A farmer from Limpopo and 12 of his managers were arrested after workers burned the hostels on the farm because of a wage dispute.
A farmer and 12 of his managers were arrested in Limpopo on Wednesday, September 16, 2015 on his farm in Marken, near Lephalale (Ellisras) and had to spend a night in jail. It came after about 300 temporary workers protested because of dissatisfaction with a wage agreement.
According to Mr. Drickus Botha, the Transvaal Agricultural Union (TAU) representative in the northern region, the farmer, Mr. PJ van der Walt, are currently harvesting potatoes and therefore employed 300 temporary workers on his farm.
“There were some insurgents who were unhappy about the wage agreement reached on Monday, and it seemed they influenced the rest of the workers, of whom not all wanted to take part in the strike. The dissatisfaction then got out of hand and some of the hostels on the farm were set on fire. The fire spread to the rest of the farm and caused extensive damage.
“The workers then laid complaints against Van der Walt and his managers on the same day, of theft, assault and kidnapping.”
Van der Walt and his managers were arrested on Thursday, September 17, 2015 and appeared in court on Friday, September 18, 2015 in Lephalale on charges of kidnapping and assault. They were all released on bail of R2 000 and will reappear in court on September 28, 2015.
According to Mr. Danie du Plessis, TAU’s representative in the eastern region, it is unacceptable that farmers who want to protect their property, is prevented by law. “I will be meeting with the Mpumalanga police commissioner in Nelspruit on September 30, 2015, on cases where workers damage property on farms. It is unacceptable that farmers who want to protect property are arrested by the police. The amended article 49 of the Criminal Procedure Act is supposed to provide protection for farmers in this regard, but still farmers are being arrested. There are clearly insufficient legal measures to protect farmers,” Du Plessis argued.
Van der Walt did not want to comment on the incident. Botha has confirmed that complaints will be filed against the workers who damaged Van der Walt’s farm. The investigation is continuing and none of the workers on the farm have been arrested.
Source – Landbou.com
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