Another De Doorns protest march planned
2013-01-18 14:21
Cape Town - Striking farmworkers will march in De Doorns
next week, not on Friday afternoon, to hand over a "peaceful strike
policy", the Food and Allied Workers' Union (Fawu) said.
"There has been confusion among shop stewards. But this
march will take place on January 24 [next Thursday] to the De Doorns police
station," Western Cape organiser Sandile Keni said.
"This memorandum calls for both workers and police to
stop the violence. One of the reasons is because of the shooting [of rubber
bullets] by police."
The strike, which started last year, was suspended in
December, but resumed last Wednesday in various towns in the province.
Suspension
The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) announced a
week-long suspension of the strike on Tuesday, on condition that AgriSA honour
commitments to "local-level" agreements and agree to stop the
victimisation of workers.
Cosatu's Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich said the
suspension excluded De Doorns, because workers there were standing by their
demands and were not open to negotiations.
AgriSA has repeatedly called for individual farmers to
negotiate with their workers at farm level, which is apparently taking place.
Keni said they were planning to meet with a farmer in De
Doorns on Friday afternoon, who had approached them and asked to hold a
meeting.
"We believe we'll be having an offer, and we appreciate
that," Keni said.
A mass meeting would then be held in De Doorns on Sunday.
Fears of farm attacks
The Transvaal Agriculture Union (Tau-SA) said it feared the
strike, which had been violent at times, would result in increased violent
crime on farms.
"Unfounded accusations blaming farmers [for] exploiting
their employees, illegal evictions, or the accusation that farmers have stolen
the land to which they [employees] hold title deeds, creates a perception that
farmers are criminals who need to be shown no mercy," said Tau-SA deputy
president Henry Geldenhuys.
"This is reflected in the extreme cruelty which
characterises farm attacks... Farmers need to ensure that their security
arrangements are in place."
Geldenhuys said farmers had no choice but to accept
responsibility for their own safety, stating that three people had been killed
in nine farm attacks this year.
On Monday, spaza shop worker Letsekang Thokoene, 25, died
when he was allegedly shot with rubber bullets in De Doorns.
The same day, a 10-year-old girl was apparently shot in the
eye with a rubber bullet.
SAHRC investigating
The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) on Thursday said it
was investigating over 20 complaints of brutality against farmworkers by
police, farmers, and private security.
Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) spokesperson
Moses Dlamini said he had received from the SAHRC numerous reports of cases
involving police, mostly of assault and the use of rubber bullets at close
range.
The labour department is holding an extra week of public
hearings in the province to assist in the determination of a new minimum wage
for the sector.
Hearings have already taken place in Grabouw, Paarl, De
Doorns, and Robertson, with the last two to be held in Oudtshoorn and
Vredendal.
Department spokesperson Mokgadi Pela said an announcement on
the new minimum wage determination was expected next month, with effect from 1 March.
- SAPA
