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The findings of the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report into the living and working conditions of 117 former and current farm workers in the fruit and wine industries is cause for concern.

In today’s meeting of the Portfolio Committee on Rural Development & Land Reform, HRW presented the findings of their report to committee members and detailed the methodology on which it is based. In her presentation to the committee, Kaitlin Cordes, the author of the report, admitted that her findings did not amount to a representative sample that could be extrapolated across the fruit and wine industry.

Nevertheless, we believe that one farm worker being mistreated is one farm worker too many. It is therefore essential that farm workers who have been victims of abuse are encouraged to lay complaints with the police so that the alleged abuses can be fully investigated.

We welcome the remarks by Stone Sizani MP, the chairperson of the portfolio committee, indicating that the committee will be conducting further studies and oversight visits to establish the extent of the problem. This is essential so that we may draw a more accurate set of conclusions about the state of farm workers’ living and working conditions across the country, and seek solutions to this problem where it exists.

I also met this morning with Western Cape Provincial Minister of Agriculture, Gerrit Van Rensburg, to discuss the HRW report. In addition to expressing his deep concern about this matter, he has indicated that he will be developing an action plan to deal with the concerns raised in the report.

We have to take all allegations of mistreatment seriously. We also need to ensure that the reputation of an entire industry is not tarnished by the abuses of a handful of employers.

The DA is committed to building and advancing win-win partnerships between farmers and farm workers in South Africa. After all, millions of our citizens are dependent on the success and prosperity of the rural economy.