Weekly neWs Wrap
Conflict among land reform
beneficiaries or land claimants
that turns violent is a common
occurrence in South Africa. This
was according to Siyabonga
Sithole, the land rights
programme coordinator of land
rights advocacy at the Association
for Rural Advancement.
He was responding to a recent
incident in KwaZulu-Natal
where the manager of a land
reform farm was thrown into
a fire by assailants, reportedly
as a result of conflict within
the beneficiary community.
Sithole told Farmer’s Weekly that
such conflicts were particularly
prevalent in cases where a
farm was subject to both a land
restitution claim and a labour
tenancy claim by different parties.
Such claims were processed
separately by two different
components within the
Department of Agriculture, Land
Reform and Rural Development
(agriculture department), and
land restitution claims had
“taken precedence over the
labour tenant claims”, he said.
Sithole added that the situation
became especially difficult
when land restitution claimants
were allocated land on which
prospective labour tenancy
claimants were already living.
“Another problematic issue
that causes conflict among
[land reform] beneficiaries is
how the beneficiaries are
constituted to take ownership
of the land. They are formed
into communal property
associations or community trusts
[CPAs], where many beneficiary
families have to collectively
make decisions. This is never
an easy process as different
beneficiaries of the same CPA
or trust have different views
and aspirations with regard
to the land,” Sithole said.
He highlighted a number of
interventions that the agriculture
department and other entities
could implement to resolve
such conflicts in the future.
These included providing
training in business management,
finance and agriculture for the
leaders of such communities;
providing post-settlement
government support to ensure
that land reform beneficiaries
could sustain themselves while
advancing to commercial farming
level; and government harnessing
the knowledge and expertise of
civil society in promoting and
utilising alternative dispute
resolution mechanisms.“The process of grouping
beneficiaries into a CPA needs
careful facilitation and must
be sensitive to the social
enculturation of communities.
How the constitution of CPAs is
drafted is a crucial process that
[the agriculture department]
needs to improve by promoting
an inclusive approach that allows
the beneficiaries to lead the
entire process,” Sithole said.
He also urged the department
to improve co-operation between
its different components to
allow all land reform claims to
be processed concurrently, and
to fast-track and adequately
resource these components
to intervene in conflicts in
land reform beneficiary or
claimant communities.
At the time of going to print,
the office of agriculture minister
Thoko Didiza had not replied
to requests for comment in
response to the Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee on
Agriculture, Land Reform and
Rural Development’s recent call
for the department to intervene
in such conflicts. – Lloyd PhillipsA two-month strike by
farmworkers of Oak Valley
Estate near Grabouw has been
suspended after an agreement
was reached in principle.
The strike started in early
May, with workers demanding
a wage increase of 8%, an end
to labour brokering, and the
closing of single-sex hostels.
According to Christopher
Rawbone-Viljoen, managing
director of Oak Valley, the
Commercial Stevedoring
Agricultural and Allied Workers’
Union (CSAAWU), which
represented the striking workers,
had not yet signed the wage
agreement offered by Oak Valley.
“CSAAWU has not yet agreed
to our wage offer in totality,
which includes an increase of
6,5% and a housing allowance
for permanent employees living
off-farm. However, the majority
of our workforce has signed the
agreement and has been enjoying
the effective benefits since 1 July.”
A statement by CSAAWU said
the farmworkers had agreed to
a reduced 6,5% increase, along
with a R300 housing allowance.
The agreement also included the
promise that hostels would be
“transformed”. Farmer’s Weekly
previously reported that the
workers demanded that the
single-sex hostels in which they
were housed be demolished and
transformed into family homes.
According to Rawbone-
Viljoen, no promise had
been made in this regard.
“The hostel meets all industry
standards for communal
accommodation. However, we
intend to phase out the hostel
and recruit [staff] locally. We
have a huge unemployment
problem in Grabouw, and it
makes sense to offer employment
to those residing in the town,”
he said. – Jeandré van der Waltl and reform
‘Conflict in land reform initiatives
a common problem’
labourProtracted strike
on ice after
wage agreement
A MANAGER
WAS THROWN
INTO A FIRE
24 farmer’sweekly 2 August 2019