Notes

Here’s the notes from the interview with Sonto Shalle and Khaya Sodladla

“We come across a lot of people who have evicted”.

Siyaphambili – loosely organised farm workers and dwellers, evictees and small scale farmers

“When you look at evictions, it’s not necessarily when people are taken off the land, but when conditions are made unbearable to the point where you can’t live”

Lawful and unlawful evictions

Move to nearby farms and towns

“You have to look at the facts. There are certain procedures that have to be followed for an eviction to be lawful”.

Must provide similar or better conditions

Last year’s march with Siyaphambili: preceded by meetings; was not just about evictions but also land redistribution – “people accessing land through things like government subsidies”; and land restitution – “people who have forcibly been removed from their land and are taken back to their lands”

“people need land for different reasons” – e.g. basic needs – plough, livestock, wood, rituals

Also important – post-land-reform support, for example from government

“slow pace of land reform”

Important – Extension of tenor act

Squatter camps house a lot of evictees.

“It’s not about deciding. Some are given let’s say R5000 to move off the land and are told I’ll transport your things. Some don’t even get that money. The more considerate ones will give you R15 000”.

Maybe given building materials like corrugated iron and wood to build shacks in informal settlements – no bricks or cement.

Many move in with relatives in informal settlements, especially because their children very often are schooling and living in surrounding towns – many farm schools only provide for primary education – usually up to Grade 7.

“Life in the townships is very hard; they want to go back to the farms. If one has been staying on the farm all their lives, what are they going to do? It’s very rare that one evicted goes to a well-established house; houses are expensive”.

“Even people on the farms are threatened with eviction”.

“For a farm to get established and operating, it takes years, and it’s the in-between period – that’s when things like evictions happen. It’s in that process of becoming a game farm”.

Khaya speaking about owners being benevolent towards their workers: “Not all of these game farms are doing this for the people”.

From interviews they conducted with workers: “A lot of the people employed were foreigners and they didn’t have access to 5-star food, even though they were chefs”.

“They are getting better-off houses and water, but what will happen to that person when he is no longer able to provide the labour? What if he becomes disabled?”

“You have to look at the issue of land in South Africa – not on the surface only – land is a very sensitive issue”

“Farm workers have nowhere to go, the farm is their home and livelihood” – gives them easy access to wood and medicine; when they are allowed to keep livestock – the cows are food, used in rituals and generate income for your family.

Sonto speaking about the positive image of game farms: “You can’t paint all game farms with the same stroke”.

“Slowly but surely, the lives of the people are changing – it’s not drastic”.

ECARP – “It’s a research organisation”.

When people come in claiming evictions, unfair dismissals and maltreatment – ECARP opens up a file so they can do a weekly follow-up on the cases, refer people to the Legal Aid Clinic/Resource Centre and the Department of Land Affairs (with whom the organisation now works very closely), try to help with material needs, help the ‘victims’ become self-sustaining