Meanwhile Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant has taken a decision to look at a possible review of the sectoral determination for farmworkers, which currently stands at a minimum of R70 a day. Oliphant will next week publish a notice indicating the intention to call on all interested parties to comment on the possibility of reviewing the sectoral determination. The minister will, at the same time, publish a notice to cancel the existing sectoral determination.
Farm workers – and some protestors who seemed to have come out of nowhere – are demanding R150 minimum wage a day. In areas such as Robertson, Somerset-West and the Hexriver Valley they have started to set vineyards alight. ANC members and their supporters are saying “Nou gaan die Boere kak”, meaning it is time for the white farmers to take some sh*t.
The Western Cape police service are saying the widespread unrest is a matter of concern. “Although every endeavor is made to maintain law and order, it is fair to admit that our response time is compromised and affected by the situation,” says Lieutenant Colonel Andrè Traut of the Western Cape SA Police Service communications team.
The officials from the Departments of Labour, and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, unions as well as representatives of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration have been involved in efforts to find a solution
Earlier Western Cape Premier Helen Zille asked that SANDF members to be called into the Hex River valley where violent protests were ongoing as police were “stretched thin”.
“I have been in contact with the provincial and national police commissioners calling for the SANDF to be deployed.
The ANC in the Eastern Cape has called for countries worldwide to stop importing South African wine.
The matter is quit simple. As die boere kak gaan die plaaswerkers afkak.
