Deputy Chairperson, Chairperson of the NCOP, hon MECs for Agriculture present here, hon Deputy Minister Mcebisi Skwatsha, delegates to the National Council of Provinces, leaders of organised agricultural formations, captains of the industry present, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, ever since the land dispossessions of the late 19th century, with their accompanying violence, squatting had become rife. Across the country there were laws regulating such settlements, but it persisted. At its heart was government policy that prohibited blacks from owning land. Such prohibitions placed Africans living on farms at the mercy of farm owners. It became the norm that dispossessed Africans served as labourers for the land owners hence the emergence of labour tenants as a distinct category of farm dwellers. It was this practice that Seme decried. It encouraged indolence among the farmers. He argued that it exploited workers. Seme called for the abolition of labour tenancy, an evil associated with squatting. No one should pay with