Farms
latest news & developmentsNo dignity in displacement: Tenure insecurity in the Winelands
The conditions of people who work and live in South Africa’s farms today have remained the same as under apartheid. Will the new amendments in legislation bring about change?
Bill Gates plays God in Africa’s agriculture and gets it wrong
Agra’s drive for a ‘green revolution’ has reduced crop diversity, created a dependency on commercial seeds and fertiliser and increased vulnerability to drought
South Africa’s avocado export agreement with Japan could boost economy
Recent export agreements with Asian countries are a balm for South Africa, after Botswana and Namibia’s ban on the country’s citrus.
Signs of hope for apartheid labour tenants after long wait for land rights
Less than half the claims by former labour tenants, who were given access to land during apartheid in exchange for working on farms, have been finalised
Locust swarms loom in the wake of wetter weather
Unreported locust swarms in unoccupied farms, game and environmental parks can grow, cover large distances and destroy entire crops
Northern Cape farmers battle ‘horrific’ brown locust outbreak
But Agricultural Research Council says outbreak is normal, and only a medium-sized outbreak
Growing culture: Brothers on the land, together under the sun
Some black and white farmers are working together in the name of progress in a sector that has long been associated with racial exclusion and the abuse of black people
Shadow of eviction looms over farm dwellers
In part two of a series on the lives of farm dwellers, Tshepiso Mabula ka Ndongeni finds a community haunted by the scourge of eviction
EFF eyes municipalities ahead of 2021 local government elections
EFF leader Julius Malema says the party is preparing to govern in many municipalities from next year. It is also launching a programme to defend the rights of farm workers
Ramaphosa reiterates support for emerging farmers
On the back of the announcement that the government would allocate more land to be leased by emerging farmers, President Cyril Ramaphosa says that beneficiaries will also be…
Money instead of land
The majority of previously dispossessed people choose money over property, while land reform has become the preserve of the affluent. Is there another way to think about land…
Farmworkers live in filth in Franschhoek
Rights groups say government needs to intervene and expropriate land in cases where rich farmers don’t maintain labourer accommodation
Rain brings tentative hope of a normal farming season
After weeks of oppressive heat and decreasing dam levels, recent rains renew hope for farmers
The farm workers who produce our food are the most vulnerable to hunger
When drafting policies to address this situation, it is important that the voices of the workers themselves are taken into account
Court judgment to restore farm dwellers’ dignity
A Pietermaritzburg high court ruling has found that municipalities were in breach of the Constitution in not providing farm occupiers with services