Parliament, Saturday, 23 July 2022 – A delegation of the joint committee of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour started its three-day oversight programme yesterday to assess the living and working conditions of farm workers, farm dwellers and tenants in the Eastern Cape with a meeting with stakeholders in the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan Municipality.
In welcoming the stakeholders and explaining the purpose of the joint oversight, the leader of the delegation and the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour, Ms Lindelwa Dunjwa, told them that the oversight follows a National Assembly resolution adopted in 2020 calling for the two committees to embark on a joint oversight programme to assess the impact of legislation and explore opportunities for legislative review aimed at improving the living conditions of farm workers, farm dwellers and tenants.
Several stakeholders made presentations to the delegation, including Agri Eastern Cape, the Eluyolweni Community Forum, the East Cape Agricultural Research Project, the Khanyisa Development Trust, Southern African Clothing and Textiles Workers Union and, South African Commercial Catering and Allied Workers Union and the Congress of South African Trade Union. Ms Dunjwa appealed to the stakeholders to avoid generalisations in their presentations. She urged them to highlight the key issues and include the education of farm workers’ children.
During the engagements, delegation Members told stakeholders to redefine their roles in the sector and ensure that they devise meaningful and productive interventions. They urged Agri Eastern Cape to facilitate the creation of forums for engagement in the different districts so that their members and farm workers can engage with one another to achieve successful outcomes in the sector and resolve challenges.
Such a forum could also provide a point of education to farmers about the right to decent work which their workers are entitled to, as the majority of them do not understand labour laws. These forums could also resolve various labour relations issues, such as salary increments, Unemployment Insurance benefits, leave and pension benefit, among other issues.
The delegation heard that some farm workers are still working under extremely difficult conditions in the Eastern Cape, because their employers do not comply with labour legislation. However, the delegation also heard that a significant number of farmers do comply with labour laws, particularly in the Sara Baartman District. These farmers pay their workers a minimum wage and give their workers an annual increase.
The Department of Employment and Labour called for the labour unions in the sector to become more effective. It also called on those who complained about the failure of labour inspectors to do their work to name those inspectors so that the department can follow up on that information.
The department told the committee that it exists to enforce the implementation of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, the Sectoral Determination Act, the National Minimum Wage Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Unemployment Insurance Act, the Unemployment Insurance Contributions Act and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act in the farming sector. Labour inspectors are employed to assist in ensuring that these pieces of legislation are implemented.
The delegation will today, Saturday 23 July, visit Ventershoek and Sonop farms on the Kouga Local Municipality from 9:00 to 14:00 and hold a public hearing with farming communities at Pink Huis in Patensie.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON EMPLOYMENT AND LABOUR, MS LINDELWA DUNJWA.
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