Leading farmer to pay independent wage rate
GERHARD de Kock, director of the Cape Orchard Company and the largest farmer in the Hex River Valley, where De Doorns is situated, has agreed to reach a negotiated wage settlement with his workers by the weekend.
He will have discussions with the owners of five out of six of the valley’s largest farms, in an attempt to get them to follow suit.
De Kock made the announcement at a press conference co-hosted by Cosatu and the Building and Agricultural Workers’ Union of South Africa (Bawusa).
Tony Ehrenreich, Cosatu’s provincial secretary, said De Kock’s announcement was a breakthrough.
“This is separate from discussions between the Department of Labour and AgriSA about determining a new minimum wage for the industry. We hope that individual farmers will be able to follow this example and break away from AgriSA’s conservative attitude.”
Those farmers who are willing to engage independently were encouraged to contact the CCMA, which would act as a facilitator in the mediations.
Ehrenreich warned that “bad farmers” who did not embrace this opportunity had “no place in South Africa” and that their exports would be stopped.
No farmworkers were present at the announcement.
De Kock said that entrepreneurs such as himself needed to engage creatively in partnership with government, market players, unions and workers in order to find a solution agreeable to all parties.
“This especially means more support from government for farmers so that they have the means to increase wages,” said De Kock.
Hours earlier, the N1 outside De Doorns was once again turned into a war zone as police fired rubber bullets for hours to keep advancing crowds of protesters at bay.