Union rails against farm abuse

THE farmworkers union, Csaawu, and its members will not be intimidated by the continued inhumane attacks on farmworkers and their families.

As the Commercial Stevedore Agricultural and Allied Workers Union (Csaawu), we will never cease to fight for the dignity and welfare of all farmworkers.

We condemn in the strongest terms the brutal attack on a farmworker and his family near Mossel Bay, where a farmer allegedly bulldozed a house while the worker was inside.

According to reports, the farmer from Herbertsdale has been charged with attempted murder, assault and malicious damage to property.

The farmworker, Hilton Levendal, reported that the farmer had been victimising him for being “too clever” after he called him out on his alleged racism, and for educating other farmworkers about their rights.

Csaawu will not be intimidated by these attacks and will not waiver in fighting for the rights of farmworkers. This attack is another confirmation and wake-up call for all other labour formations and civil society to support Csaawu and build mass resistance to force a stop to the hatred and inhumane treatment of farmworkers and farm dwellers.

What happened near Mossel Bay is one of the many similar realities of our countryside.

It is a reality when workers join a trade union their employment conditions can get worse and their lives are made a hell on farms. This is because when they join the union they are seen as perpetrators and the ones that are causing problems.

This is part of the systematic union bashing and psychological warfare employed by powerful farmers, who over the years have abused their workers. This must surely end.

We call on all farmworkers and farm dwellers to organise themselves and join Csaawu in our struggle for justice. We will not receive justice without land and without unity. We must organise ourselves to mass demonstrate against the perpetrators of human abuses. Csaawu demands are: a moratorium on all evictions on farms; the houses and land that farmworkers live and subsist on should become their property; and the Herbertsdale farmer face the full might of the law for his heinous crime. – Deneco Dube, via e-mail

Act on this intersection

I AM concerned about the dangerous intersection at the SPCA and Department of Public Works. A big accident will happen one day because every driver is rushing to work and is impatient.

I suggest that BCM either have a roundabout/circle or deploy traffic officers to control traffic flow, especially in the mornings. Remember this road is used by scholar transport, workers, parents transporting kids to school and also ordinary citizens. I also use this road daily taking my kids to Voorpos Primary School.

I am therefore pleading with BCM to look at that intersection to take this request very serious before something very bad happens. — Aubrey Thembekile Nobeka, via e-mail

Rationale baffling

I MIGHT have missed the meeting explaining the rationale behind the closure and contractor vacating the site (Qumza Highway). This after ripping asphalt approximately 600 metres of a road that still had at least a two-year lifespan. It just needed widening. The oversight on this project is lack of ensuring proper bypass routes for traffic flow. The NU11 to NU12 portion of Qumza Highway was just closed without first ensuring these routes are prepared for the change in traffic volumes.

The routes being used were designed for low volume traffic, which made them to quickly disintegrate under the pressure of current traffic flows. I cannot emphasise enough the safety of pedestrians, as the routes traverse in heavily populated neighbourhoods.

Perhaps this could’ve been mitigated by constructing half of the road prism at a time; while using the ‘stop-and-go’ method on the other side for traffic accommodation.

It seems that someone just woke up one day and decided a section of Qumza Highway needed constructing without first ensuring proper process. — Nceba KaWushe Matabeni, via e- mail

Lose your appetite

POLONIES, viennas, Russians, and some boerewors are made up of all bits and pieces not saleable. Like ears, gristle, noses, fat and anything left over after the various cuts and meat for mince and sausage have been taken. This is minced with a high speed blade in a closed container.

This machine cuts up everything so fine that the protein particles are also broken up. This comes out in a white pulp where soya and “unhealthy” preservatives and taste are added. That is your processed meat product. Watch it being made will put you off for life, I promise you. — Colin Stephenson, via e-mail