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M. A.

Thesis (M.A.)--Bowling Green State University, 2008. / Document formatted into pages; contains iv, 67 p. Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis is an investigation of the impact of commercial game farming on former farm workers in the Bushman's River area of the Eastern Cape. In its examination of the broader economic and political changes that have facilitated a move from agriculture to game farming, it analyses how these changes affect farm workers. The main concern of the thesis is the ways in which farm workers (at the local level) respond to changes at the national and global level (legal and political changes, the advent of tourism, and the injection of foreign capital and businessmen into the area). Lack of knowledge about their rights under the current political dispensation, as well as the perceived need for mediation between themselves and foreign landowners, points to a general sense of powerlessness. Feelings of alienation from local government structures aimed at fulfilling this function indicate a significant gap between the statute at the national level and the local reality. Local reality is informed by a strong conservatism which is generated by African Independent Church structures and local Xhosa perceptions of manhood and respectability. This conservative discourse leads to a frame of reference which is largely informed by pre-1994 interactions with farmers and government. This results in a situation in which farm workers, largely unaware of their rights in the new dispensation, operate as they did in the past; waiting for landowners to decide their fate for them. What ensues is a lack of meaningful interaction with government and landowners, perpetuating their subjugation and cynicism as to whether government structures are in fact working in their interests. The thesis comes to three main conclusions. The first is that game farming has been negatively received by farm workers due to the associated threats of unemployment and eviction. The second is that despite high levels of subjugation, even the very poor are agents to some degree. The creation of a masculine identity which is internally articulated, as opposed to outwardly expressed, and the grounding of reputation in the family suggest that farm workers have developed mechanisms to deal with their disempowered position. Lastly, farm workers are in possession of social capital which has made it possible for them to deal with their low status in the societal hierarchy. This includes the Church, family and fellow community members. These coping strategies have however proved a disadvantage in the current era because they prevent direct communication with landowners, government and NGOs.

Agriculture is a major employer of labour in South Africa with about 8.8% of the total labour force directly involved in agricultural production (StatsSA, 2007a). Farm wages and working conditions in the Albany district were researched in 1957 by Roberts (1958) and 1977 by Antrobus (1984). Research in 2008, involving face-to-face interviews of a sample survey of 40 Albany farmers, was undertaken to update the situation facing farm labourers and allowed for comparisons with the work previously done. Farm workers were governed by common law until 1994 when the government intervened with legislation. The introduction of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (1997) for farm workers, amended in 2002 to include minimum wage legislation, and the Extension of Security of Tenure Act (ESTA) of 1997 impacted the supply and demand of farm workers. Other impacts have been due to the Albany district experiencing an increase in the establishment of Private Game Reserves and game-tourism with a simultaneous decline in conventional farming. It was concluded from the survey conducted that minimum wage legislation decreased the demand for regular and increased the demand for casual labour, which incur lower costs including transaction costs, than their regular counterparts. The ESTA of 1997 contributed to a decreased number of farm residents, which had spin-off affects on the supply of labour. Farmers experienced a simultaneous price-cost squeeze, which furthermore decreased the demand for labour. Studying the working and living conditions showed that farm workers had limited access to educational and recreational facilities which negatively impacted the supply of labour.

This thesis examines the agricultural labour process on commercial farms in post-apartheid South Africa with a particular focus on systems of labour control on these farms. Considerable literature exists about the labour process in capitalist society but the capitalist labour process does not exist in any pure form. Rather, different labour processes exist and the specific form they take depends on spatial and temporal conditions. Additionally, labour processes are often economic sector-specific. Because of variation in capitalist labour processes, differences in systems of labour control (or labour control regimes) also arise. Historically, up until the end of apartheid in 1994, the labour control regime on commercial farms in South Africa was marked by a paternalistic despotism of a racialised kind. This in part reflected the fact that commercial farms were simultaneously sites of both economic production and social reproduction and, further, they were very privatised agrarian spaces largely unregulated (specifically with regard to labour) by the state. Since the end of apartheid, commercial farms have been subjected to multiple pressures. Notably, the South African state has strongly intervened in labour relations on commercial farms, and commercial farms have been subjected to ongoing neo-liberal restructuring. This has led to the prospects of changes in the prevailing labour control system on commercial farms. In this context, the thesis pursues the following key objective: to understand changes and continuities in the labour process on commercial farms – and particularly labour control systems – subsequent to the end of apartheid in South Africa. It does so with reference to four farms in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal Provinces.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: An outcome of this thesis, done on farms in South-Africa in the Swartland area, is that the labour structure in agriculture is still predominantly paternalistic and that paternalism and empowerment coexist. This co-existence causes tension between farmers and farm workers as it disrupts the relationship where farmers traditionally had the authority and farm workers were subordinate, but in the modern farm setting have a measure of independence. A qualitative approach was used to investigate how farmers and farm workers perceived their relationship in the past and how they experience it presently. Individual interviews were held with each farmer and focus group discussions with workers on farms. The study discusses how farmers and farm workers maintain paternalism on farms, in the context of the reduced support of the state to white commercial farmers as well as the expansion and formalisation of labour and tenure legislation of workers' rights. The state acted as ‘patron’ to the farmers in the apartheid era, but the state’s patronage to farmers came to an end with the political transition. Farmers feel frustrated and miss the support they enjoyed previously. Legislation which challenges the power and authority of farmers has been extended to farms and provides a framework for the relationship between farmers and farm workers and establishes a context in which this relationship occurs. This has brought about that the power and authority of the “paternalistic” farmers have been exposed and challenged. These changes in farmers’ and farmworkers’ relationship with the state create uncertainties, changes and adjustments in the relationship between farmers and farm workers on farms. Farmers still take control of farms, regardless of any legislation. The farm workers also still tend to define their position as depending on the farmer’s goodwill in conjunction with formal legislation. However, although the workers are still dependent on the farmer, they are also aware of their rights in the new democratic era and they claim these rights. The “old paternalistic relationship” together with the propagation of new legislation causes tensions as well as disruptions in the relationship between famers and farm workers. But, forged in unequal relationships of dependency and loyalty, farmers and farm workers keep commercial agriculture going. The information collected is intended to shed light on the complex relationships between farmers and farm workers on farms. Hopefully this research on several farms in the Western Cape, in the Swartland environment, can contribute to a better understanding of the complex relationship between farmers and farm workers. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie, wat gedoen is op plase in Suid-Afrika in die Swartland-omgewing, toon dat die arbeidsopset in die landbou oorwegend paternalisties is en dat paternalisme en bemagtiging op plase saam bestaan. Hierdie saambestaan veroorsaak spanning tussen die boere en plaaswerkers en lei tot ontwrigting in die verhouding waar boere tradisioneel die outoriteit gehad het en die plaaswerkers ondergeskik was, maar nou in die moderne plaasopset onafhanklik is. ’n Kwalitatiewe benadering is gebruik om ondersoek in te stel na hoe boere en plaaswerkers die verhoudings met mekaar in die verlede ervaar het en ook hoe hulle dit tans in die moderne plaasopset ervaar. Daar is individuele onderhoude met die boere gevoer en fokusgroepe met die plaaswerkers in hulle eie natuurlike omgewings gedoen. Die studie beredeneer hoe beide boere en plaaswerkers paternalisme op plase in stand hou, ongeag die verminderde ondersteuning van die staat aan wit kommersiële boere, asook die uitbreiding en formalisering van arbeids- en verblyfregwetgewing om plaaswerkers se regte te beskerm. Die staat het in die apartheidsjare as “beskermheer” teenoor die boere opgetree, maar daardie begunstiging van die staat aan die boere het met die politieke oorgang verval. Boere voel gefrustreerd en mis die ondersteuning wat hulle vroeër ontvang het. Wetgewing wat na plase uitgebrei is, verskaf nou sekere raamwerke waarbinne boere en werkers moet optree en stel ook sekere eise wat die konteks bepaal. Dit het veroorsaak dat die mag en outoriteit van die “paternalistiese boere” tot ’n mate blootgelê en uitgedaag word. Dit veroorsaak verskeie onsekerhede, veranderinge en aanpassings in die verhouding tussen boere en plaaswerkers op plase. Boere neem nog altyd die beheer op plase ongeag wetgewing wat hulle beperk. Die werkers is ook steeds geneig om hulle posisie te definieer as afhanklik van die boer se welwillendheid, naas die formele wetgewing. Maar, alhoewel die plaaswerkers nog altyd afhanklik van die boer is, is hulle tog as gevolg van wetgewing bewus van hulle regte en maak hulle ook aanspraak daarop. Die “ou paternalistiese verhouding” en die uitbreiding van formele wette wat boere beperk, veroorsaak dat spanning en ontwrigting in die verhoudings tussen boere en plaaswerkers ontstaan. Maar, gesmee in ongelyke verhoudings van afhanklikheid en lojaliteit hou boere en plaaswerkers die kommersiële landbou aan die gang. Die inligting wat versamel is beoog om lig te werp op die komplekse verhoudings tussen boere en plaaswerkers op plase. Hopelik sal hierdie navorsing op enkele plase in die Wes-Kaap, in die Swartland-omgewing, kan bydra tot ʼn beter begrip van die komplekse verhouding tussen boere en plaaswerkers.

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

Argues that Of Mice and Men is not only a tale of morality, but also a representation of the political themes found in In Dubious Battle and The Grapes of Wrath. Establishes that Steinbeck does not simply divorce himself from the labor themes of the other two books; rather he uses this novel as a representative account of the social events taking place in California during the 1930s. Examines aspects of the split hero as found in the novel's two main characters, George and Lennie, who resemble a dark rider coming into a ranch with nothing more than a dream of a better life.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 1998. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The purpose of the study is to explore the perceptions and preferences regarding house ownership on the part of farmworkers living in the Devon Valley/ Stellenbosch Kloof ("Devonkloof') area outside Stellenbosch. A study such as this is important for more than one reason: the institution of "tied housing" on South African farms, is probably the factor that contributes most to farmworkers' dependence on the farmer and the control that the latter exercises over the employee and his family. In the most recent period this vulnerability has increased as farmers, especially in the Western Cape, have started to adopt a more "businesslike" approach towards worker housing. When farmers refer to a "productive house", they point to an arrangement whereby it is expected from every able person in a household to make him- or herself available for farm work - especially during the harvest. In this way members of the farmworker community are denied the opportunity of permanent, better paid employment outside the farm. Women are the ones that are mainly affected by the scaling down of the benevolent side of paternalism. However, for the first time in South African history the opportunity now exists to break this dependence, or at least to reduce it. This possibility flows from the convergence of a variety of developments, the most important of which is the launching of the post-apartheid government's housing subsidy scheme for farmworkers. In essence, the latter boils down to an arrangement whereby farmworkers can apply to the Department of Land Affairs for an amount of R 15 000 when wanting to obtain land or a house. Another recent development which reduces farmworkers' dependence, is the concept legislation regarding security of tenure. lt lends protection against eviction especially to older farmworkers who have worked on the farm for ten years or more. That farmworkers are concerned about life after retirement and have an intense desire for secure housing, is not much of a secret. In order to effectively address this concern, financially viable housing alternatives need to be developed. For instance, provident fund/ pension scheme payments could be used in combination with state housing subsidies in order to obtain own title for workers. However, in order to be viable, it is equally important to take into account the perceptions and housing preferences of the workers themselves. To gauge these is the main objective of the study. For purposes of the study, the unit of analysis was defined as the head of the household (male or female) who lives on the farm, is engaged in a permanent contractual relation with the farmer and belongs to one of the Devonkloof provident funds. A random sample of 93 such farmworkers was drawn from a total population of 188 heads of households spread over 13 farms in the research area. Their perceptions and preferences regarding housing were explored during interviews conducted on the basis of a semi-structured questionaire. The interviews were held by the researcher himself and a number of final year Social Work students at the University of Stellenbosch. Data collected in this way, was analysed through the utilisation of the SPSS statistical package. The socio-economic profile of the workers involved in the study, confirms to a large extent the prevailing portrait of permanent farmworkers in the Western Cape: they are almost exclusively male and Afrikaans speaking. Their literacy level is relatively low and the majority earns a cash wage of R100-150 per week. Three-quarters have never left "their" farm for alternative work. Of those that have, many only did so to work for short stints on another farm. As a result, most of the workers involved know of no other existence than the (neo-)paternalist life world of the farm. The familiarity of the farm is one of the reasons why slightly more than 50% of wofkers indicated that they would prefer to live on the farm during their working lives. When thinking about life after retirement, housing in the (imaginary) agrivillage was the most popular choice. Although a large number of farmworkers are ignorant about the government's housing subsidy scheme, the majority is clear about one thing: they would like to own their own dwelling - whether on the farm or outside the "white gates", because the own house is the route to less vulnerability, more independence and security. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie ondersoek is om die persepsies en voorkeure van plaaswerkers, woonagtig op plase in die Devonvallei/ Stellenboschkloof ("Devonkloor) area, met betrekking tot huiseienaarskap te ondersoek. 'n Ondersoek soos hierdie is vir meer as een rede belangrik: In Suid-Afrika is die instelling van "gekoppelde behuising" op plase waarskynlik die faktor wat die meeste bydra tot plaaswerkers se afhanklikheid van plaaseienaars en laasgenoemde se kontrole oor die werker en sy gesin. Hierdie kwesbaarheid van plaaswerkers is in die afgelope aantal jare versterk deurdat plaaseienaars, in veral die Wes-Kaap, 'n meer "besigheidsgeoriemteerde" houding rakende plaaswerkerbehuising ingeneem het. Daar word verwys na die "produktiewe huis" in die sin dat daar van alle geskikte inwoners van die huis verwag word om hulself beskikbaar te stel vir diens op die plaas, veral gedurende oestye. Hierdie mense (en veral vroue) word op hierdie manier die geleentheid van 'n permanente, beter betalende betrekking buite die plaas ontneem. Hierdeur word die "menslike" sy van paternalisme toenemend afgeskaal. Vir die eerste keer in Suid-Afrikaanse geskiedenis bestaan daar egter nou die geleentheid om hierdie afhanklikheid te verbreek of ten minste te verminder. Dit is die resultaat van 'n verskeidenheid van faktore waarvan die belangrikste die regering se nuwe subsidieskema vir plaaswerkers is. Laasgenoemde kom daarop neer dat plaaswerkers vir 'n bedrag van R 15 000 by die Departement van Grondsake aansoek kan doen ten einde 'n huis of grond te bekom. 'n Ander onlangse verwikkeling wat plaaswerkers se afhanklikheid verminder, is die konsepwetgewing rakende die sekerheid van besitreg. Dit gee veral vir ouer plaaswerkers sekuriteit van verblyf op die plaas waar hulle vir tien jaar of !anger gewerk het. Oat plaaswerkers bekommerd is oor hul heenkome by aftrede en graag oor woon-sekuriteit wil beskik, is nie 'n geheim nie. Om hierdie behoefte egter effektief aan te spreek, moet finansie~l haalbare behuisingsalternatiewe uitgewerk word. So sou voorsorg-/pensioenskema uitbetalings byvoorbeeld met die regering se huissubsidie gekombineer kon word om eie titel vir werkers te bekom. Ewe belangrik vir die leefbaarheid van so 'n projek is dat plaaswerkers se houdings en voorkeure ten opsigte van behuising in ag geneem word. Om dit te peil, is die primere doel·van hierdie studie. Die eenheid van analise in hierdie studie is die huishoof (manlik of vroulik) wat op die plaas woon, in 'n permanente kontraktuele verhduding staan met die plaaseienaar en terselftertyd lid is van een van die Devonkloof se voorsorgfondse. 'n Ewekansige steekproef van 93 sulke plaaswerkers is getrek uit 'n totale populasie van 188 huishoofde, versprei oor 13 plase in die navorsingsgebied. Hierdie werkers se persepsies en voorkeure met betrekking tot behuising is tydens onderhoude op die basis van 'n semigestruktureerde vraelys gepeil. Die onderhoude is deur die navorser self en 'n aantal finalejaar Maatskaplike werk studente aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch gevoer. Die data wat op hierdie manier ingewin is, is deur middel van die SPSS statistiese pakket ontleed. Die sosio-ekonomiese profiel van die betrokke respondente wat in hierdie studie na vore kom, bevestig in 'n groot mate die bestaande beeld van permanente plaaswerkers in die Wes-Kaap: hulle is feitlik uitsluitlik manlik en Afrikaans. Hulle geletterdheidspeil is betreklik laag en hulle verdien meesal tussen R 1 00 - 150 kontant per week. Driekwart het nog nooit "hul" betrokke plaas verlaat vir ander werk nie en baie van die wat wel het, het bloot vir 'n wyle op 'n ander plaas gaan werk. Die meeste ken dus geen ander bestaan as die (neo-)paternalistiese leefwereld van die plaas nie. Die bekendheid van die plaasmilieu is een van die redes waarom net meer as 50% van werkers aangedui het dat hulle tydens hulle werkslewe graag op die plaas sou wou bly. By aftrede was die (denkbeeldige) landboudorpie of "agrivillage" die mees gewilde keuse. Alhoewel 'n groot aantal plaaswerkers onkundig is oor die post-apartheid regering se huissubsidieskema, bestaan daar in die meeste se bewussyn geen onduidelikheid oor een kwessie nie: hulle wil graag 'n woonplek besit, of dit nou op die plaas is of buite die "wit hekke"; want 'n eie huis is die pad na minder kwesbaarheid, meer onafhanklikheid en sekuriteit.