Picture: (Courtesy of SABC: Klippat Farm in Bloemhof)

By OBAKENG MAJE

The South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO) in the North West calls on the Labour Department to inspect all farms across the province. This comes after the department shut down the Klippan farm in Bloemhof for violating the COVID-19 pandemic regulations.

According to the Labour Department’s provincial chief inspector, Boikie Mampuru, all operations at the farm have subsequently been closed after the farmer failed to provide workers with Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs).

“Our inspectors have issued two prohibition notices. One for the farmers was not complying with PPE’s and the second one allowed the employees to be sleeping in a storeroom. So, all these operations have been prohibited,” Mampuru said.

SANCO provincial chairperson, Paul Sebegoe lauded the department. Sebegoe described the issuing of two prohibition notices by the department as a necessary step to protect vulnerable farm-workers from Covid-19 pandemic.

“The civic organisation called for inspections to be intensified across all farms in the province. Exploitative labour practices and the total disregard of occupational health and safety standards must be exposed and harshly dealt within the farming sector as they could potentially contribute to the spread of the coronavirus and ultimately threaten food security.

“Despite the failure to provide farm-workers with gloves and masks being a serious violation of the state of health disaster management regulations, allegations that 102 farmers were served with eight litres of milk and those who were not able to get milk were forced to eat porridge with snakes,” he said.

Sebegoe also calls on the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) to investigate those allegations. He added that human rights violations were prevalent among illegal foreign nationals employed on farms.

We suspect these to be the underlying cause of farm attacks involving illegal foreign nationals who were allegedly sacked, threatened with report to authorities for deportation, before they were paid, hence they retaliated as they have no legal recourse, says Sebegoe.

Meanwhile, COSATU President, Zingiswa Losi said the union will continue to fight for the rights of all workers and combat abuse leveled against them during COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

She said the fight for PPEs and better working conditions is still on.

“In the bargaining chambers, in the streets, in the workplaces, in schools, in NEDLAC and everywhere, workers are waging battles against vicious and risky conditions and demand safe and healthy working conditions, as well as decent incomes for them and their families. This is the core of our mission and struggle.

“A global pandemic of untold proportions has already decimated numbers of human beings and resulted in huge sufferings in many parts of the world, not least in our own country. The Covid-19 virus is showing us the damage of unfettered capitalism in our country and around the world,” she said.

Losi said they are saddened by the extent to which this has exposed the fault-lines of the post-apartheid reality and the legacy of persisting inequalities, hunger, and poverty in many of our communities, workplaces, townships, and rural areas, in particular.

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By KEDIBONE MOLAETSI

A 38-year-old suspect is expected to appear in the Klerksdorp Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday for the alleged rape of a minor. It is alleged that Paki Mqikela who is an ANC ward councillor in Klerksdorp raped the minor between April and August 2019 in Tigane Location, Hartbeesfontein.

The North West police spokesperson, Brig Sabata Mokgwabone said the matter was subsequently reported to the police on Thursday last week and Mqikela was arrested after he handed himself over to the Klerksdorp Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) on Monday.

“The North West Provincial Commissioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena welcomed the arrest and indicated that the police will continue to work hard to ensure that alleged sexual offenders are brought to book to face the full might of the law,” said Mokgwabone.

Meanwhile, the African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) in North West applauded the police for the swift arrest of the suspected statutory rape perpetrator.

ANCWL acting provincial secretary, Bitsa Lenkopane said: “The perpetrator is said to have impregnated an underage girl, with conversations in the social media showing that he wanted to cover-up his disgusting deeds on fears of losing his status and/or career.

“The league is calling on the administrators of justice and all other law enforcement agencies to ensure that the alleged perpetrator is removed from the society and never see any slightest light of the day.”

Lenkopane added that what infuriates them more was that, the suspect is an ANC ward councillor from the City of Matlosana, who in the position he holds must be at the forefront of fighting all kinds of criminal activities in the city with child and women protection topping the list.

She said back in 2019, the ANCWL during its campaigns against Gender-based Violence (GBV) in Matlosana held discussions and handed memorandum over to the municipality and government departments, calling for an end to this kind of misogynistic behaviour.

“The league calls for creatures of this nature to be removed from communities and the protection of children and women should be strengthened through harsher punishment on everyone found to have been in the opposing side of the laws relating to the matter.

“We also call on the department of social development and child protection unit in the province to ensure that all affected by the incident are protected. We will not protect anyone who perpetrates this kind of crime irrespective of their status and or office they hold. The ANC as a liberation movement has no mandate of any position to send and allow its public representatives to abuse their position,” she said.

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