City claims it never denied march
2013-03-01 18:06
Johannesburg - The City of Cape Town did not deny
permission for a coalition of farmworkers to march to Parliament at the
weekend, an official said on Friday.
City spokesperson Kylie Hatton said that in a meeting
with the police and the applicant, the Trust for Community Outreach and
Education, it was pointed out that there were two other marches happening on
Saturday.
"They then decided to move the march to Sunday. At
that point the convenor, Gavin Joachims, contacted the City to advise that they
wanted to postpone their march to 23 March," she said.
Farmworkers had wanted to march on Saturday against
farmers' "ongoing efforts" to undermine the new minimum wage for
workers.
On Thursday, the coalition claimed the City and police
service had refused them permission, claiming a shortage of police officers.
It said: "There is no such shortage when events such
as the Soccer World Cups are happening... This is clearly a political decision
to frustrate the legitimate struggles of farmworkers."
Hatton said the trust was asked to cancel their original
march request and submit a new request, which they did.
"They postponed it on their own terms," she
said.
The new minimum wage requirement for farmworkers came
into effect this Friday.
Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant announced on 4 February that
the minimum wage for farmworkers would increase to R105 a day, from R69, with
an increase of inflation plus 1.5% in subsequent years.
The decision to increase the minimum wage was made after
a series of violent protests by Western Cape farmworkers.
Labour department spokesperson Page Boikanyo urged
farmers to comply with the new wage.
"We believe most farmers will comply, but we
emphasise that those who are unable to pay should apply for relief.
"Government has this mechanism in place to provide
support for those who really can't afford it," he said.
Boikanyo said the department's focus was to process the
applications it received from farmers, but said it was unclear how long this
process would take.
He could not immediately say how many applications for
assistance the department had received.
Farmers seeking relief would need to submit their books
to the department to prove their financial distress.
- SAPA
