Farm Worker Mass Eviction Crisis Looming in South Africa?

Farm worker evictions are likely to spike with the end of the National State of Disaster, Women on Farms (WFP) has warned.

Over 100 farm women  marched to the Paarl Magistrates Court and Drakenstein Municipality to draw attention to a looming surge in evictions from farms in the Western Cape, Liezl Human reports for GroundUp.

Farmers who evict farm dwellers illegally are rarely prosecuted or held accountable, said Carmen Louw of WFP. WFP had seen evictions of farm dwellers without court orders, as well as "constructive evictions" where the farmer switches off the electricity or water to force farm dwellers to move out.

The Extension of Security of Tenure Act (ESTA) outlines the conditions under which a farm dweller can legally remain on a rural landowner's property and also outlines the process for a landowner to legally evict a farm dweller.

But according to Louw, farm dwellers are not adequately protected."On the one hand they implement ESTA to effect evictions, but they're not using ESTA to protect the rights of farm workers."