Minister of Agriculture an example of ANC double standards
Media reports that the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture, Senzeni Zokwana, pays his cattle herder only R26 per day, is an example of the double standards practised by die ruling ANC when it comes to farmers and farm workers.
Ernst Roets, Deputy CEO of AfriForum, explained that AfriForum has been informed on several occasions during the past two years by senior government officials that “white farmers” are responsible for the conflict in rural areas because they do not pay their workers properly.
“The insinuation is made often and in public that violence in rural areas can be ascribed to racism because ‘white farmers’ underpay and abuse their workers on a grand scale. In the first place, there is no proof that widespread abuse of farm workers do occur. Secondly the actions of the Minister are an indication that the ANC uses these so-called white farmers as political punch bags to garner support amongst voters while senior ANC officials are guilty of the very offence of which the farmers are accused.”
Roets added that AfriForum will take up the matter of rural safety in particular with Zokwana.