Farm protests restricted to W Cape: iLIVE

09 November 2012 - 02:05 By Robert Nicolai, Howick
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Striking farm workers blocking the N1 highway in De Doorns, Western Cape. File photo.
Striking farm workers blocking the N1 highway in De Doorns, Western Cape. File photo.
Image: DENZIL MAREGELE/MEDIA 24

The minimum legislated wage for farmworkers is only R1504 a month. In De Doorns, workers say they receive only R70 a day ("Grape farms shut down", yesterday). Over 22 working days their pay comes to R1540, marginally above the minimum agreed wage rate.

Taking this into consideration, I find it puzzling that the farm labour turbulence is limited to De Doorns in the Western Cape, while the farm workforce in other provinces seems happy to not protest. Could the destabilising, underhand games of the ANC and Cosatu allies be at play?

It is rather perplexing that these upheavals in farming are in the only province not administered by the ANC.

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