"South Africa: Women Farm Workers Protest Labour Law Violations", 4 Sept 2017

On the last day of women's month, more than 200 women farm workers marched from Keizergracht Street in Cape Town to the provincial legislature and then to the Department of Labour. They wore black shirts that read: "Stop labour rights violations!". They carried posters with "Demand Better Labour Conditions" and "We Demand Toilets in the Vineyards". They danced and sang: "We are ready to take our rights" and "We want a living wage". The protest was organised by the Women on Farms Project (WFP), a non-governmental organisation that promotes the rights of women who work in commercial agriculture in the Western and Northern Cape...The march followed a presentation by the group earlier that morning [on the organization's] recent research on violations of labour law on commercial farms...[The research study] found that 75% of seasonal workers in the sample were not paid the minimum wage. Farm workers also reported health and sanitation concerns. 72% of women seasonal workers indicated there was a lack of toilet facilities where they worked, and that they were forced to use "a bush or a secluded spot". The study concluded that "farmers are systematically violating laws that were introduced to protect and advance the rights of farm workers".