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Neither deregulation, access to international markets, labour and tenure legislation nor the transition to democracy have fundamentally changed the paternalist labour regime on South African wine farms. Power relations remain visibly unequal, i.e. in most cases the farmer still determines, unilaterally, working rules, wages and housing conditions. Worker’ ignorance and passivity and a lack of union resources combine to leave the power of the farmer virtually unchallenged. Nevertheless, legislation has set limits to the length of the working day and created a considerable measure of social security for farm workers. It has reduced worker’ vulnerability and begun effectively to protect them against unfair dismissals, summary evictions and other kinds of arbitrary action on the part of the farmer. Imperfect as law enforcement may be, workers’ newly found protection is almost totally due to the determination on the part of the South African state to put an end to super‐exploitation on the farm. In this respect it differs markedly from many a government in the non‐metropolitan parts of the world who have uncritically embraced neo‐liberalism in the name of competitiveness and globalization.

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