Why Paternalism Survives: Globalization, Democratization and Labour on South African Wine Farms

Abstract

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.

Ethical Trading and Socioeconomic Transformation: Critical Reflections on the South African Wine Industry

“…As international sanctions were tightened in the 1980s, efforts were made to improve social conditions on farms (Ewert and Hamman 1999). These were initiated from within the industry with the support of the apartheid government and conservative international donors, rather than through worker activism, and were motivated by a need to improve productivity and upgrade externally held perceptions of the industry.…”

Game farm conversions and the land question: unpacking present contradictions and historical continuities in farm dwellers' tenure insecurity in Cradock

“…This amounts to a 27% decline in the first period, and 46.9% in the second. Internationally, the agricultural sector has moved towards greater labour flexibility since the 1980s, with an increasing proportion of the labour force becoming casualised (Ewert and Hamman 1999;Sparrow et al 2008). Domestically, the casualised cohort of farm labour rose from 36% in 1991 to 49% by 200249% by (Sparrow et al 2008.…”

Le vignoble sud-africain dans l’ère post-apartheid, entre transformation et continuité

“…Ce faisant, elles accompagnent une autre forme de transition post-apartheid du vignoble sud-africain. Toit, 1993 ;Ewert, 2005), cette dernière est, aujourd'hui encore, le plus souvent considérée comme un outil dont le principal intérêt est son faible coût (Ewert, Hamman, 1999 ;Ewert, 2005). Par ailleurs, les conditions de travail des ouvriers viticoles, notamment le système dégradant de rétribution en boisson, prohibé depuis plusieurs années maintenant, a participé au rejet de cette culture au sein de la population nonblanche.…”