How refreshing when a genuine farmer tells it like it is.   The ‘cost to farmer’ includes many other ‘perks’ and benefits other than the actual base wage.   The so-called ‘minimum wage’ is nothing other than an entry-level wage.   As this farmer shows none of his employees earn less than 26 % above the basic entry-level wage of R69 per day and some earn 80% more.   Wages are 37% of the farmer’s costs and the profit margin last year was below  5%.   A farmer could earn a higher return by putting money in the bank and avoid all the risks and hassles of dealing with all the laws and problems related to farming.   What is surprising is that there are South Africans who are prepared to farm in the current environment and we should admire them and support them wherever possible.

Philip Dicey is a fruit farmer in the Wolseley area and his report, first published in Business Day today, is a ‘must read’ –  A farmer’s view: ‘We’re in this together’.

Earlier posts

Roelof Bezuidenhout is a livestock farmer and freelance journalist and his article Grey days ahead for farming needs to be read in full.

Extracts

I AM a fruit farmer in the Wolseley area and would like to clarify a few points about the so-called wage disputes happening in the area, from an employer’s perspective.

Recently, there was a discussion on a prominent talk radio station on whether R80 was a fair daily wage for a farm worker.   First, I would like to paint a picture of what happens on an average Wolseley farm, and second, my take on this incorrectly named “farm workers’ strike”, which hit the area really hard on November 14 last year.

The minimum wage paid on my farm to general workers is R88 a day (which rises to R125 for more skilled workers).   Granted, it will not make anyone rich, but it is way more than the governmentally stipulated sectoral minimum of just less than R70.

I employ 47 permanent workers and up to 30 temporary workers who earn the same wage.   For two-thirds of the year the general workers earn a piecework fee on top of their base wage, which can increase their income up to 150% in the harvest period.   Other piecework periods may be winter pruning or spring fruit thinning, where gains would normally be about 20% above base wage.   Wages constitute 37% of my costs and my profit margin last year was below 5%.

The farm operates a crèche for all farm children and infants not yet at school, and an aftercare/homework system for school-going children.   These two systems require three employees, paid by the farm.   All school fees of the farm workers’ children are paid by the farm (although only once per grade — if the kid fails, the parents pay).   About 30 of the permanent workers reside on the farm and are supplied with electricity, water, proper sanitation and sewerage systems, rubbish removal and general house maintenance.

Farm workers’ doctor visits are subsidised by 50% for six visits in a calendar year, and electricity by 33%.   Those workers living in nearby Wolseley are transported to and from work daily in a safe manner at no charge.   Various other ad hoc perks may arise, such as transport to hospitals, funerals or sporting events, or financial assistance or building material supplied to off-farm residents.   And I, as employer, would be very stupid to deviate from the Labour Act.

It is quite obvious that this type of environment would not breed a “farm workers’ strike” of the ferocity and intensity that occurred in Wolseley last week and that has been continuing in nearby Ceres (and in other areas) for even longer.

Sure, a number of them joined the bandwagon of looting and destruction and shouting at the cameras for a higher wage, but they are not the source of this mess.   The press must also be blamed for continually using the phrase “farm workers’ strike” bandied about by higher government, and I deplore the “shoot first, ask questions later” nature of many media reports of the various strikes.

The source of all these strikes is not a farm-worker issue.   It is something of a much broader nature that can very crudely be attributed to the massive poverty and unemployment in the country, which has probably been abused by groups with political agendas.

How easy to blame the bad, white, Democratic Alliance-supporting farmer who mischievously mistreats his employees in a colonial apartheid-era style.   In truth, we farmers feel we are working with fellow South Africans who need us as much as we need them.   We’re in this together.   Why would we treat our employees like dirt?