Last Updated: Thursday, 9 January 2003
Zimbabweans exploited in SA, minister admits
By Lovemore Chikova
SOUTH AFRICA has recognised the rampant exploitation of Zimbabweans on
farms in that country and is instituting measures to end their misery.
This was said by the visiting South African Labour Minister Mr Membathisi
Mdladlana in Harare yesterday.
He castigated white commercial farmers in his country for exploiting the
Zimbabweans.
"We do not want a situation where whites exploit our people and cause them to
fight among themselves," Mr Mdladlana told journalists.
"We do not want a situation in which workers on farms are ill-treated just because
they come from Zimbabwe.
"I want those Zimbabwean farm workers to benefit from the minimum wages and
other basic conditions for workers."
Mr Mdladlana said the South African government was taking measures to
regularise the employment of Zimbabwean farm workers to protect them from
abuse.
The Zimbabwean workers, he said, were being treated as sub-humans.
"The Zimbabwean farm workers must be treated as humans. The only way is to
regulate their recruitment and stop the illegal recruitment being done by farmers.
"These workers are vulnerable to abuse and exploitation and their dignity is not
protected."
The South African government, Mr Mdladlana said, had drafted a sectorial
determination for the farming sector that would ensure all farm workers got the
same minimum wage.
Work permits would be introduced for the Zimbabwean farm workers to regularise
their stay in South Africa.
He said the white farmers were recruiting Zimbabweans illegally and putting them
on holding farms to replace their South African workers.
"They fire their South African workers and replace them with Zimbabweans taken
from these holding farms because they say the Zimbabweans are not expensive.
"We are trying to locate some of these farms they call holding farms because we
do not know exactly what is happening there."
Mr Mdladlana said the creation of such holding farms posed a security risk for
South Africa.
"We are discovering weapons on these farms and these farmers may be using
misery and poverty to incite people against us," he said.
There are at least 15 000 estimated Zimbabweans working on farms in the Northern
Province of South Africa along the border.
Mr Mdladlana said he was against a situation where some of these workers were
being deported.
Labour, Public Service and Social Welfare Minister Cde July Moyo said South
Africa should learn from Zimbabwe which regularised the employment of migrant
workers after independence.
"We had a lot of migrant workers from countries such as Zambia, Malawi and
Mozambique and we quickly moved in to regularise them by giving them identify
cards," said Cde Moyo.
"Minimum wages were for all workers with identity cards and the employers could
not threaten them. Those who came to Zimbabwe are enjoying the same
conditions with those from Zimbabwe."
Mr Mdladlana arrived in the country on Tuesday night to discuss a memorandum
of understanding between the two ministries.
His delegation was yesterday briefed on the structures of the Labour, Public
Service and Social Welfare Ministry and the operations of the National Social
Security Authority.
Both Ministers said they expected to learn a lot from their talks, the second such
meeting after a similar one held in South Africa last year.
The memorandum of understanding would touch on issues such as labour laws
and the assigning of officials to the other country.
A joint delegation of officials from both countries is today expected to visit a
resettlement farm in Mazowe after holding a meeting with the National Economic
Consultative Forum.
The delegation is also expected to visit three South African farms in the Northern
Province where Zimbabweans are working.
They would also inspect the border fence that was cut to enable Zimbabweans to
jump the border into South Africa.
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"Ivinicus factus sum veritabem diceus." ( I have become an enemy for speaking the truth ) St Paul!
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Mitayo Potosi
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