Mass farm meetings to sort out De Doorns

Cape Town - Two mass meetings will be held in De Doorns, in the Western Cape, at the weekend to address farmworkers' concerns and to help farmers come to terms with the new minimum wage in the sector, it was reported on Friday.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe was expected to address workers and farmers on Saturday, about issues raised at his first meeting in the area in February, The Cape Times reported.

The Food and Allied Workers' Union would meet its 2000 members later that day about labour broking.

Farming towns across the province came to a standstill between November and February this year during a protest by workers against poor wages and harsh living conditions.

De Doorns was the epicentre of the protest action.

The protests led to Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant increasing the daily minimum wage for farmworkers to R105, after input by farmers and workers.