Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
‘More than willing to meet him’
NOSEY Pieterse said yesterday he was “more than willing” to meet the province’s new agriculture MEC, Alan Winde, to discuss relations between farmers and farmworkers.
Pieterse is the general secretary of the Bawsi Agricultural Workers Union of SA (Bawusa). Bawusa was at the forefront of strikes, some violent, in areas such as De Doorns, Wolseley, Worcester and Touws River in late 2012 and early 2013.
The strikes resulted in an increase in the farmworkers’ minimum wage by the national government from R69 to R105 a day.
Winde, who will be sworn in as MEC for Agriculture, Economic Development and Tourism on Monday, said he wanted to meet representatives of all the province’s agricultural sectors in coming weeks.
Pieterse said that if he was asked his advice, he would tell Winde to “accept unions as a reality, and not work to undermine them”.
He said Winde should not promote farmworker forums at the expense of unions, as these gave birth to an “elitist” group of farmworkers who did not represent the majority.
Pieterse had a difficult relationship with Winde’s predecessor, Gerrit van Rensburg.
In January 2013, Van Rensburg and Premier Helen Zille said in a joint statement that Pieterse was among those “inflaming and stoking the situation” which was “obstructive to reaching a solution”. Pieterse said he was representing workers agitating for a “living” wage increase.