The Human Rights Commission (HRC) says that the lack of land ownership among farm dwellers leads to discrimination and racial evictions by farm owners.
The Commission has urged the government to ensure that farm dwellers receive title deeds as part of the Land Tenure Act.
The Commission is hosting a Social Cohesion and Nation Building of farmers dialogue at Polokwane in Limpopo.
The conference is being attended by various stakeholders in the farming industry. The Human Rights Commission has emphasized that as long as farm dwellers remain landless, they will continue to face discrimination and evictions.
They say there’s a need for Parliament to intervene urgently to address land ownership disparities and promote equitable access to land for all.
Provincial Manager for the Human Rights Commission in Limpopo, Victor Mavhidula says there have been several farm eviction cases in Bela Bela and Lephalale.
The Commission also made a submission on how farmer workers are being exploited without getting the required minimum wage.
Mavhidula says some farm owners cut water and electricity to farm dwellers to force them out of farms.
“The biggest challenge is that people who are still owning the land, don’t respect farm workers, they don’t respect labour tenants. What they do is whenever they feel to evict them, they kick them out of the farm. They do that, we have seen that happening and the action that is taken, some of them will use the legal route. We have seen farm owners even cutting water supply to the farm dwellers, cutting electricity, refusing the government to provide services.”
Mavhidula blames the justice system for failing to prosecute criminal activities on farms.
The Human Rights Commission has intervened in the recent killing of two women, whose bodies were discarded in a pigsty at a farm in Overwarcht, outside Polokwane.
Mavhidula explains, “As the ladies that were killed and their lives thrown into a pigsty, the challenge is that police have done their work and everyone has done everything. We are also supporting them we have visited the families but the biggest challenge is that when the matter goes to court what will happen.”
The conference is being attended by government officials, non-governmental organisations, farmers, farm workers and faith-based organisations, amongst others. Some farm dwellers at the Indaba have raised concerns about their eviction.
Farm residents Jimmy Mahlangu and Frederick Ndou say they want government to give them access to land.
“I have a problem where we stay at the farm, the farm owner sold our farm to a new owner the new owner is evicting us and put a fence. I have lost my cattle due to that. The reason why we being treated this way is because we are landless and you know if you don’t have land, you won’t have respect that’s why our people are being shot at and this is because of land.”
The FW De Clerk Foundation says the government needs to provide support to victims of farm crimes.
They say when the victims are still awaiting justice, they are often neglected. Representative of the FW De Klerk Foundation, Ismail Joosub says society must ramp up support for victims and survivors.
“We must cultivate a culture also of support for the victims because if cases take time, the emotional and psychological trauma continues to haunt the victims and we must support victims because if we don’t the victims will continue to suffer.”
The Human Rights Commission says the resolutions of the Indaba will be compiled into a report and tabled before Parliament soon.
(SABC News)
