Farmworkers to march on Parliament 23rd of March
On the 23rd of March, thousands of farmworkers will descend on the city of Cape Town. While Zuma and Motlantle will be busy canvassing for votes in the Boland, they will be marching to Parliament and Premier Zille’s offices to deliver a list of demands in order to show Zille that black farmworkers can make their own decisions and take action without being manipulated by the ANC. Farm workers have an will continue to take action against decades of abuse and exploitation.
Farmworkers have won R105 a day though courage, sacrifice and sheer determination. After having been denied the right to assemble by the City of Cape Town earlier this month, they will be going in force from the farmlands to demand from government urgent political intervention to actively oversee the implementation of their hard won new minimum wage. Farmworkers are also demanding a long overdue transformation of their deplorable working and living conditions as the rural poor of the Western Cape.
The media hasn’t adequately reported the reality on the ground: there are daily reports of farmers vindictively taking retributive measures in the form mass dismissals, hundreds of evictions, harassment and intimidation in order to break workers’ organisation. Where the farmers cry that they can’t afford the R105 and demand exemption, the workers demand access to their books in order to show that they cannot afford to pay and a transparent process. The government and all the official institutions that handle labour issues have shown their gross bias towards farmers before and throughout the strike, from the CCMA to the courts, and especially the police.
The farmworkers demand a moratorium on suspensions, dismissals and evictions and the reinstatement of workers dismissed as a consequence of strike action. They demand that evicted workers and their families be returned to their homes as well as the unconditional release of all arrested workers and the dropping of all charges made during the strike. They further demand for an Inquiry to be made into the SAPS/Justice System/Private Security Guard’s actions and behaviors in suppressing the labour demands and rights. The Minister of Police needs to step down after the killings of farm workers, mineworkers and others in struggle.
Farmworkers invite the media and the citizens of Cape Town to come out in solidarity with the farmworkers to take a stand against the persistence of barbaric and degrading living conditions in the rural Western Cape. Farmworkers supply the city with its food and we urge those who live of the products of our labour to show their solidarity. Farmworkers acknowledge that their struggle is one of many facing poor and working class people and know the importance of standing together for a liberated South Africa.
Time: 10am
Place: Keizersgracht st
Contact:
CSAAWU: 072991 3371
Mayibuye: 0799367488
Surplus People’s Project: 0716136471
Women on Farms: 021 8872960