The South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) on Saturday welcomed the Snyders Constitutional Court ruling as a momentous victory‚ saying it has affirmed the protection of workers and families residing in farming communities.
"The historic ruling guarantees that the Land Claims Court will no longer endorse unlawful eviction orders but will ensure that the security of tenure of the most exploited and abused section of workers is protected‚” said SANCO national spokesperson Jabu Mahlangu.
Mahlangu called for a review of cases of farmworkers who were left homeless before the comprehensive judgment. He said that the Department of Rural Development and Land Affairs had an obligation to assist farmworkers with the review process as part of accelerating the reversal of the legacy of the infamous 1913 Land Act.
“Land ownership is key to addressing poverty‚ unemployment and inequality as well as restoring the dignity of the landless and historically marginalised poor‚” he stated. The Constitutional Court this week overturned an eviction order‚ allowing Voorbaat farmworker Karel Snyders‚ 54‚ his wife and daughter‚ to return to their home.
Snyders had dragged Ladysmith farm owner Louisa de Jager to court after she fired him and began eviction proceedings in 2008. After a seven-year court battle‚ Snyders was evicted in 2015 and told he could not work for De Jager again.
Snyders‚ his wife and their three children were evicted from the house they had lived in since 1992 and had been living since in a shed that was described as not suitable for human occupation on a neighbouring farm.
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