Agriculture would like to employ South Africans delivering outputs comparable to those of foreign workers.
This is the position of organized agriculture in the Northern Transvaal.
The Limpopo Agricultural Forum is concerned about the impact that Zimbabwean work permits, which are granted under the ZSP (Zimbabwean Special Permit) system, and which expire by the end of December 2017, will have on the labor situation in the province. Several other categories of work permits will not be renewed upon expiration.
The Dept. Of Home Affairs has not yet indicated if there will be an alternative permit system that will replace the existing system. Previous indications were that the permit holders should return to Zimbabwe on expiry of their permits. The aim is to provide more jobs for SA citizens.
Organized Agriculture points out that South Africans are not prepared to do certain jobs on farms. This is repeated by the Dept. Of Labor who observed the processes to be followed before agriculture gets permission to employ foreign workers on a permit system. “Everyone has acknowledged that local unemployed simply do not want to do farm work anymore, but these facts are sometimes ignored in favor of a political agenda.”
Organized agriculture repeatedly pointed out that no measure could be successful in preventing influx from neighboring countries as long as effective border control can not be applied. Furthermore, the state of a failed land policy in Zimbabwe is exactly the opposite of what is needed to get a solution to the influx. The real answer is an economic one. Get the Zimbabwe economy back on track, create jobs and make agriculture as strong as it was, then Zimbabweans will stay in their country.
The appeal to agriculture to create solutions for unemployment in SA will be difficult as long as the effect of urbanization, lack of willingness to work, and the view that farm work is an inferior job and therefore no longer acceptable to many, be deducted from labor legislation. Political advocacy that only motivates workers to “vote” and not inspire greater productivity is counterproductive in achieving employment rates in agriculture.
Read the original article in Afrikaans on Die Vryburger
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