Workers accuse police, farmers of brutality
2013-01-17 17:44
Cape Town - The SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) is
investigating at least 20 complaints of brutality against striking Western Cape
farmworkers, it said on Thursday.
"At the last count, it was 20 complaints, but we're
still counting the most recent ones. The complaints are against the police,
farmers and private security," SAHRC spokesperson Isaac Mangena said.
He said workers had reported cases of police brutality,
racism and inhumane living and working conditions.
SAHRC officials were visiting the affected areas,
including De Doorns, to gather information on the cases and help the community
lodge complaints.
On Monday, spaza shop worker Letsekang Tlokoane, 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.
Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID)
spokesperson Moses Dlamini said he had received from the SAHRC numerous cases
involving the police, mostly of assault and the use of rubber bullets at close
range.
Farmworkers went on strike last year to demand that their
daily wage be increased from R69 to R150, and that a coherent land reform
programme be implemented. The strike was suspended in December, but resumed
last Wednesday in various towns in the province.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) announced a
week-long suspension of the strike on Tuesday, on condition that Agri SA honour
commitments to "local-level" agreements and agree to stop the
victimisation of workers.
Both Cosatu's Western Cape secretary Tony Ehrenreich and Agriculture MEC Gerrit van Rensburg said a large number of farmworkers were
back at work on Thursday.
However, the Black Association of the Wine and Spirit
Industry (Bawsi) said the strike was still on.
"The strike will continue across the province until
there is an agreement for better wages and worker protection," said Nosey
Pieterse, Bawsi president and general secretary of the Building and Allied
Workers' Union of SA.
Pieterse said he represented thousands of striking
workers who did not belong to unions.
Minority of workers unionised
The agriculture department estimated the number of
permanent and seasonal workers in the province at around 200 000.
Of these, only 5% were unionised, Ehrenreich said.
Despite this figure, he said Cosatu had more influence in
the strike than Bawsi did.
"Cosatu is a national organisation with incredible
influence and power, with alarming strength. This is not a competition though.
We want to work with smaller organisations. Bawsi is a small organisation with
significant influence."
At least 180 people had been arrested in connection with
the protests since Wednesday last week, mostly for public violence.
Western Cape police spokesperson Andre Traut said
marching workers in De Doorns were being monitored on Thursday afternoon.
"No incidents of violence have been reported as
yet," he said.
- SAPA
