Deputy Chairperson, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the Council I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the Council -
1) takes cognisance of the findings of Human Rights Watch some time ago on the dop [tot] system and the living and working conditions of farm workers on farms in the Western Cape;
2) notes that Human Rights Watch in its briefing to the parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Labour and Agriculture last week, revealed -
a) that the dop system is still being used by some farmers in the Western Cape as a method of payment or as payment for overtime;
b) the poor living and working conditions of farm workers in the Western Cape, where some workers lived in converted pig sties while others had no access to electricity or clean water; and
c) widespread cases of abuse, exploitation and human rights violations; and
3) condemns these unlawful practices and abuses with utter dismay and calls on the Ministers of Labour and of Agriculture and their departments to launch a comprehensive investigation into these abuses and unlawful practices and to take harsh action against the perpetrators.