Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism
Whether his Department has any mechanisms in place to assist farmworkers and farmers to address workplace complaints such as abuse, vandalism and labour issues; if not, what options are open to farmworkers and farmers to address such issues; if so, [a] what are those mechanisms and [b] how was their effectiveness been assessed?
- Yes, the Department has various mechanisms in place to assist farmworkers and farmers to address workplace complaints. As part of the Farm Worker Response Plan which was approved by Cabinet in April 2013, the Department implemented the following initiatives. [1] The FARE process [Future of Agriculture in the Rural Economy] to meet with all agricultural sector role players in order to establish what the challenges are and to come up with recommendations as to how to address these matters, [2] A Helpline was made available for farm workers to report any complaints and/or cases of abuse, [3] Dialogue Sessions with farmers and farm workers were initiated to provide a platform to raise complaints, challenges and suggestions regarding farm issues, and [4] A referral system has been in place for several years whereby all complaints received from farm workers by the Department are investigated by Community Development Officers [CDOs] of the sub-programme: Farm Worker Development. Assistance and support is then provided to ensure that the relevant needs and issues are addressed e.g. by facilitating access to the proper service delivery departments and/or organisations.
- A report has been prepared by FARE [Future of Agriculture in the Rural Economy]. Recommendations are to be presented to Cabinet before implementation can commence, [2] in terms of the Helpline only eight cases were escalated to the Department from the Provincial Call Centre for follow-up from May 2013 until May 2014. Due to the fact that this service was not being utilised by farm workers, it was decided that it would no longer be advertised, however the service via the call centre will still remain open for enquiries and referrals, [3] to date one Dialogue Session has been hosted with farmers and farm workers i.e. on 9 June 2014, in Stellenbosch.
Farmer workers and farmers actively participated in this event and the feedback received indicated that all parties had a very positive experience, [4] the referral system has been in place for many years and good results are achieved in facilitating access for farm workers and their family members to required services. The only challenge experienced is with slow and sometimes poor feedback from the relevant departments. However, with persistent follow-ups the required services are accessed. The Department’s sub-programme: Farm Worker Development is the only one of its kind in the country rendering the abovementioned services.
