Address by Premier of Gauteng, Ms Nomvula Mokonyane, during the provincial Farm Workers and Dwellers Summit, Turffontein, Johannesburg

In this time and age, borrowing from the classic Marxist terminology, the peasants remain the most exploitable class in society. They work and live under dehumanising conditions. They are paid meagre wages which are far below the breadline. Their life is a constant, never ending struggle against poverty and hunger.

In the same breath, the farm owners live under constant fear and threat of attack. Their security is a matter of serious concern for government and everyone who appreciate their role in the economy. The production of fresh produce is beginning to take a back banner to issues of safety and security in the farms.

It is such paradoxical relationship in the farmland environment that we need to honestly address.

Statistics about victimisation of farm workers, eviction of farm dwellers as well as farm killings paints a disturbing picture. For example, sources such as:

• Nkuzi Development on farm dwellers eviction states that over 4.18 million farm dwellers were displaced and 1.7 million have been evicted between 1984 and 2004.
  
• TAU on farm murders: over 285 murders took place within the farming sector between 1991 and 2009 in Gauteng province and 1 266 murders and 2 070 violent attacks in South Africa.
  
• Agri SA on murders and attack on farms: between 1994 and 2008, over 1 541 murders and 10 151 violent attacks occurred.

According to the Nkuzi report submitted to the Select Committee on Land and Environmental Affairs in 2005, 77 percent of those vulnerable people evicted, 28 percent of them are women and 49 percent are children. This is a grim reality depicted by the report.

Programme director, I am citing these statistics to highlight seriousness of the situation within the agricultural sector. The research on the matter gives various reasons for the violence and murders ranging from wage dispute to racial attacks.

Moreover, these incidents of exploitation and killings in the farms undermine the letter and spirit of our constitution. They betray the efforts towards nation building and social cohesion.

Our constitution, one of the most progressive in the world, clearly states that South Africa is a united, non-racial and non-sexist country. It further stipulates that everyone must work towards a safe, non-violent environment irrespective of race and gender.

Accordingly, it is in settings like this one that as South Africans we should seek solutions that will ensure that the gains we make over sixteen years of democracy are not reversed or compromised.

We should use these platforms to openly discuss fundamental questions that tend to tear us apart as the nation. It is only through dialogue that we can once again forge and strengthen the bonds of unity and respect for one another in spite of our diversity.

This summit is relevant because it affords all of us with an opportunity to scrutinise the farmland conditions. It also forces us to be brutally honest with one another as we engage in discussions around farm workers and farm owners and employees.

As Gauteng provincial government, our actions and policies in these matters are derived from the election manifesto and the acknowledgement by the ruling party that the agricultural sector is critical for the economic development of rural areas and the country as a whole because of its potential to:

• create work, both through direct employment and through its linkages to other sectors
• provide sustainable livelihoods and small business development on a mass scale in rural communities
• raise rural income and build local economies
• ensure the efficient production of affordable food and other wages goods
• assure food security for the poorest and
• contribute to lower rates of inflation.

Consequently, we committed ourselves by putting together strategic priorities that will guide us during the current term of government. These priorities touch on all the important aspects of our society. They include:

• stimulating rural development and food security
• creating decent work and building a growing and inclusive economy
• promoting quality education and skills development
• intensifying the fight against crime and corruption
• building cohesive and sustainable communities
• strengthening the developmental state and good governance
• better healthcare for all

Ladies and gentlemen, as government we have the responsibility to ensure that our people live and work together in harmony. But this responsibility does not rest with government alone. The players in the sector have responsibilities as they work together daily in the production of food.

Food security and rural development will not be achieved as long as there is tension. Our nation is looking at this sector to produce enough affordable food. We cannot fail the nation because of narrow interests and prejudice that prevent many of us from collaborating for the benefit of the nation.

We are therefore calling for a commitment by role players in the sector to:

• Implement the sectoral minimum wage determination as proclaimed by the Labour Department in consultation with farmers unions and farm workers through their trade unions representatives
  
• Address the plight of the workers by improving the working and living conditions of farm workers and dwellers
  
• Stop the eviction of farm workers and dwellers
  
• To make the sector more active in the economy and create sustainable jobs as per the priorities of the government
  
• Reduce racial tensions between the farm workers or dwellers and the farmers by creating working relations that will realise the non-racial and sexist vision of South Africa
  
• Encourage engagement between all stakeholders on all matters affecting the agricultural sector in achieving its vision of creating agricultural business and providing and producing enough affordable food for consumption.

In conclusion, programme director; let me take this opportunity to thank you all for your presence in this summit. I am hopeful that the next two days will create a platform that will assist us in developing comprehensive support programmes that will be properly monitored and evaluated.

These programmes, amongst others, should promote sustainable improvement in livelihoods for farm workers and dwellers, especially women and children. Our engagement in this platform should also assist in creating a safe and secure environment in which all of us may live.

Dankie, ngiyabonga.

Source: Office of the Premier, Gauteng Provincial Government