MPs hear that a mechanism for farm workers facing illegal eviction to ask for help is getting off the ground slowly.

Parliament yesterday heard that there were 700 outstanding legal-aid cases around the country involving farm workers who believe they have been illegally evicted from commercial farms since 2007.

Mduduzi Shabane, deputy director-general of the department of rural development and land reform, told parliament's portfolio committee on the department, that only 207 out of 907 cases had been finalised by the Lands Rights Management Facility (LRMF) to date.

"If you look at the number [of cases] that are pending versus the number that are finalised, there may well be a problem," said Shabane.

He was reporting to the committee about the status of the LRMF, a body established in 2007, after a Land Claims Court decision found the department had the duty to provide legal aid to persons living and working on farms.

Eleven call centers around the country were established so that quicker intervention by departmental officials would be possible.

"We decided to set up this facility until a permanent solution or mechanism to the issue of eviction was found within government," said Shabane.

Shabane said that he was not aware whether there were any cases from 2007 still in the courts today but admitted the possibility. "Unfortunately we are not in control of the turnaround process in the courts, where some of these matters are pending," said Shabane.

Committee member Zwelivelile Mandela questioned Shabane on whether people living in rural areas actually knew about the call-centre: "[In the Eastern Cape] they recently had to build an entire township as a result of farmers in the area evicting people," said Mandela.

Shabane admitted that the awareness campaign to inform farm workers about the hotline had "not been maintained".

"We do believe that there's many people who live on commercial farmland who still probably get illegally evicted without us knowing," said Shabane.