Cape Town - Women migrant workers from other African countries are being exploited by farms in the Western Cape, according to a report by the organisation Women on Farms.
Women on Farms launched its research project “The Living and Working Conditions of Migrant Women Farmworkers” on Sunday evening at the start of its national farmworkers’ platform in Stellenbosch.
Women on Farms Project director, Colette Solomons, said they received anecdotal reports and complaints from seasonal migrant farmworkers about their living and working conditions, prompting the need for more quantitative and qualitative research.
Around 105 migrant farmworkers from Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Malawi were interviewed for the study with the research areas in De Doorns, Wolseley, Rawsonville and Klapmuts.
One of the main problems is that migrant women farmworkers are extremely “exploitable” by farmers, often getting paid less than the minimum wage.
“They work overtime without being compensated, the farmer does not report injuries on duty and in fact when workers are injured on farms, the farmer tells them ‘when you go to the clinic, don't say you were injured on duty’.
“Other issues are around lack of knowledge of their rights… a big problem is that migrant workers either don't know their rights or even if they do, the minority that might know some of their rights are so dependent and desperate for the work that they are not likely to report a farmer to the Department of Employment or Labour,” said Solomons.
“They are not going to go to a trade union so farmers rely on the fact that migrant workers are so desperate for work that almost any treatment they dole out to migrant workers, they’ll accept because they need to send money home.”
Women farm workers reportedly send between 50-75% of their wages to families in their home country, said Solomons.
Migrant farmworkers are not interviewed by labour inspectors, with inspectors choosing to only speak to South African farmers.
Solomons said the xenophobic narrative needs to be addressed and challenged, contributing to the exploitations and abuses. The report makes recommendations for government, labour laws and activists and trade unions.
Lead researcher Celeste Fortuin said: “The research is important because migrant farm women work in conditions reminiscent of the apartheid days: no work contracts; deductions from wages that are not explained to them; working against unfair targets; no sick leave or any other work benefits.”
Fortuin said the exploitation of migrant farm women, within today’s context of democracy, is not only unconstitutional, it is morally and ethically unjust.
“Some of the stories were heartbreaking; women who miss their children, who worry about their children’s well-being back home; they live in constant fear of deportation; regularly subjected to racist and xenophobic slurs; violence often goes unreported, and limited information about possible trafficking or sexual exploitation by labour brokers. These are all areas that need further investigation.”