Parliament, Friday, 17 June 2022 – A delegation of the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour, and the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Land Reform heard from the stakeholders that the reality of agricultural work is a harsh one. Furthermore, they said that reality is mired with generally poor working and living conditions, undocumented migrants, meagre minimum living wage and physical abuses which are tantamount to modern forms of slavery.
The delegation is in the Free State Province on a three-day oversight visit programme to see the conditions under which farm workers and farm dwellers live. Today’s meeting with the stakeholders which was held in Bloemfontein marked the start of the three-day oversight visit in the province.
Giving context to this nation-wide undertaking, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour, Ms Lindelwa Dunjwa, who is leading the delegation explained that the delegation is in the province due to the motion that was raised in the National Assembly in 2020 which recommended that both committees must embark on a nation-wide oversight visits to farms to assess the plight of farm workers across all provinces.
Various stakeholders laid bare the appalling and lived experiences of farm workers. Ms Dunjwa said the experiences that were highlighted by the various stakeholders are a cause for concern and she assured them that all what they raised in this meeting and what will emanate from the interaction of the delegation with farm workers during public hearings, will be part of a report that will be further debated by both committees at Parliament.
Tomorrow the delegation will hold public hearings on the working and living conditions of farm workers in Bloemhof and on Sunday in Ficksburg.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT AND LABOUR, MS LINDELWA DUNJWA.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact the committee’s Media Officer:
Name: Abel Mputing (Mr)
Parliamentary Communication Services
Cell: 081 705 5521
E-mail: amputing@parliament.gov.za
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