‘You don’t see us’ — Cape farmworkers voice grievances about labour inspectors

“Our people sit here and die, while you earn your salary,” said activist Linda van Neel when farmworkers relayed their experiences of navigating the labour rights sector, struggling to access Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) benefits, the blocking of access to labour offices, and labour inspectors only speaking to employers, not employees, during site visits.

On Tuesday, activists and farmworkers gathered at Cape Town’s Community House to lay bare their frustrations.

The farmworkers and activists from De Doorns, Paarl, Ceres, Wellington and Stellenbosch spoke about their experiences in the agricultural sector, which, according to Western Cape Premier Alan Winde, employs more than 200,000 people.

Surrounded by women and young people in red “Women on Farms” T-shirts, Van Neel looked at David Esau, provincial chief inspector at the Department of Employment and Labour, and said, “You gave us your number, but you don’t pick up,” referring to unanswered calls for help.

The farmworkers, many of them now activists via training programmes with Women on Farms, spoke extensively about one of their major concerns: labour inspectors only speaking to employers and not farmworkers during site inspections.

Esau had told the crowd that one of the reasons for this was that when one of the 280 inspectors went to a farm, they had to find out whether there was a workers’ union or an employees’ forum and speak to the members.

The farmworkers were unhappy with this. Nicolene McGee from Paarl shouted, “You don’t see us, you go to the farmhouse and enjoy coffee on the stoep with nice scones and jam.”

After Esau told the audience that they needed to organise into worker forums so that inspectors could speak to them during farm inspections, Van Neel asked him why the same issues kept cropping up, even after they had spoken to him on previous occasions.

David Essau speaks to farmworkers and activists on 13 May. (Photo: Suné Payne)

In 2021, Daily Maverick reported on a similar event with Women on Farms, where the then labour minister, Thulas Nxesi, said his department needed to get its house in order in terms of access to labour centres for farmworkers.

Read more: ‘We have to get our house in order,’ admits labour minister amid appeals from women farmworkers deserted by UIF

On Tuesday, Van Neel told Esau: “Our people sit here and die while you earn your salary.”

Sarie Smit from De Doorns said, “It is heartbreaking what happens to us in De Doorns — you can’t walk past [the labour office] without someone asking for half a loaf of bread.”

She said that people often used their last money to get to the labour office so they could get assistance with UIF claims. Some slept outside the labour office to ensure they would be helped the following day.

Other problems included being told, “The system is offline” when they tried to access the office, and security guards at labour offices in rural areas refusing to allow workers to enter if they did not have documents.

Tony Lamati, acting director at the UIF, told the farmworkers and activists that he would take the issues raised back with him to the office. He said that even if the system was offline, “we should be taking applications manually”.

The UIF was on a hiring spree, he said, to increase staff in some sections from three to 15, and those posts would soon be advertised. Payments would be automated in a bid to prevent fraud.

Tony Lamati addresses farmworkers and activists on 13 May. (Photo: Suné Payne)

Denile Samuels from Women on Farms said, “Every year, these issues are tabled ... you need to handle us with dignity. You are government officials and we are paying your salaries through our taxes — we will hold you accountable.”

The group marched through the Cape Town CBD to hand a memorandum to the Labour Department.

Demands included:

• That labour inspectors meet with workers;


• A meeting with Labour Minister Nomakhosazana Meth over labour rights and the enforcement of all labour laws, including adherence to the National Minimum Wage Act by issuing fines to non-adhering farms; and


• That UIF applications be fast-tracked. DM