“The situation is very tense, but police seem to be in control at the moment. They’ve also called for reinforcements to come and a helicopter is on its way,” said Wouter Kriel, spokesman for agriculture MEC Gerrit van Rensburg.

He said it looked as though the group was planning to march.

Van Rensburg, community safety MEC Dan Plato and cultural affairs and sports MEC Ivan Meyer met with police, local safety authorities and the farming community at around 8am to discuss a plan of action.

Kriel said they had not made it clear what they wanted or why they were protesting.

“There is no specific leadership and no list of demands... one thing that is very important is to get dialogue going.” 

Breede Valley mayor Basil Kivedo was expected to address the crowd later in the day to try and establish their needs.

The provincial government was also calling in an experienced negotiator to handle the situation.

The N1 highway had to be closed between Touws River and De Doorns on Monday when farm workers gathered on the road.

Over 30 hectares of vineyards were destroyed in the protest.

Western Cape police said at the time the cause of the protest was likely a wage dispute, but the agricultural department said this was incorrect.

“This is not a labour strike and [is] not organised by farm workers, even though farm workers are involved. It seems to be politically motivated,” Kriel said.

“There is a lot of intimidation going on. We have a lot of seasonal labour on the farms starting for [the] grape season. We are adamant that it is not traditional workers who are involved, but the seasonal workers.” 

Comments

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Thu May 23 16:56:39 SAST 2013 ::

Nov 6, 2012

malemaforpresident

South Africa is in crises
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Nov 6, 2012

Katakataemaotoaditshepe!

Whites in the farmers play with our people we all know that and wat maak my kwaad.
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Nov 6, 2012

MissBhakajuju

s.a in shembles bcoz of uneducated majority......


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Nov 6, 2012

MommaC

so they have just gone mal and destroyed their future jobs and nobody knows why?

What the hell is going on in SA?
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Nov 6, 2012

cornelius

@ katakatemao etc etc. Your statement is out of order and borne out of ignorance.

There was an interview with one of the farmers on the radio this morning. The minimum wage is R 65 per day. He pays his workers R 75 per day. He has had about 7 hectares of vineyard destroyed. No one has stepped up as a leader to tell him what the complaint is, The farms are frequently visited by officials from the Dept of Labour who check compliance with labour laws. It is unlikely that a single farmer pays less than minimum wage, and if there are such cases, the Labour Dept would sort them out very quickly. If workers feel the minimum wage is insufficient, they must lobby government.

Here these people are causing massive massive destruction. The costs of replacing the vineyards is excessive, and then it will take 5 yrs or more before the vineyard will begin producing good grapes. There are reports that this is being instigated by a group of b.lack youths who are not even farm workers. They are trying to destroy farming but don't realis that these farmers will have to retrench many workers now, so the cycle of poverty increases.

This is sickening behaviour by people who are too stupid to realise what they are doing.
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Nov 6, 2012

warry

Yello Yello drivers, miners, truckers, etc suppose they need R16500 monthly salary or nationalise the farms. They don't need Mr. van Vuuren as the owner.
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Nov 6, 2012

Mothata

I see another revolution in SA but this time due to corruption.
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Nov 6, 2012

Tasto_

They want R12500 too !!
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Nov 6, 2012

antie

Now what are we supposed to be drinking come Xmas??????
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Nov 6, 2012

RobinX

Kata: My but you are a stuck record with this perpetual "whites" nonsense. Consider the possibility that much of the unrest is not really due to the wage issues, but a result of serious dissatisfaction with the way things are running in this country right now. Unhappy people with little education will strike at what they know.
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