Farm Workers and Farm Dwellers in Limpopo, South Africa
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Farm workers and farm dwellers in Limpopo, South Africa: STRUGGLES OVER TENURE, LIVELIHOODS AND JUSTICE Poul Wisborg, Ruth Hall, Shirhami Shirinda, Phillan Zamchiya Farm workers and farm dwellers in Limpopo, South Africa: STRUGGLES OVER TENURE, LIVELIHOODS AND JUSTICE Poul Wisborg, Ruth Hall, Shirhami Shirinda, Phillan Zamchiya PLAAS – Cape Town Noragric – Ås PLAAS Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies School of Government • EMS Faculty Farm workers and farm dwellers in Limpopo, South Africa: STRUGGLES OVER TENURE, LIVELIHOODS AND JUSTICE Poul Wisborg, Ruth Hall, Shirhami Shirinda, Phillan Zamchiya Published by the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, School of Government, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of the Western Cape, Private Bag X17, Bellville 7535, Cape Town, South Africa. Tel: +27 21 959 3733. Fax: +27 21 959 3732. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.plaas.org.za ISBN: 978-0-86808-740-5 January 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior permission from the publisher or the authors. Copy editor: Priscilla Hall Photography: Poul Wisborg, Ruth Hall, Shirhami Shirinda, Phillan Zamchiya Cartographer: John Hall Design: Design for development, www.d4d.co.za Printing: Creda Communications PLAAS – Cape Town Noragric – Ås PLAAS Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies School of Government • EMS Faculty Preface In the late 1990s land and agrarian issues remained a barrier to the enjoyment of human rights and justice for millions of South Africans. With funding from the Norwegian government, the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights decided to support collaboration between PLAAS and Noragric to explore human rights in South Africa’s land and agrarian reform. PLAAS is the Institute of Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies at the University of the Western Cape, and Noragric is the Department of International Environment and Development Studies at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. Our collaboration from 1999 to 2010 has involved joint research and graduate training (MA and PhD) in rural areas of South Africa and Norway. Our joint programme ‘Land Rights and Agrarian Change in South Africa’ initiated in 2007 focused on the Limpopo Province and its context of rural poverty and inequality. The programme aimed to enhance the understanding of the problems facing rights-based approaches to land and agrarian reform in South Africa; to influence land reform policy and implementation in a positive way; and to strengthen applied social science research capacity within land and agrarian studies in South Africa. One of the teams in the collaboration from 2007 to 2010 studied farm worker and farm dweller issues on commercial farms in Limpopo, and produced this book. Farm workers and farm dwellers in Limpopo, South Africa. i Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the many farm workers and farm dwellers, ex-farm workers and evictees who shared their experiences and insights, and often painful personal histories and memories, with us during the research. We also thank the farm owners and managers who cooperated with and participated in the study, and shared their own histories, hopes and fears. We are grateful to the Norwegian government for funding the South Africa programme over the years and to the Norwegian Centre for Human Rights for facilitating and supporting research on land, agrarian reform and human rights in South Africa. Thanks go to project leaders Professors Ben Cousins of PLAAS and Bill Derman of Noragric, and to our colleagues Themba Maluleke, Tshililo Manenzhe, both in PLAAS, and Professor Anne Hellum, University of Oslo, who shared insights during work in Limpopo. We thank all colleagues and others who helped with discussion and cooperation. We are pleased to be able to share experiences through this book; the responsibility for its quality and limitations rests with us. ii Farm workers and farm dwellers in Limpopo, South Africa. Contents Abbreviations .............................................................................................. vii PART I. FARMS IN SOUTH AFRICA: PERSPECTIVES AND POLICIES 1 1. On or off the farms .................................................................................. 2 Evicted and expendable ..............................................................................................................................2 Living on farms: Insecurity and policies of neglect ................................................................................3 Our focus and goal ......................................................................................................................................4 The structure of the book ...........................................................................................................................5 2. Perspectives and policies .......................................................................... 6 Perspectives on power, labour and social relations on farms ................................................................6 The democratic era begins (1994–2000) .................................................................................................10 Age of uncertainty (2001–2011) ..............................................................................................................13 3 Into the field: Our study .........................................................................18 Tenure, livelihoods and social justice ......................................................................................................19 Research design and methods ..................................................................................................................21 PART II. FOUR FARMS: PLACES, PEOPLE AND STORIES 25 4 Limpopo .................................................................................................26 Historical background ..............................................................................................................................26 People ..........................................................................................................................................................27 Economy, employment and agriculture ..................................................................................................28 Land restitution ..........................................................................................................................................29 Migration and displacement ....................................................................................................................30 5 Makwembe – a vegetable farm in Musina ................................................31 History of ownership and production ....................................................................................................31 Economic and policy context ...................................................................................................................31 Management situation ..............................................................................................................................34 Farm workers and farm dwellers in Limpopo, South Africa. iii Employment ...............................................................................................................................................35 Tenure ..........................................................................................................................................................37 Livelihoods .................................................................................................................................................38 Social justice ...............................................................................................................................................39 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................39 6 Malamula – a citrus farm in Tshipise .......................................................41 History of ownership and production ....................................................................................................41 Economic and policy context ...................................................................................................................41 Management ...............................................................................................................................................44 Employment ...............................................................................................................................................44 Tenure ..........................................................................................................................................................45 Livelihoods and health ..............................................................................................................................46 Social justice ...............................................................................................................................................47 Conclusions ................................................................................................................................................48 7 Timongo – fruit and nut farms in Levubu ...............................................49 History of ownership and production