A brutal harvest: The roots and legitimation of violence on farms in South Africa

Title: A brutal harvest: The roots and legitimation of violence on farms in South Africa
Creator: Segal, Lauren
Subject: Agricultural laborers -- South Africa -- Social aspects
Subject: Child agricultural laborers -- South Africa
Subject: Farms -- South Africa
Subject: Violence -- South Africa
Subject: Forced migration -- South Africa
Subject: South Africa -- Race relations
Date: 1990?
Type: text
Type: book
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/65551
Identifier: vital:28809
Description: Extensive evidence of atrocities committed against black workers on white-owned farms has consistently been uncovered by progressive organisations working in the rural areas in South Africa. The evidence suggests the need for a thorough and systematic investigation of the nature and extent of violence on the farms, as well as a more systematic exposure of the findings. For the most part, the personality of rural South Africa remains a mystery to urban dwellers. The Black Sash and its rural project, the Transvaal Rural Action Committee (TRAC), approached the Project for the Study of Violence to undertake this research and this report was first presented at the Project's seminar programme at the University of the Witwatersrand. Its findings have provoked strong responses from the farming sector. Kobus Kleyhans, the Deputy Director, General Services of the South African Agricultural Union (SAAU), was quoted in The Star as saying, ‘According to my observations, the situation (on the farms) is quite different. I reject these findings with contempt; they are nothing near the real situation... I will not deny, that some farmers do not treat their workers as they should, but this sort of information is not representative’. (The Star; October 1990) In reply, it should be emphasised that firstly, while this study was conducted only in the South Eastern Transvaal, the case studies in this report are not isolated incidents but were selected out of a large range of similar occurrences in the area. Secondly, rural advice offices in the Western and Northern Transvaal, have reported similar cases of violent abuse of labourers on white owned farms in their areas. Although the specific contours of the communities in these regions have not been investigated, some of the case studies directly corroborate the findings of this report. The timing of this report is opportune as it coincides with President De Klerk’s announcement that the Land Acts of 1913 and 1936 are to be abolished. These Acts have been pivotal in forging and determining the violent and exploitative relations on the land. The announcement is therefore welcomed as a significant step towards creating the conditions for changing the balance of power on the land. At the same time, this report serves as a warning against the belief that the scrapping of the Land Acts will put an end to the varying forms of violence on the farms. Just as repealing these laws will not necessarily ensure equitable redistribution of the land in South Africa, so too do they not necessarily signal a move towards more equitable labour relations on white farms. This report makes this clear in three ways. Firstly, the racist attitudes and convictions of many white farmers is shown to underpin much of the violence on the farms. These attitudes will prevail well after the scrapping of the Acts. A reversal of these attitudes will only take place after a lengthy educative process undertaken by groups such as the local churches, the South African Agricultural Union, the Rural Foundation etc. Secondly, it is the very fear of white farmers and their increasingly vulnerable position, that has contributed to a growing pattern of abusive behaviour against farmworkers. The strength of the opposition of hundreds of white farmers to the scrapping of the Land Acts was demonstrated in their march on the union buildings just after the announcement was made. Thirdly, the networks that have contributed - directly and indirectly - to the violence on the farms, such as the courts and police, are still firmly entrenched in the rural areas. For these reasons, a campaign against against farmworker abuse is more pertinent than ever before. We are calling for several steps to be taken.
Description: Revised Edition
Format: 37 pages, pdf
Publisher: Black Sash (Society)
Language: English
Rights: Black Sash
Rights: No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher

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