Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana and his Zimbabwean counterpart July Moyo visited the Soutpansberg region on Friday to assess the situation in respect of foreign workers on South African farms.

Limpopo province Agriculture MEC Aaron Motsoaledi, a large number of government officials, and a contingent of media representatives accompanied the two delegations.

Motsoaledi told the two ministers that at least 10 000 foreign workers were currently employed on farms north of the Soutpansberg. He said most of the workers were legitimately registered, while many others were on the farms illegally.

Border farmer Rudie Vos pointed out to the two leaders that the border fencing east of Musina was urgently in need of repairs. The state of the fence made crossings by illegal immigrants quite easy, he said.

Vos explained that some farmers found it easier to employ illegal migrant workers, as many of them, in any case, returned to the area within a few days of being repatriated to Zimbabwe. He said there was currently a shortage of farm labour in the area.

Mdladlana said his department knew which farmers repeatedly ignored the law. He would not allow the unregistered workers to be victimised, while offending farmers were not being prosecuted.

Moyo requested that problems in connection with the migrant workers be dealt with in an orderly and cooperative manner.

Meanwhile, Soutpansberg Agricultural Union President Dries Joubert described the border visit by the two delegations as a positive development, which would help all parties concerned to be well informed on the issues at stake.

He believed that ongoing dialogue was essential, in order to find solutions to the many pressing problems related to foreign workers, who were actually indispensable to the local economy, due to the known shortage of farm labour in the region.

The union's door would always be open for ongoing talks with national and provincial officials.