PROVINCIAL CHAPTER 6 Western Cape Introduction The tot system and alcoholism The most common human rights violations In order to be complete, a discussion of the that were reported to the Inquiry included human rights situation in the Western Cape incidents of threatened or actual eviction, the must be addressed against the backdrop of lack of compliance with and violation of the tot system and current high levels of al- labour laws, the continued and resultant so- cohol abuse made possible by easily available cial impact of the tot system and violence and cheap alcohol. The legacy of the tot sys- perpetrated against farm dwellers in the form tem and the resultant effects of alcoholism of vicious dog attacks. on people’s lives pervade all aspects of life in the farming communities of this province. The Western Cape is geographically the third largest province in South Africa and consti- The tot system, or dop system as it is also tutes 10,6% of the total land surface of the known, was once widely practiced in this country. Approximately 11,1% of the esti- region, and involves paying the labour force mated 4,1 million people in the province live with alcohol rather than cash. Organised farm in non-urban areas.1 owners, NGOs and trade unions agree that the practice still continues but is less com- mon. Agri Wes-Cape acknowledges that a The underlying causes of human rights abuses very small group of farm owners continue to appear to be rooted in the paternalistic rela- use liquor as remuneration.2 According to the organisation, a 1995 survey conducted dweller. This relationship has developed over by the now defunct Rural Foundation, indi- many years and is characterised by stark cated that the tot system still operates on 1% of farms as compared to 54% in 1987 and 14% in 1989.3 NGOs agree that the sys- It is acknowledged that in the Western Cape tem is still implemented on some farms.4 initiatives have been taken by representative Unions too, have encountered the tot sys- tem and maintain that it does still exist on ever, there are still those farmers who con- some farms.5 The system perhaps does not tinue to perpetrate human rights violations exist in its most blatant form where workers are literally given alcohol to drink during the 57 day. Rather, an example of its present form area of the Western Cape, the incidence was would be where workers are supplied with a 45 per 1 000 live births. When the research bottle of wine each evening and the cost of was repeated three years later, it had gone the alcohol is deducted from their Friday up to 67 per 1 000. In the De Aar area, re- wages, whether the worker takes the bottle search has indicated that the incidence is or not.6 closer to 80 per 1 000. This is compared to an incidence rate of less than 1 per 1000 live Although parties agree that the tot system births in the developed world. It is unclear still occurs in isolated cases, there is the re- whether there is a difference between rural sultant widespread abuse of alcohol in the and urban communities in the region.11 But farming communities in the Western Cape. whatever the outcome of that research may The use of alcohol in acts of violence result- be, the syndrome is clearly prevalent at un- ing in trauma is estimated at 60% and con- acceptably high levels within the rural com- tributes towards child abuse, spousal abuse, munities. malnutrition, poor hygiene, high rates of tu- berculosis, unemployment, absenteeism and Children, who suffer from FAS, show a re- low education.7 duced intellect and do not cope at school. In turn, people with lower education levels have Whether the system has been eradicated or a higher incidence of FAS. Research also in- not, the manifestation of alcoholism is con- dicates distinct patterns in families with al- tinued through the proliferation of illegal mo- coholism, with both the FAS and the alco- bile shebeens that provide people with cheap holism being passed from one generation to liquor on farms. The WCSAPS are unable to the next.12 police this issue through lack of resources. Widespread access to alcohol is made avail- Foetal Alcohol Syndrome – Clinical fea- able through vehicles that drive to the farms tures:13 to sell liquor to workers on credit. A 5-litre q Pre- and post-natal growth deficien- container of wine, known locally as a cies. “papsak”, is sold for as little as R14,00 to farm q Central nervous system dysfunction: workers. These travelling shebeens sell these decreased intelligence, language and “papsakke” for as much as R60,00 and even phonation difficulties and inappropri- as much as R75,00 over weekends.8 These ate behaviours (e.g. hyperactivity, shebeens are also viewed as contributing to- short attention span). wards an increase of crime on farms. Farm q Characteristic facial appearances e.g. property is stolen to sell or barter for liquor long smooth upper lip; short and up- or drugs from these shebeens.9 turned nose and small chin. q Organ system abnormalities includ- ing cardiac, neural tube, renal, brain “The issue is the access to cheap liquor and skeletal defects. because whether you phase out the dop system, I can assure you we have had an In an effort to alleviate alcoholism in the work explosion of shebeens, we have had an force, some farmers have embarked on suc- explosion of mobile shebeens provision- ing people with liquor on farms…”10 cessful rehabilitation programmes. However, some of these attempts include forcing work- ers to insert implants under the skin as a re- The effects of alcohol abuse on children mani- habilitation mechanism. If the worker does 14 fest in foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Stud- not have the implant, he/she is dismissed. ies in 1996/7 indicate that in the Wellington 58 All parties agree that the tot system is abhor- The WCDLA provided the Inquiry with some rent and is to be rooted out and discontin- statistics that they collected in respect of le- ued. They further agree that if there is still gal evictions where landowners follow the one farmer practicing the system, it is one procedures set out in the ESTA. These sta- farmer too many. Active steps have been tistics provide some insight into the extent taken by some wine co-operatives to seek of the eviction problem in the Western Cape. out any farmers who may practice the sys- tem and these co-operatives have stated that For the period 1 April 2001 to 31 March 2002, they will not accept grapes from farmers who the WCDLA received 515 section 9(2)(d) are found to allow the system to operate on Notices. This indicates that in 515 cases dur- the farm.15 ing that period, landowners gave official no- tice to the occupier, the local municipality and Farmer organisations and trade unions, whilst the WCDLA that in two months’ time the committed to the complete eradication of the court would be approached for an eviction tot system, find it difficult to confront the is- order. sue of alcoholism, as there is a silence on the side of farm workers, who are addicted to Most of the eviction notices come from the alcohol.16 Alcoholism remains a serious so- Paarl (54), Wellington (53), Stellenbosch (40) cial problem within the farming community and Ceres (39) area. The WCDLA concludes in the Western Cape. that most legal evictions are taking place within the wine and deciduous fruit sectors.18 “And then we address the issue of the dop During the same period, 156 requests were system. The people say if we do not get a received by the WCDLA for s9 (3) reports. bottle of wine every day, we cannot go to This indicates that there were 156 cases work tomorrow, because we are going to be shaken. So that thing is in their blood. where the matter had reached the courts. A It was created to be a poison. So we need magistrate or judge, as the case may be, re- to get that bottle.”17 quests a s9 (3) report in order to consider the effect that the eviction order will have on the rights of the respective parties and Land rights the availability of alternative accommodation. Despite the promulgation of the ESTA, NGOs This report is a peremptory requirement of claim that evictions continue at an alarming the ESTA. In addition, during this period the rate in this province. Agri Wes Cape state WCDLA was made aware of 15 illegal evic- that they do not support the ESTA and that tions and acknowledges that in all likelihood they will therefore circumvent the provisions this figure may be higher. within the boundaries of the law. The WCDLA were informed of three s 4 ap- In response to the continuing evictions, the plications being awarded by a court dur- Western Cape Department of Land Affairs ing this period. These are applications where (WCDLA) has created an innovative inter- the terms and conditions of residence on land departmental ESTA Forum to deal with this are altered and/or amended by an order of problem. court.19 Tenure security Non-compliance with ESTA The extent of the number of evictions is dif- Due to the pattern of land tenure in the West- ficult to ascertain, as there are few sources ern Cape, the right to reside in a house on a of statistics available.