This thesis examines the viability of participatory monitoring in instituting a sustainable agriculture-based land reform programme in South Africa. The legacies of colonial and apartheid-era racial injustices have severely constrained access to land for agricultural production. Moreover, the impact of commercial agriculture on nature and society, warrants that alternative approaches to agriculture be investigated. Land reform provides a unique opportunity to motivate for social change, premised on both agricultural sustainability (land) and social transformation (life). Partnership-based models, such as farm worker equity share schemes, dominate land reform opportunities in the Western Cape. The Warmwater farming Trust, a land reform project in the Western Cape premised on this model, formed the case study component of my research. Political ecology was adopted as the theoretical framework for linking structural underpinnings and the locale. Participatory research methods were employed to develop the indicator-based participatory monitoring system on Warmwater. These included farming systems research, participatory rural appraisal and sustainability indicators. The research shows that a range of factors, related to the structures in society, the nature of the locale, and local-level action underscore land and agrarian reform in South Africa. Moreover, the research provides important insights into the transformative capacity of partnership-based land reform models. Participatory monitoring holds benefits for the farmers of Warmwater by providing an opportunity to monitor changes related to land and life and increasing their participation in planning and decision-making processes on the farm. Despite obstacles posed by structural constraints to land and agrarian reform, this thesis postulates three mechanisms to addressing the land-life dialectic. These include a consideration of new land reform models, a conflation of environmental and social justice considerations, and the promotion of local-level action geared towards social transformation and agricultural sustainability. The reconstruction of the South African landscape could be attained by adopting a participatory, sustainable agriculture-based land reform programme, which incorporates processes such as participatory monitoring.

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. / Revised Edition

Research Report Global Labour University, Department of Sociology University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg September 26th, 2014 / This research report looks at the historic farm worker strikes and protests that took place during late 2012 and early 2013, involving thousands of farm workers and the rural poor in the Western Cape, with a view to answering: 1) why did the protests take place when they did; 2) how did the protests spread across the Western Cape; and 3) did the mass participation of the protests turn into formal organisation. The research was conducted primarily through in-depth interviews with participants and observers of the protests during field visits to the Western Cape in late 2013 and early 2014. The findings of the report suggest that farm owners, responding to top-down pressures of shifting global production standards and competition, along with increased government regulation and worker protections, continue to move toward a more seasonal, outsourced, and off-farm labour force; the transformation of the workforce is leading to a breakdown or re-negotiation of two of the major impediments to overt, confrontational, and collective action, namely paternalistic social construction and farm worker isolation. These longer-term trends combined with the spark of a small, successful strike and an increasing sense of tactics, strategy, and possibility to ignite a large-scale strike in one of the major farming towns in the area. With the help of television coverage featuring scenes of this protest and a clear demand by protestors themselves for an increase in the minimum wage, local organisations then served as “coordinating” units, alongside a range of more informal networks, to spread the protest and its easily replicable tactics to towns around the region. In part because farm workers do not have meaningful access to the more institutional vehicles for expressing their grievances, the protests took on a more bottom-up, “spontaneous” nature and spread, with the strategy of disruption and its emerging repertoires of contention serving as key sources of power. Because of the unique nature of the protests and the shifting nature of farm worker identities, most of the participating organisations were unsuccessful at translating the mass participation of the protests into greatly expanded levels of formal organisation. This challenge of turning participation into organisation was exacerbated by a major backlash by farm owners after the protest, as well as by some of the organising approaches of these organisations during and after the protests. The report concludes that there may be reasons for hope as the protests seem to have created some expanded confidence and leadership among farm workers, even if they did not primarily challenge power on the farms; the question remains as to whether this historic uprising can lead to further transformation from below.

The focus of the study is the wages and working conditions of farm labourers in commercial agriculture. After an outline examination of the broad trends in employment and wages in the agricultural industry as a whole, the emphasis falls on a micro-study of employment practices in the Eastern Cape magisterial district of Albany. The results of a survey of farmers was used to determine the level of wages, including payments in kind, the value of housing, cropping and grazing rights. It was found that cash wages made up only 25% of the total remuneration of R684 per annum, while purchased and farm produced rations made up a further 40% of the total. A survey conducted in the Albany district two decades previously was used to compare the real earnings in 1957 and 1977. Although real cash wages and rations increased over the twenty year period the restriction of cropping and grazing rights had the effect of keeping real earnings static. In the light of the improvement of other working conditions, such as the reduction in working hours, however, it is concluded that some increase in real wages did occur . It is evident that there are no clear-cut recipes for successful farm labour management and no unequivocal statements should be made about the most visible element, namely cash wages.

South Africa‟s social, economic and political landscape was shaped by a long and bitter history of land reform and dispossession. It is against this background that the land reform policy was introduced. According to the Department of Land Affairs the objective of land reform was to alleviate poverty and improve the livelihoods of the poor. Since the introduction of the land reform policy in South Africa, there is no empirical evidence that land reform is improving the livelihoods of its beneficiaries and other affected groups such as farm workers. However government focus has been on how much land was redistributed to the previously disadvantaged and dispossessed. The study sought to assess the impact of land reform on the livelihoods of farm workers with specific reference to the Oaks/Willows Citrus farm in Maruleng Local Municipality, Limpopo Province. The study focussed on whether this land reform project achieved its intended objective of improving livelihoods and alleviating poverty. The following groups participated in the study: The farm workers, project committee members, representative of the traditional leader and a representative of the Department of Rural development. The study found that the livelihoods of the farm workers had not improved after the implementation of this land reform project. The study also revealed that government intervention with post settlement support programmes to monitor progress or offer assistance with regard to farm management and extension services, is very important to ensure that land reform projects achieve their intended objective of reducing poverty and improving the livelihoods of the poor.

Includes bibliographies. / The central hypotheses advanced in the dissertation are: 1. Wine farmers in the Western Cape have, since the 1970s; been increasingly changing the form of labour control on their farms from co-ercive to co-optive techniques. 2. The Rural Foundation has played a key role in promoting and facilitating these changes to co-optive methods of labour control. 3. The changes to co-optive forms of labour control have resulted in corresponding changes in the form of paternalism that has characterised the relations of production in the Western Cape for the past three centuries. 4. Whilst the change to co-optive managerial techniques has improved working and living conditions for farmworkers, it has not necessarily reduced the dependency of farmworkers on the farmers, nor empowered workers. 5. Farmworkers have themselves internalised the ideology of 'enlightened' paternalism, with this ideology being fundamental in structuring their work-place behaviour. Trade unionists need to recognise this, and strategise accordingly. The empirical data that is used both to verify the fore-mentioned theoretical statements, and to provide information used in the construction of these statements, was gathered by means of interviews. Interviews were conducted with nine farmers/farm managers and 25 farmworkers from wine farms in Koelenhof, two members of both the Rural Foundation and the Food and Allied Workers Union and an organiser for the National Council of Trade Union's National Union of Wine, Spirit and Allied Workers. This empirical information is integrated into a conceptual method that draws from both the structuralist and social historian perspectives in agrarian social theory. In this sense, the discussion in both abstract and theoretical, and descriptive. Furthermore, the discussion is, at times, prescriptive, arguing that trade unions should adopt particular tactics in their attempts to defend and advance the interests of farmworkers in South Africa.

Thesis (M Social Work)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Wine farms in the Western Cape represent one of the pillars of the region's economy. The social problems that are prevalent among farm workers and their families have evolved over centuries along with the wine industry; the unique set of social, economic, and political conditions affecting rural dwellers in the Western Cape have created a set of challenges impeding a productive future. The interventions at Solms-Delta Wine Estate have empowered the farm community and thus provide a template for social reform. Capacity development initiatives have been central to the farm's management plan. The employment of a fulltime social worker allowed resource gathering to implement social reforms on the farm. The present study investigated the evolution of an approach that encompasses the social development perspective of social work theory. This study is an example of the methods used to bring about stronger community development capacity. The goal of the study was to gain an understanding of the nature of capacity-building initiatives on the wine farm under review from a social development perspective. A review of the historical roots of farm worker subjugation was undertaken to uncover the social dynamic of farm worker community development. Secondly, the study has outlined the political, economic, and legal institutional parameters for rural development. A third strand of the narrative describes the nature of capacity-building initiatives undertaken over the preceding six years, and their impact on the social development of the target community. Finally, the study explored the impact of local capacity development via a semi-structured questionnaire and subsequent interviews with the twenty-one participants. The results of the research outlined in this study provide a number of templates for social work interventions in rural communities on wine farms in the Western Cape. Given the centrality of the wine farm industry in the Western Cape, the success of social welfare initiatives at Solms-Delta delineates road maps for other community-based programmes that can be launched from the lessons of this study. The locality development model, with its emphasis on community input in problem solving provides a framework for countering the unique set of challenges created from the inception of colonialism up to the end of Apartheid social engineering. The empowering environment developed at Solms-Delta offers insight into rolling back historical ills and entitlement issues that bedevil social work practice. Successful community participation requires research into specific community dynamics and the resources to empower one of South Africa's most impoverished social strata. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Wynplase in die Wes-Kaap vorm een van die pilare van die streek se ekonomie. Die maatskaplike probleme wat onder plaaswerkers en hul gesinne voorkom, het oor die eeue heen saam met die wynbedryf ontwikkel. Dit behels die unieke kombinasie van sosiale, ekonomiese en politieke omstandighede met betrekking tot die landelike bewoners van die Wes-Kaap, wat 'n uitdaging stel en 'n produktiewe toekoms belemmer. Die intervensies op die Solms-Delta wynlandgoed bemagtig die gemeenskap op die plaas en bied dus 'n voorbeeld vir sosiale hervorming. Kapasiteitsontwikkelingsinisiatiewe is sentraal tot die bestuursplan van die plase. Die aanstelling van 'n voltydse maatskaplike werker was 'n belangrike addisionele hulpbron om sosiale hervorming op die plaas te bewerkstellig. Die huidige studie ondersoek die evolusie van 'n benadering wat die sosiale ontwikkelingsperspektief van maatskaplike-werkteorie betrek. Hierdie studie is 'n voorbeeld van die metodes wat gebruik kan word om 'n sterker kapasiteit vir gemeenskapsontwikkeling te ontwikkel. Die doel van die studie was om 'n begrip vanuit 'n maatskaplike ontwikkelingsperspektief-oogpunt te verkry van die aard van kapasiteitsbou-inisiatiewe op die wynplaas onder oorsig. Om die sosiale dinamika van die plaaswerkergemeenskap se ontwikkeling aan die lig te bring, het die studie 'n oorsig van die historiese herkoms van die plaaswerkers onderneem. Tweedens, het die studie 'n oorsig onderneem van die politieke, ekonomiese en wetlike institusionele parameters vir landelike ontwikkeling. 'n Derde deel van die navorsing beskrywe die aard van kapasiteitsbou-inisiatiewe oor die afgelope ses jaar, en hul impak op die maatskaplike ontwikkeling van die teikengemeenskap. Ten slotte, het die studie die impak van die ontwikkeling van plaaslike kapasiteit deur middel van 'n semi-gestruktureerde vraelys en 'n daaropvolgende onderhoud met die 21 deelnemers ondersoek. Die resultate van die navorsing soos in hierdie verslag uiteengesit bied 'n aantal voorbeelde vir maatskaplike werk-ingrypings in landelike gemeenskappe op plase in die Wes-Kaap. Gegewe die sentraliteit van die wynbedryf in die Wes-Kaap, lewer die sukses van die maatskaplike welsynsinisiatiewe op Solms-Delta 'n voorbeeld vir ander gemeenskaps-gebaseerde programme wat uit die lesse van hierdie studie kan baat. Die lokaliteit-ontwikkelingsmodel, met sy klem op insette vanuit die gemeenskap om probleme op te los, bied 'n raamwerk vir die stryd teen die unieke stel uitdagings wat ontstaan het met die begin van kolonialisme en tot aan die einde van apartheid bly voortduur het. Die bemagtigings-omgewing wat op Solms-Delta ontwikkel het, bied insig in die rol van so 'n proses vir die bekamping van die historiese euwels en onregte wat die praktyk van maatskaplike werk so belemmer. Suksesvolle gemeenskapsdeelname vereis navorsing na die dinamika binne spesifieke gemeenskappe, asook al die nodige hulpbronne, om een van Suid-Afrika se mees verarmde sosiale strata te bemagtig.

Thesis (MComm)--Stellenbosch University, 2005. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Using the conceptual framework of the human development approach as proposed by Amartya Sen, this dissertation attempts to measure the absolute and relative development status of Western Cape farm workers for 1996 and 2001. The dissertation begins by presenting a critical analysis of the traditional neo-classical model of development, and goes further to demonstrate how, from the early 1970s, the validity of this model was increasingly questioned by the broader development fraternity and eventually supplanted by the human development approach in the 1990s. The human development approach is based on two conceptual roots namely; social exclusion theory and the capability model of Amartya Sen. Social exclusion theory identifies important themes such as gender and culture which the neo-classical development approach failed to reflect in its theoretical and methodological structures while the capability model establishes the philosophical and theoretical foundations of human development. More specifically it clarifies the question: 'what is wellbeing, how do we measure it and how is it linked to development and poverty? From the perspective of the human development approach, wellbeing is about being able to exercise economic, social and political choice or freedom. These freedoms are labelled capabilities and are they are derived from functioning choices. A functioning represents different aspects of the state of a person, and can either be an activity such as working or a state of existence such as being educated. A functioning is an achievement whereas a capability is the possible options or choices open to a person. It is on the basis of a person's capability set that an evaluation of their level of wellbeing is possible. The human development approach therefore measures development in terms of capabilities The key methodological challenges related to measuring development in terms of human capabilities are numerous. The theory of human development does not specify which capabilities to include when measuring poverty or wellbeing, in addition it provides no method to rank capabilities. Capabilities can simultaneously expand in some areas while contract in others. Because there is no method of ranking capabilities it is impossible to conclude whether on balance, development has taken place. Finally on a practical level the data requirements to measure wellbeing in a multivariate way are significant and are more often than not based on detailed household socio-economic surveys that are not easily replicated over time. For these reasons, while development economists endorse the theory of human development on an ideological and strategic level, methodologically there is still a tendency to measure it in terms of income levels. Despite these challenges a number of empirical applications of the human development approach have emerged in recent years and a cross-section of these studies is described as part of this dissertation. The main methodological issues that have to be confronted when operationalising the human development approach are also documented while the appropriateness of using the theory of fuzzy sets to measure vague concepts such as poverty and wellbeing, is emphasized. Drawing on data from the 1996 and 2001 Population Census this dissertation confronts these measurement challenges and by limiting the analysis to 6 functionings namely; housing, housing services, education, health, social relations, employment and economic achievements, attempts to measure the overall development status of Western Cape farm workers. By comparing this result with the achievement of other labour groups such as the unemployed and workers employed elsewhere in the economy it is also possible to conclude on their relative development status. With respect to functioning achievement (measured as fuzzy scores), in 2001 farm workers scored the lowest of all the labour groups in terms of housing services, social relations and education achievement. In terms of their access to economic resources, while farm workers individual and household monthly income levels exceeded that of the unemployed - their fuzzy score was roughly half of that achieved by workers in other sectors. These various functionings were weighted and aggregated to arrive at an overall wellbeing indicator, and almost no difference could be detected in the score achieved by farm workers and the unemployed. This result was found to be relatively insensitive to the weight assigned to a particular functioning. While there is almost no difference in the overall level of human development "enjoyed" by farm workers and the unemployed, a large difference was found between farm workers and other workers in the economy. It can be argued that this discrepancy is indicative of the high concentration of unskilled workers found in the agricultural sector. However when occupation was brought into consideration, a relatively large discrepancy in development levels between farm workers and employed unskilled workers, could still be detected. In terms of gender, overall women farm workers scored slightly higher than men, however in terms of personal income they scored considerably lower than men. This difference could not be attributed to differences in the number of hours worked per week and confirms the findings of other studies that showed that women farm workers do not receive equal wages for equal work effort. In terms of development status, the results generated by the 1996 population census, were consistent with 2001 however, here farm workers scored poorly in terms of the housing, housing services, education and social relations functioning. It was only with respect to the employment and economic resources functionings that farm workers ranked above the unemployed. By applying the frequency-based membership functions generated for 1996 to the 2001 data set, it was possible to detect absolute changes in development status that took place between 1996 and 2001. Relative to the other labour groups, farm workers consistently exhibited the highest rate of progress. Education, social relations and housing services functionings scores in 2001, were 20% higher than 1996 levels. Key Words: Poverty, development, wellbeing, human development approach, capabilities, functionings, fuzzy sets, Western Cape, Western Cape agriculture, farm workers / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die konseptuele raamwerk van die menslike ontwikkelings benadering, soos uiteengesit deur Amartya Sen, dien as vertrekpunt vir hierdie navorsing. Die navorsing poog om die absoluute and relatiewe ontwikkelingsvlak van Wes Kaapse plaaswerkers vir 1996 en 2001, te meet. 'n Kritiese ontleding van die neoklassieke model van ontwikkeling word geskets, en daama gaan die analise verder om te bewys hoe die ontwikkelingsdenkskool as geheel, vanaf die laat 1970s, die geldigheid van hierdie model bevraagteken het. Hierdie model was uiteindelik in die vroee 1990s vervang deur die menslike ontwikkelingsbenadering. Die menslike ontwikkelingsbenadering is gebaseer op twee konseptuele wortels naamlik; sosiale uitsluitingsteorie en die vermoensmodel van Amartya Sen. Die sosiale uitsluitingsteorie identifiseer belangrike temas soos geslag en kultuur wat die neoklassieke model nagelaat het om te inkorporeer in sy teoretiese en metodologiese struktuur, terwyl die vermoensmodel, die filosofiese and teoretiese fondasie van die menslike ontwikkelingsbenadering vasstel. Meer spesifiek dit verhelder die vraag "wat is welvaart, hoe meet ons dit en wat is die verband tussen ontwikkeling en armoede". Van uit die perspektief van die mens like ontwikkelingsbenadering, gaan welvaart oor die uitoefening van ekonomiese, sosiale en politiese keuses of vryhede. Hierdie vryhede is genoem vermoens en is afgelei vanaf verrigtingskeuses. 'n Verrigting reflekteer verskillende aspekte van 'n person en kan 'n aktiwitiet wees soos werk of 'n stand van bestaan soos geletteredheid. 'n Verrigting is 'n prestasie terwyl 'n vermoe is die reeks moontlike opsies of keuses is wat 'n persoon teekom. Dit is op die basis van 'n persoon se vermoens stel, dat 'n evaluasie van sy vlak van welvaart moontlik is. Dus meet die menslike ontwikkelingsbenadering ontwikkeling in terme van vermoens. Daar is baie metodologiese struikelblokke wat oorkom moet word voordat ontwikkeling in terme van menslike vermoens gemeet kan word. Die teorie van menslike onwikkeling spesifiseer nie watter vermoens ingesluit moet wees by die meting van armoede of welvaart nie. V erder is daar geen metode om vermoens te rangskik nie. V ermoens kan gelyktydig groei in een area en krimp in 'n ander. Omdat geen metode bestaan om vermoens te rangskik nie, is dit onmoontlik om vas te stel of ontwikkeling wel plaas gevind het. Op 'n praktiese vlak, die data of inligtingsbehoefte om welvaart op 'n veelsydige manier te meet, is groot. Dit is normal weg gebaser op gedetailleerde huishoudelike sosio-ekonomies vraelyste wat nie maklik herhaalbaar is oor tyd nie. Vir hierdie redes, terwyl ontwikkelingsekonoome die teorie van menslike ontwikkeling op beide ideologiese en strategiese vlak aanvaar, bestaan daar nog altyd die geneigdheid om dit te meet in terme van inkomste. Ongeag hierdie uitdagings, het 'n hoeveelheid empiriese toepassings van die menslike ontwikkelingsbenadering wel na vore gekom en 'n deursnee hiervan is beskryf as deel van hierdie navorsing. Die hoof metodologiese vraagstukke wat uitgestryk moet word voordat die menslike ontwikkelingsbenadering prakties toegepas kan word, is uiteengesit. Die toepaslikheid van die teorie van "fuzzy sets", om vae konsepte soos armoed en welvaart te meet, is ook beklemtoon. Die resultate van die 1996 en 2001 bevolkingssensus word hi er gebruik om hierdie meetingsuitdaging te konfronter. Die analise word beperk tot net ses verrigtinge naamelik; behuising, behuisingsdienste, opvoeding, gesondheid, sosiale verhoudings, indiensneming en ekonomiese prestasie. Hiermee probeer die narvorsing die algehele ontwikkelingsstatus van die Wes Kaapse plaaswerkers meet. Hierdie resultate word direk vergelyk met die resultate van ander werkersgroepe soos die werkloses en werkers in ander sektore van die ekonomie, om die relatiewe ontwikkelingsstatus van plaaswerkers vas te stel. In terme van hulle verrigtingsprestasie (gemeet in terme van "fuzzy scores") in 2001 het plaaswerkers die laagste van al die werkersgroepe gevaar wat betref behuising, sosiale verhoudings en opvoedingsvlakke. In terme van toegang tot ekonomiese goedere, terwyl plaaswekers se individuele en huishoudelike maandelikse inkomste vlakke die van die werkloses veebygesteek het, was hulle telling die helfte van dit wat werkers in andere sektore behaal het. Hierdieverrigtings prestasies was geweeg en bymekaar getel om n algehele welvaartsindeks te bereken. Dit was bevind dat hierdie resultaat relatief ongevoelig was tot gewigsmetodologie. Terwyl daar amper geen verskil was tussen die vlak van ontwikkeling van plaaswerkers en die van werkloses nie, is 'n goot verskil tussen plaaswerkers en ander werkers in die ekonomie gevind Hierdie verskil kon nie toegekryf word aan die groot konsentrasies van onopgeleide werkers werksaam in die landbou sektor nie. As beroep in ag geneem word, bly daar nog altyd 'n verskil tussen plaaswerkers en ander onopgeleide werkers. In terme van geslag, het vroulike plaaswerkers, oor die algemeen beter gevaar as manlike werkers, alhoewel hulle in terme van persoonlike inkomste agter gebly het. Hierdie verskil kon nie toegeskryf wees aan die hoeveelheid ure gewerk per week nie en bevestig die bevindinge van ander navorsingsresultate wat gewys het dat vroulike plaaswerkes nie gelyke lone verdien vir dieselfde werk nie. In terme van ontwikkelingsvlakke, stem die 1996 resultate met die van 2001 ooreen. In 1996 het plaaswerker slegter gevaar in behuising, behuisingsdienste, opvoeding en sosisale verhoudings verrigtinge. Die was alleenlik in terme van indiensneming en ekonomiese verrigtinge dat plaaswerkes bo die werkloses gerang het. Deur middel van die toepassing van die 1996 lidmaatskapsvergelyking op die 2001 datastel, was dit moontlik om die absolute verandering in ontwikkelingsstatus van Wes Kaapse plaaswerkers te meet. Relatief tot die ander werkersgroepe, het plaaswerkers die vinnigste voorsprong gemaak. In 2001 was opvoeding, sosiale verhoudinge en die behuisings verrigting, 20% hoer as die van 1996. Sleutelterme: armoede, ontwikkeling, welvaart, menslike ontwikkelings benaadering, vermoens, verrigtinge, "functionings", "fuzzy sets", Wes-Kaap, Wes-Kaapse landbou, plaaswerkers

In recent years the number of people living in informal or 'squatter' settlements in South Africa has mushroomed and virtually every small town or city has one or more squatter settlements associated with it, often next door to the formal residential areas. Using field data collected from 1993 in two informal settlements in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa this study examines, firstly, the ways in which men and women in these communities organise their lives in their households and in the wider society. Secondly, it assesses the physical environment of informal settlements where there is a lack of service infrastructure, especially water, sewerage facilities, refuse removal and roads. Also, it was assumed that the presence of large numbers of people in an informal settlement has a deleterious effect on natural resources like the soil, wood, vegetation and water and that this may have a significant contribution to environmental pollution and degradation. This aspect was also examined. / Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)

The study deals with the migration of large numbers of black workers from white-owned farms in the Albany and Bathurst districts to Grahamstown. In South Africa the migration of farm residents to the towns has not yet received much attention from researchers. Instead, most migrant studies have concentrated on the migration from the 'homeland' areas and for this reason little is known about the people who have been associated with the farms in some cases for five generations. From the 1940s these farms were rapidly losing labour largely on account of the introduction of mechanization and land rationalization. At that time many farm dwellers were migrating to Grahamstown and, to same extent, Port Elizabeth. The past few decades witnessed a massive further migration from these farms and this, together with natural increase, contributed to the 53,9% increase in Graharnstown's black population in the 1970-80 decade. The study has these aims: 1. To consider the factors that have promoted the move away from the farms , especially as from the end of the Second World War. 2. To account for the overwhelming attraction of Grahamstown as a destination among those who must, or decide to, migrate. 3. To assess the mode of adaptation of those who settle in Grahamstown pennanently. Those who have been in town for several decades provide a background for the central focus of the study, the new irrmigrants who came to town a decade ago or more recently. The latter include people who migrated to town from August 1984, i.e. during a period of extra-ordinary political developments and serious unrest in Grahamstown. The study places an emphasis on the way the imnigrants themselves perceive the process. The aims of the study which have been mentioned above revolve around the impoverishment of rural inhabitants who must now work for wages with hardly any measure of autonomy over the major aspects of their lives while those who go and live in town must contend with a competitive urban economy in which economic opportunities are scarce. This is the central problem of this thesis.