Mukoni T Ratshitanga
More than 200 striking farm workers, including 26 mothers and their babies, were arrested in the Northern Province for allegedly violated a high court ruling preventing them from intimidating colleagues.
Their lawyer, Phillip Sebola, said the workers included three pregnant women, five of their visitors and 33 parents who had left children between the ages of five and 12 alone at home when they went to jail.
The striking workers were bundled into seven police vehicles on Tuesday and transported to the Messina police station, where they were kept overnight.
They claimed their arrest came after a group of them sought an explanation from a farmer, Andries Fourie, about why four children had been arrested earlier on Tuesday.
“The farmer told us, ‘You will talk to the police when they come,'” one of the workers said. Workers claimed when the police arrived, they assaulted them with batons and set police dogs on them.
The 200 workers were released without bail after a seven-hour court hearing on Wednesday night.
The workers, employed on the farm Schuidrift, went on strike last month following the arrest of 11 of their colleagues on charges of being illegal immigrants. Six of the 11 were held in police cells until Wednesday.
Sebola says they are “South African to the marrow” and were framed because they are members of the Trade Union of South African Authorities. Sebola says Fourie has formed a rival union, Phathisano (working together), with fewer than 50 members.
The Pretoria High Court last week granted Fourie a court order preventing the striking workers from intimidating their colleagues and entering the farm. Inspector Freddy Khoza said the workers were arrested on Tuesday because they contravened the court order.
Khoza confirmed that police had set dogs on the workers. “I saw one person who was bitten by police dogs. Another three were injured. I don’t know what method was used to injure them.”
Northern Province secretary of safety and security Saad Cachalia says his department will investigate the incident and “deal with it”.