Kadalie in defence of the DA's Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck in his celebrated 1939 novel ‘The Grapes of Wrath' says: ‘and the little screaming fact that sounds through all history; repression works only to strengthen and knit the repressed.' Rhoda Kadalie in her recent article rather than add her voice to vent the plight of repressed farm-workers, casts a flimsy screen of diversion to hide the failure of the DA government in responding to the plight of farm workers whilst at the same time masquerading as a human rights activist. Instead she regurgitates old hash and deflects attention away from those who are responsible for perpetuating modern day slavery.
This sick behaviour is to be expected from those who put profits before and above the well-being and human dignity of fellow citizens who languish under the most appalling conditions on farms.
The only parallel between the plight of mineworkers and that of farm-workers is that those who for centuries have generated billions in revenue and constitute the lifeblood of the South African economy enjoy the crumbs of poverty as reward for their efforts. In turn the DA's privileged constituency, the super-rich farm-owners and mining billionaire magnates, sip world class wine and live lavish lives as they watch the 'wild fires' of workers' frustration burn.
That she ventures to draw the parallel with Marikana is noble and certainly is a crisis of the same magnitude or even greater. To blame the response of farm-workers to the centuries old exploitation of them and turn a blind eye to the daily realities of abuse, hunger-wages and lack of security of tenure on external ‘forces' requires myopia and delusion of a special kind - the type that Kadalie has in recent years made her trade-mark.
Kadalie in familiar refrain deflects blame from the ruling DA government and blames me for fuelling unrest in the Western Cape but fails to acknowledge the complicity of farmers, Western Cape Agriculture MEC Gerrit van Rensburg and his department for the perpetuation of the terrible living and working conditions on farms in the Western Cape.
The only petrol being poured on wild fire is their denialism and continued expectation that farm-workers must continue to be subservient 'ja-baas' subjects whilst being fed cheap wine on credit, forced to spend their meagre earnings at the master's farm-shop, taxed with whimsical deductions until they can barely feed their families and then evicted at the master's behest.
Kadalie only needs to read the Human Rights Watch Report of August 2011 "Grapes of Wrath" which Premier Zille and Gerrit van Rensburg's rubbished) and many more uncovering studies to understand that the scale of the tragedy is perhaps incomparable to any other and deserves a commission of inquiry for further investigation. What is abundantly clear is that the DA government has failed to condemn the malpractices, abuse and exploitation of farm-workers and instead is concerned about the wild fire consuming the vineyards.
Undoubtedly the DA feels the heat from their constituency farmers whilst they fiddle with diversionary sound-bites and inflammatory accusations through the media. It is such behaviour and this politics of deflection that will make them taste the grapes of wrath as workers are gatvol (fed-up), frustrated and tired of being treated as second-class citizens.
The argument that farm owners cannot afford higher wages and better the working conditions of farmworkers is a fallacy of the worst type that must be debunked. A fallacy perpetuated by the Premier and the DA. The agricultural sector has enjoyed unprecedented access to global markets that our new democratic dispensation has brought in its wake, for which generations of farm-worker struggles and the mobilisation of the rural masses played a significant role in.
Despite this farm-workers and dwellers still suffer exploitation, are still being denied access to unionisation and suffer such terrible ill-treatment at the hands of incalcitrant farm owners who have enjoyed the benefits of Mandela's policy of reconciliation yet want to continue their old-ways of baasskap and bliksem (bossiness and assault). Unfortunately the exceptions are few and still too many vineyards far.
Just in case her diatribe on who really is complicit for the crisis on farms in the Western Cape and for fermenting the grapes of wrath does not stick. Rhoda Kadalie goes scavenging in Robin Carlisle's rubbish heap to dig-up dirt that to this day is unsubstantiated. All this is done in a flimsy attempt to rubbish my good name. Carlisle has failed in three years in the opposition benches and nearly three years as MEC for Transport and Public Works to prove his accusations against me beyond reasonable doubt.
The DA government should instead disclose how many millions they have spent already on TBWA Hunt Lascaris to manage their politics of deception and deflecting the blame away from their failures.
Once again they side with the privileged farmers and their expensive vineyards and ignore the plight of poor, suffering and marginalised farm-workers. We have news for the DA. They have nailed their colours to the mast and it is clear for all to see where their loyalty lies.
They will be well reminded of Steinbecks words from Grapes of Wrath as they scramble to protect the interest of the privileged. They must not expect farm-workers to cow down in submission. The sjamboks (whips), threats and beatings will not work anymore. "How can you frighten a man whose hunger is not only in his own cramped stomach but in the wretched bellies of his children? You can't scare him -- he has known a fear beyond every other."
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