RAPID OVERVIEW

OF EVICTION

RESEARCH

Rick de Satge

Phuhlisani Solutions

85 Durban Rd, Mowbray

Focus on the Western Cape and RSA:

2004 – 2014

Background

• Phuhlisani has been asked to prepare a brief overview of

key trends emerging from research on tenure security:

• In the Western Cape

• In RSA more generally

• We have focused on the last ten years but make

reference to earlier studies

The challenges of evictions research

• Tenure security and evictions research is highly

challenging

• Data lags

• Problem of access to farms

• Difficulties in the triangulation of data

• A lack of conceptual clarity about evictions

• Legal, illegal,

• The impacts of globalised markets and vertically integrated value

chains on production and labour practices

Relocation – Forced eviction continuum

Forced

eviction

Constructive

eviction

Severance

payouts

Legal eviction

without

representation

Legal eviction

with

representation

Voluntary

relocation

Persons

threatened and

forced off

property

Service cut offs,

housing not

repaired.

Restrictions etc

Owner pays

workers cash

sum to leave

property and

waive their

rights

Owner

terminates right

of residence

and secures

eviction order

Owner

terminates right

of residence

and secures

eviction order

Persons

relocate to

urban area or

agrivillage

Owner uses

illegal pressure

to override farm

worker and

farm dweller

rights

Owner puts

illegal pressure

on unwanted

occupiers to

leave property

‘voluntarily’

Farm changes

ownership,

faces economic

problems,

changes in land

use

Occupiers

uninformed of

their rights

Persons do not

appear in court

or have no

lawyer

Judgement in

absentia

Labour dispute

Person

retrenched or

found by court

to have

committed an

offence

Represented by

a lawyer

Other

employment

and/or tenure

security

opportunities

National farm employment 1985- 2002

Source: Nkuzi, 2005: 32

Eviction research

• There is a scattered literature on farm labour and tenure security

• The 2005 Nkuzi study attempted to project national eviction trends. It has been much cited but has also provoked debate about its methodology

• Nkuzi distinguished between evicted and displaced farm dwellers • An evictee is a person who was forced against his or her will to leave

the farm and home by deliberate actions of the owner or person in charge

• A displaced farm dweller is a person who lived on a farm and left the farm either through being evicted or out of his or her own choice. (Nkuzi, 2005: 42)

• Nkuzi found no clear evidence that the enactment of ESTA and the LTA was able to curb eviction trends and estimated that only 1% of evictions followed a legal process (Nkuzi, 2005: 43)

Eviction research

• The Nkuzi study noted that:

• From the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, the number of farm workers

dropped from around 1.3 million to under one million (Stats SA &

NDA 2000:33).

• From 1996 to 2002, employment on farms appears to have

stabilised to some extent, although there has been a shift to more

casual workers replacing full time and permanent workers

Research and trends in the Western Cape

• Trends in the Western Cape reflect the rapid concentration within the agricultural sector nationally.

• Data from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS) indicates that there were 15,437 fewer farmers in 2012 than there were in 2009, with the total number of farmers declining from 50,332 to 34,905 (Liebenberg and Kirsten, 2013).

• In the Western Cape, real value added in the agricultural sector only grew marginally over the 2000 to 2011 period while the sector suffered “serious net job losses” (Provincial Treasury, 2013: 48).

• Data from the 2002 and 2007 agricultural censuses indicates the shrinking of agricultural employment for both permanent and seasonal workers.

• In 2002, a total of 98,207 permanent farm workers and 124,968 seasonal workers were reported to be employed in the province.

Pressures

• Since 1994 a thorough going deregulation of the

agricultural sector.

• Sectoral variations make trends difficult to generalise

• Importance of sector studies

• At the same time a wide range of legislation has been

passed regulating labour relations, tenure security, basic

conditions of employment

• A dramatic increase in compliance responsibilities

• This is set against declining gross margins in certain subsectors

Economic trends: Wine grapes

• Since 2008 the total production cost has increased by

almost 13% to R26 580/ha in 2009.

• The dramatic increase in cash expenditure was driven by

practically all of the respective cost components.

• Exceptionally high increases in the prices of fertiliser, pesticides,

insecticides and herbicides have caused the direct costs of wine

grape production to escalate by more than 20% since 2008

• Labour and mechanisation costs for the same period

increased by more than 13%.

• General expenses overall increased by 8% – largely

driven by more expensive electricity tariffs and

administration costs.

Industry responses

• Agricultural industry has responded in different ways:

• Casualisation of labour – changing character of the casual labour

force

• Rise of labour broking

• Mechanisation is becoming an increasingly bigger component – at

the expense of labour cost.

• Rising introduction of mechanical grape harvesters and other

capital substitution measures

• One machine may replace as many at 70 workers per 12 hour shift

Industry responses

• The cost-price squeeze has contributed to the decreasing

number of farming units (currently just under 2000)

• This reflects a national and provincial trend of more efficient farms

buying out others, with a consequent increase in the average size

of farms

• Changes in farm ownership and economic restructuring

frequently render farm worker populations vulnerable to

retrenchment and eviction

Research and trends in the Western Cape

• By 2007, 90,943 permanent workers, and 98,546 seasonal workers (Ferrer, 2013).

• However, there are questions about the accuracy of these statistics which cite problems in data classification and the interpretation from different sources (Liebenberg and Kirsten, 2013). While the exact profile of declining employment in the sector may be imprecise, key trends are clear.

• Research reports corroborate the concentration of ownership, increasing externalisation and casualisation of labour coupled with investment in mechanisation in the agricultural sector (Theron and Bamu, 2009, Murray, 2010, de Satgé et al., 2010, Murray, 2011, Theron, 2012).

Research and trends in the Western Cape

• While there has been a decline in agricultural employment, there has been an increase in population and rapid in-migration.

• Data from the 2011 Census indicates that the Western Cape population grew from 4.5 million people in 2001 to 5.8 million people in 2011 - an increase of 28.7 per cent.

• In the Cape Winelands District Municipality (CWDM), the population grew at 25.1% over this period (Provincial Treasury, 2013). This has been reflected in the rise in the number of informal dwellings in most local municipalities within the CWDM.

• According to the Housing Development Agency, there were an estimated 21,652 shacks in informal settlements in the Cape Winelands in 2012 (HDA, 2012).

• These trends suggest that on and off-farm farmworker housing is a key area of enquiry for a district scale applied research programme which locates housing needs within this broader context.

Research and trends in the Western Cape

• Recent research (Gibbon and Riisgaard, 2014) summarises key trends in Western Cape:

• A sharp decline in the overall size of the farm workforce (Du Toit and Ally 2003; Ewert and Du Toit 2005; Barrientos and Kritzinger 2004; Conradie 2007).

• Du Toit and Ally’s figures for 2000 show a 25 per cent decline in numbers of ‘regular’ workers per hectare and a 20 per cent one in numbers of seasonal workers and casuals.

• Provision of farm housing was falling in the Western Cape - ‘ghost houses’

• 53 per cent of farms surveyed had used labour contractors to recruit - casualisation and labour contracting becoming dominant practices

• Studies by Murray and Van Weelbeck (2007), Grub (2005) and Roberts (2009) all provide support for the view that the farmer– farmworker relation was subsequently redefined increasingly simply as a wage relation

Findings from a 2010 survey of 50 Farms

• SOREASO interviewed 50 farmers and 191 workers were interviewed for this survey • In 39.8% of cases, the farm workers interviewed were of the view that

the number of people on the farm has stayed the same over the previous five years.

• Whereas 26.2% of workers indicated that the number of families on the farm has increased,

• 22.5% were of the view that the number of families on the farm is less than it was in 2005.

• Almost 20% of the farms did not have any movement off the farm over the previous 5 years.

• One farm had 30 people who moved to RDP housing in the nearby town, but it was reported these people are all still working on the farm. In two other cases, 10 and 12 people respectively moved off the farms into RDP housing in town, but these people were also still working on the farm.

Findings from a Survey of 50 Farms

• The survey findings indicate that there has been movement on and off farms as a consequence of a variety of factors.

• These include: • relocation of some workers to urban housing with continued

employment in a couple of instances;

• cases where people move to town in search of their own house and a different quality of life;

• movement between farms where workers seek better working and living conditions;

• cases where workers are dismissed through a labour relations process which may then trigger an eviction order;

• cases where workers are dismissed and where it is implied that other means are used to secure the move of the person off the property.

Legal evictions

• There is no systematic and effective monitoring of the

outcome of evictions cases in terms of ESTA and PIE

• Of 347 ESTA cases for the CWDM in the DRDLR database from

2005 outcomes are recorded for just 25 cases

• PIE data records evictions from rental stock or illegal dwellings but

does not appear to record farm based evictions

• This would have to be established through a detailed assessment

of the records

• There is no robust and available source of information

about evictions which have gone through the courts

Legal evictions

• To establish the number of cases will require exhaustive

and expensive research

• Research done by Hattingh (2008) indicates the difficulties in

tracking down relevant files

• A search of over 6607 files in the SMC yielded 45 ESTA files

(0.68%)

• A total of 13 person hours was spent in locating each ESTA file!

• Courts do not file cases in a consistent way

• Files are archived after five years

• This research would only be able to establish the outcome

of the cases by tracking each one individually through the

review procedure

Conclusions

• Deregulation, global recession, increasing compliance requirements are squeezing farmers and contributing to agricultural restructuring which sheds, outsources/ casualises and feminises farm labour

• There is currently no reliable data that can assist in accurately projecting the extent of movement off farms

• Even where evictions cases go through the courts we know little about case outcomes

• Where people are evicted or displaced this has major impacts on their lives and livelihoods which in turn present major challenges to District and local municipalities

• Study highlights the highly fragmented nature of knowledge and a breakdown of dialogue which contributes to the ad hoc nature of policy and planning responses

References and links

• ATKINSON, D. 2007. Going for broke: The fate of farmworkers in arid South Africa, Cape Town,

HRSC Press.

• BARRIENTOS, S. & KRITZINGER, A. 2004. Squaring the circle: global production and the

informalization of work in South African fruit exports. Journal of International Development, 16, 81-

92.

• DE SATGE, R. 2011. A rapid review of the literature on migration: Key trends with a focus on the

Western Cape and the Cape Winelands District. Cape Town: Phuhlisani.

• DE SATGÉ, R., MURRAY, M., ANNANDALE, J., KLEINBOOI, K., WILLIAMS, B., POOLE, C. &

EIGELAAR, I. 2010. Rural realities: Perspectives on change in the agricultural sector in the Cape

Winelands District and its implications for farm workers and dwellers. Phuhlisani.

• DU TOIT, A. 2004. Forgotten by the Highway: Globalisation, Adverse incorporation and chronic

poverty in a commercial farming district. Chronic Poverty and Development Policy Series No. 4

Cape Town: PLAAS, University of the Western Cape

• EWERT, J. & DU TOIT, A. 2005. A Deepening Divide in the Countryside: Restructuring and Rural

Livelihoods in the South African Wine Industry*. Journal of Southern African Studies, 31, 315-332.

• GIBBON, P. & RIISGAARD, L. 2014. A New System of Labour Management in African Large-Scale

Agriculture? Journal of Agrarian Change, 14, 94-128.

• HARTWIG, R. & MARAIS, L. 2005. Farm-Worker Housing in South Africa: An Evaluation of an Off-

Farm Housing Project. Housing Studies, 20, 931-948.

References and links • HARTWIG, R. A. 2004. Farm worker housing in South Africa. Masters dissertation, University

of the Free State.

• KGARA, S. 2006. Farm evictions and housing crises: No cause to celebrate the Constitution for farm dwellers. Economic and Social Rights Review, 7.

• KRUGER, A., LEMKE, S., PHOMETSI, M., VAN'T RIET, H., PIENAAR, A. & KOTZE, G. 2006. Poverty and household food security of black South African farm workers: the legacy of social inequalities. Public Health Nutrition, 9, 830-836.

• LIEBENBERG, F. & KIRSTEN, J. 2013. Statistics on Farm Labour in South Africa. UP Agricultural Economics Working Paper 2013/#2. Pretoria: Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development.

• MKHIZE, N. 2014. Game farm conversions and the land question: unpacking present contradictions and historical continuities in farm dwellers' tenure insecurity in Cradock. Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 1-13.

• MURRAY, M. 2010. Key trends in the agricultural economy of the Cape Winelands District Municipality: Implications for farm workers and dwellers. Cape Town: Phuhlisani.

• MURRAY, M. 2011. Global and local trends in the wine grape sector: Implications for profitability, employment and improved living and working conditions on farms in the Cape Winelands District. Cape Town: Phuhlisani.

• PARKER, R. 2011. Structuring Agri-Villages to Achieve Tenure Security A Legal Analysis. Cape Town: Land Law Watch Research Focus Group.

References and links • PGWC 2012. Provincial strategy for farm worker housing in the Western Cape: Discussion

document. Cape Town: Department of Human Settlements, Provincial Government of the Western Cape.

• PROVINCIAL TREASURY. 2013. Regional Development Profile: Cape Winelands District [Online]. Online: Western Cape Government. Available: http://www.westerncape.gov.za/assets/departments/treasury/Documents/Socio-economic-profiles/dc02_cape_winelands_sep_profile_2013_11_27_mlb_tn_0.pdf [Accessed 27 May 2014].

• SOUTH AFRICAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION 2007. Progress made in terms of Land Tenure Security, Safety and Labour Relations in Farming Communities since 2003.

• STRAUSS, M. & LIEBENBERG, S. 2014. Contested spaces: Housing rights and evictions law in post-apartheid South Africa. Planning Theory.

• ROODT, M. J. 2007. Security of tenure and livelihood options in South Africa : a case study of a rural community facing eviction under post-apartheid legislation in the Eastern Cape province. 37. Available: http://reference.sabinet.co.za/webx/access/electronic_journals/canus/canus_v37_n1_a2.pdf.

• THERON, J. & BAMU, P. 2009. Sour grapes. PLAAS Working Paper 11. Cape Town: Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape.

• THERON, J. 2012. Changing employment trends on farms in the Hex and Breede River valleys: A draft discussion document for the Cape Winelands District Municipality Roundtable Dialogue on trends in the rural economy [Online]. Online: Phuhlisani. Available: http://www.phuhlisani.com/oid%5Cdownloads%5C20120504Changing%20employmentPaperCWDMRoundtable.pdf [Accessed 15 March 2014].

• TISSINGTON, K. 2011. A Resource Guide to Housing in South Africa 1994-2010: Legislation, Policy,

Programmes and Practice. Johannesburg: Socio Economic Rights Institute of South Africa.

• UMHLABA DEVELOPMENT SERVICES 2004. Situational analysis of farm worker housing.

Unpublished report.

• UMHLABA DEVELOPMENT SERVICES 2005. Discussion paper on farm dweller housing options.

Unpublished report.

• WEGERIF, M., RUSSELL, B. & GRUNDLING, I. 2005. Still searching for security: The reality of farm

dweller evictions in South Africa, Johannesburg, Nkuzi Development Association and Social

Surveys.

• WHITE, F. 2010. Deepening Democracy: A Farm Workers' Movement in the Western Cape. Journal

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