WILLOWMORE NEWS - There has been a sudden spike in farm evictions reported to the Support Centre for Land Change (SCLC) over the past few months.
The latest incident left a family in the Dr Beyers Naudé Municipal area homeless after they were told to vacate their house on the farm because the owner does not approve of children over the age of 18 staying on the farm with their parents.
Koos Adams and his wife, Elsie Adams have lived and worked on this farm - Du Preezkraal in the Willowmore district - for more than 10 years.
According to Executive Director of the SCLC, Patrick Sambo, evictions of this nature are not uncommon. He spoke out against this trend stating that farmworkers, like the rest of the country's citizens, have the right to family life and this means that families should be allowed to live together. The right to 'family life in accordance with the culture of that family' is specifically granted to occupiers in terms of Section 6(2)(d) of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act (ESTA) and therefore it is unlawful to force farm dwellers to evict their children, particularly when these children are still dependent on their parents. Sambo emphasized that the labour- and tenure rights of farmworkers and farm dwellers must be respected and protected at all times.
"Dismissing or evicting workers and dwellers without following the prescribed procedures is illegal and at this time of the year it is inhumane and insensitive," he said.
"Farmworkers made a lot of sacrifices during the drought and Covid-19 periods and assisted farmers to get through those difficult times. Now that the economy is recovering it can be expected that employers will give the same support to workers."
Sambo appealed to Agri-Eastern Cape and all employer organizations to uphold the labour and tenure rights of farmworkers and farm dwellers, but also, for humane reasons, to respect the festive period which is a period of peace and empathy. "It is sad that putting people through such trauma is even considered in this day and age." Sambo warned that any attempts to illegally evict people from farms will be opposed and landowners who make themselves guilty of this will be prosecuted.
In response to the allegations made against him, the owner of Du Preezkraal farm, Kobus Lötter, stated that he does not have any problem with children over 18 staying with their parents. However, in this instance, the problem is that there are adult children who are already employed elsewhere and no longer dependent on Mr and Mrs Adams who still stay on the farm.
According to Lötter, these adult children also have their own families, and, at present, about 15 people are staying in the house. He finds this unacceptable. He believes that the situation contributes to the culture of alcohol abuse on the farm – something that he can no longer tolerate. The SCLC indicated that they will investigate the matter and assist in resolving it amicably.
The SCLC is a Non-Governmental Organisation working with excluded rural women, men and youth in the Western Cape and western regions of the Eastern Cape towards agrarian transformation. Acknowledging the specific inequalities which farmworkers and farm dwellers face in terms of labour and tenure security, SCLC prioritises ensuring that their rights are respected and protected.
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