Share

New farm bill may dampen hiring

Johannesburg - Proposed changes to the laws on security of land tenure and the eviction of farm workers will not make farmers more willing to employ workers, Agri SA president Johannes Möller warned in a report on Tuesday.

Agriculture could increase employment in line with the government's new economic growth strategy — but this was inhibited by the Extension of Security of Tenure Act of 1997 and the Land Reform (Labour Tenants) Act of 1996, he said.

The government has conceded that these laws swung the balance too far in favour of labour by making evictions difficult, and resulted in farmers being reluctant to employ people who could then claim security of tenure, Business Day reported.

But Möller did not believe the new, recently released draft land tenure security bill — which will replace the two existing laws — would alleviate the situation, although it did contain some improvements.

Evictions would still be difficult, time-consuming and costly as they would have to happen in line with procedures involving a court order and periods of notice, even when the eviction was justified.

He said that under the new bill "farmers will be very wary of hiring new employees" and would always take into account the economic and policy implications of hiring new labourers.

"We believe government should rather be taking the view of promoting job opportunities, especially in agriculture, which has the capacity to employ more people and has proven this by doing so over the last two years."

The bill proposed that the right to stay on a farm would be tied to legitimate employment under the Labour Relations Act. A worker who was then fairly dismissed would lose the right to live on the farm.
We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
19.00
-0.3%
Rand - Pound
24.11
-0.0%
Rand - Euro
20.62
-0.1%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.38
+0.4%
Rand - Yen
0.13
+0.5%
Platinum
902.37
-2.3%
Palladium
1,004.75
-0.1%
Gold
2,152.94
-0.4%
Silver
24.93
-0.5%
Brent Crude
86.89
+1.8%
Top 40
65,985
-0.4%
All Share
72,193
-0.3%
Resource 10
53,312
-0.0%
Industrial 25
99,623
-0.9%
Financial 15
16,647
+0.2%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders