our backs on the understanding that there will be in future a Bill that will fundamentally outlaw this practice, he said.
Part of the problem in this regard is the failure of the administration of land policies. That has resulted in poor articulation of policy and legislation regime to protect farm dwellers, said Mr Willie Madisha.
“According to the finding of the land research entity at the University of the Western Cape, there is a weak enforcement of laws by the department, the judicial system that is not worker-friendly, labour that is not organised and prone to exploitation, and poor communication by the three spheres of the state in this regard are matters affecting the realisation of the rights of farm workers,” he said.
The Minister could not agree more. “That is true, we need to improve in that regard. And we are doing our level best to improve the coordination of our efforts.”
By Abel Mputing
6 June 2017
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