Women farmworkers march for access to land

WOMEN farmworkers from various parts of the Cape Winelands marched to Parliament yesterday to hand over a memorandum of demands to Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development Minister Thoko Didiza.

Marking International Rural Women’s Day and World Food Day, Colette Solomon of the Women on Farms project said women farmworkers made a big contribution to the economy of the Western Cape but still did not have access to land and faced job insecurity, evictions and food insecurity.

“With the wine sector already estimating that at least 18 000 jobs will be lost, women seasonal workers know that they will bear a disproportionate brunt of the unemployed on farms.

“Women farmworkers are therefore saying that because work on farms is so insecure, access to productive land is the only solution for addressing inequality and poverty and food insecurity,” she said.

Solomon said the recent land redistribution plan announced by Didiza provided no hope to farm women in the province.

“The plan is clearly not intended to bring about equity and change historic, racial and unequal landholding patterns. The decreasing land reform budget also demonstrates that the government is not serious about acquiring prime agricultural land for land redistribution for women; land for women farmworkers and dwellers is not a priority for the government,” she said.

She added that although the government classified farmworkers as “essential workers”, during the lockdown, farmworkers, especially women seasonal workers, often struggled to feed their families.

In their memorandum, the women farmworkers demanded an urgent meeting with Didiza to discuss land needs, water for food production and housing, an increase in the land reform budget and a basic income grant to allow farm women to live in dignity, feed their families and reduce inequality.

Rural Development and Land Reform Deputy Minister Mcebisi Skwatsha received the memorandum.

Addressing the women, Skwatsha said he would convey the request for a meeting to Didiza.