Union threatens 'Zimbabwe-style' farm evictions in SA

Cape Town - Zimbabwe-style farm evictions would become inevitable if government proposals on land reform were not immediately implemented to stop mass farm worker evictions, the Building and Allied Workers Union of SA (Bawusa) said on Tuesday.

Bawusa general secretary Nosey Pieterse said "Zimbabwe-style evictions" was the route it would go.

"We are sitting on a volcano that will erupt sooner rather than later. We need to ensure there is equality and justice for all."

He said that statistics on evictions were not a clear reflection on actual evictions taking place. "The stats available are those that have gone through the court system and followed due process.

"There are other evictions where people are intimidated to leave and those who receive lawyer's letters to leave within 30 days," Pieterse said.

"What we see is only a drop in the ocean of evictions in the Western Cape."

Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich said there should be a moratorium on evictions pending the finalisation of the new land reform dispensation and its operational measures.

"Failure to comply with this moratorium will see large scale occupation of the farms whose owners continue with the apartheid-style practices of evictions.

"A failure on the part of farm owners to respond to these cautions will see renewed protest across Western Cape farms with this extending to the rest of the country, given the large-scale humanitarian crisis caused by evictions."

He added that there had been acts of aggression from farm owners towards workers. "Their logic is that they bought the land and it belongs to them.

"And the farm workers' logic is that they have lived on the land for generations.

"The linkage between the two is the 1913 land act," Ehrenreich said.

He said that unless the issues were addressed a mass strike would be imminent.

"We call (for) the immediate implementation of the government proposals on land reform to see a more equitable dispensation on farms.

"We are further calling on the government to urgently intervene to stop these evictions before [they blow] over into the full- scale conflict we saw in the past."

In addition, Western Cape ANC leader Marius Fransman said the ANC would take the matter to court if the proper channels were not followed.

"If the ANC must litigate when it comes to evictions and the proper channels were not followed we will do so."

Meanwhile, Ian Cameron, head of community safety at AfriForum, called on Western Cape farmers to protect themselves and their property against the "Cosatu threat".

"Ehrenreich is instigating tension between workers and farmers and he encourages violence on farms at a time (when) farm attacks are a shocking reality in the country."

Cameron said that farmers should get involved in community safety networks to keep land occupiers away, as "government does not have the political will to safeguard them or their farms".

The Rural Development Department said yesterday farm workers facing eviction could now call lawyers for help.

"Farm workers who have become victims of these evictions can call us," department spokesman Mtobeli Mxotwa said.

"They will be put in contact with our lawyers who will protect them."

Mxotwa said legislation to protect workers was being drafted.

"Presently, the department is busy with legislation that will strengthen the protection of workers against farm owners," he said, adding that the legislation had yet to be presented to the cabinet.

Mxotwa called on both workers and employers to be patient.