More than 100 farm workers from a community-managed farm in Levubu went on strike after a third month of non-payment.

The workers, who are all employed by the Masakona Community Property Association (CPA), claimed that they had not been paid since December. As a result, they say, they had to start borrowing from a matshonise to make ends meet. At an interest rate of 50%, all their funds were quickly tapped dry.

The farm on which they work forms part of several Levubu farms that were sold to the government’s Lands Claims Commission from 2000 to 2003 in a willing-seller-willing-buyer settlement.

The workers decided to march to their head office in Levubu last Thursday when they did not receive their salaries. “We are tired! These people promised long ago that they would fix this [pay our salaries] … now we will go talk to the big boss,” said one of the workers, Mr Freddy Nkuna, on Thursday. He, together with the other farm workers, marched to the farm’s administrative office and demanded to speak to the directors of the company managing the farm, as well as the CPA-members.

Masakona Farms, as far as the newspaper was able to determine, is managed by Sharp Move Trading CC, in conjunction with the CPA. The CPA are members of the community who were selected to represent the interests of the community.

According to the workers, they haven’t received payment for December, January or February. In addition, workers did not receive any other gratuities in December. In the middle of February they were promised by the CPA board of directors that they would get double pay by 28 February. To seal this promise, the workers were each given a 25kg bag of mealie meal.

On the promised date, however, the workers only received an amount that is the equivalent of one month’s salary. This spurred them on to cease working and holding an impromptu meeting with the CPA. When the livid mob of workers arrived on the farm, there was already a police presence to keep a watchful eye on developments.

At first, the CPA-members refused to speak to the workers. After about an hour and a half, they sent the workers’ negotiator, Mr Gideon Mukwevho, with a list demanding that workers write down their names if they intended to return to work the following day. Those workers who refused to come back to work were threatened that they would be fired.

At this point, the police intervened to help calm tempers, and the CPA-members and directors eventually made an appearance and addressed the crowd.

According to the chairperson of the CPA, Mr Peter Mhawela, the farm is still awaiting an R4.7million grant from the government, as well as money that is outstanding from the South African Revenue Services (SARS). Afterwards, he and other CPA-members were approached and asked to elaborate on statements made during the meeting. They refused to comment. “We are not at liberty to talk to you,” they told the reporter.

The transplantation of about 80ha of banana trees and a delayed avocado harvest were also offered as excuses for the farm’s cash-flow problems.  Workers, after listening to these explanations, proceeded to have a meeting with Chief Cecil Malovhana. On Monday, they reached a decision and reported back to work. According to Mukwevho, the workers have declared, however, that they will strike again if they don’t receive their salaries by the end of March.

The strike comes amidst the announcement of the new minimum wage for farm workers, which is in effect from this month. Several commercial farmers in the area have already indicated that they are in the process of retrenching a large number of their work force, simply because they cannot afford the new wages which have, in effect, almost doubled since the pervious year.

• Also read the follow-up article "Dispute far from over".